The Most Difficult Move in Mixed Martial Arts

according to these guys is a simple 2-point jiu-jitsu reverse. 

How Effective are BJJ Sweeps in MMA?

This month MMA Fight DB delves into the murky world of BJJ sweeps. Despite the long history of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in mixed martial arts, sweeps (as defined in BJJ) are rarely seen in MMA fights. This low rate contrasts to the comparatively high rate of other grappling techniques such as; takedowns and submissions, within mixed martial art competitions.

The statistics suggest that the efficiency of sweeps fairs poorly when compared to other techniques, and that alternatives to sweeps such as standing up should be more of a focus for many grappling practitioners.

And some conversation on the topic from the good folks over at Bloody Elbow:

Bloody Elbow Open Mat: Where are all the Sweeps?

T.P. Grant: I think Ben and Ian have really hit on the cause of it, and to me the root of this lays in both ground striking and MMA judging. Top position provides serious advantages in MMA, both allowing a fighter to strike with the aide of gravity, but also in that the judges will award them the round based purely on position 90% of the time. So, fighters who are on top seek to preserve their position by hunkering down in guard, or if they do try to advance as far as the half guard, and use the position to simply keep fighters down and avoid sweeps, rather that generate their own offense or seriously advance position.

Short version: if you want to sweep your opponent in mixed martial arts, focus on half-guard and butterfly guard. But given the rule set, you're probably better off just getting to your feet.

That said, great stuff all around. Data ... it's got groove, it's got meaning.

About That Deep Half

Say Deep Half Guard Again!

Training Day: Wednesday

Ouchi gari to standing closed guard pass with cross grip was today's primary lesson, though Prof Carlos broke it down into its component parts to make it easier to absorb.  The pass was the Jacare, the single underhook, with the arm cutting across the neck to get the far collar and the grip on the sleeve on the other arm very strong and pulling.

My cut still hasn't healed, though it was healed enough to get me through an initial 8-minute roll with Angus.  A good job attacking with the Gordo and Twist Back, but I need to open up to (a) attacking with the same stuff from my weak side, and/or (b) transitioning to deep half.

Strangely, I don't feel as if I have much of a middle game right now.  I've got the half guard for close range, and the cross guard (including the Leandro Lo sweep) for long range.  But there isn't really anything in my closed guard, for example, that I feel especially confident in using.  I've long felt most comfortable with the King Crimson suite (kimura, guillotine, omoplata, crossover sweep, kimura backtake).  What's been missing, though, has been a counter for those times when I can't control the elbow.  I've done a little bit with the Mendes Brothers Barataguard approach, and maybe should do more.  The armdrag has worked once or twice in the past, and that is probably the #1 move from that guard.

Rolling with Glenn for even the short amount of time that I did was a reminder to work on my deep half guard passing from the top.  There's a way to bait the move to deep half, and if you are able to move into the counter and pass, for example, stepping over the head and turning into the legs in a "watchdog" position, I think it will only open up other ways to attack the half guard in general.

Managed to drill a little bit of the Z-guard pass from Jason Scully, as well.  I was doing a push-pull on the controlled, top leg instead of turning it clockwise like a giant steering wheel.  It really makes a difference in getting that lower leg across the center line, where it is far easier to drag.

159.6 on the scale. post-train.

Training Day: Saturday

157.4 on the scale post train.

A great day on the mat on Saturday.  I got to work with John, who I haven't trained with since he got his brown belt the day I got my black belt.  We reviewed the techniques of the week, taking the back after sprawling against the double leg, and adding both a bow and arrow choke and a knee-in choke for the finish.  Professor Carlos added that nice detail of hipscaping back and allowing the guy to fall into your lap, rather than trying to roll the guy over and into you.  It's another great example of the physics of jiu-jitsu at work.

A lot of training today.  Guard specific, shark tank training (six minutes each in the middle), then a couple of sparring sessions with blue belts David and Ron.  I was able to attack much, much more with the Effing Pass and, quite frankly, am getting close to the point where I need to start thinking about working both sides a little.  I'm still reverting to the Flat Pass against tight closed guards (twice today), adding in the handcuff behind the back if I can get it.  It's a little bread and butter.  But if nothing else is working, then I go to it.

I still haven't done much so far with the deep half.  I don't want to play deep half against guys that are smaller than me.  But I've got to remember to switch to the deep half anytime I've got a "body" to climb around.    I'm liking my Faria move from deep half - the one I drilled with Mark a little bit on Friday - and am anxious to see it at work in real-time.

Had a very nice conversation with Zee after training.  He's been running a new 6:30 am class on Friday, and invited me to stop by.  I'm going to take him up on it next week.  The class has been growing and there is talk about expanding it to other mornings.  This might be the best news I've gotten in a month.

Training Day: Friday

To finish off the workweek ("workweek!" chortled the gods), Prof Carlos had us sparring in rotating five minute sessions for the whole of the main class, then a little Live Training afterwards.  I got in four rounds for a good twenty minutes of almost continuous sparring, and was feeling pretty good - though faded - near the end.

A few things are working well.  The Effing Pass is the biggest technique godsend since I started playing half guard as a blue belt.  I've got to remember to Punch rather than Control the pinned leg.  But most of the other mechanics really seem to be falling into place nicely.  Even when I don't get the pass, it is putting me and keeping me in a good attacking position where I rarely feel in danger of being submitted or swept.

I'm starting to feel a little flow.  It's crazy to look at my training calendar and realize that my 4-week training average has dropped down to once a week as of a week ago.  Getting in to train tomorrow will give me three sessions for this week, which will help bend the curve in the right direction.  But between illness, relapse, and the whole Doomsday experience, it's been hard sometimes to find the way to the Academy.

But it's paid off every time I've made it.  Today I very spontaneously hit a nifty "take the mount" move from side control that was improvised off that Bibiano turning-back, back take against the turtle.  And on Wednesday there was that Rodolfo Viera attack against the knee shield half guard that I read in GracieMag a few hours before training and was able to apply that day.  Again, some very good flow even though my training frequency has been so low.

A lot of nice drilling after training, also.  Worked with Mark on the Leandro Lo sweep and the Machado sweep for me, giving me something else to do against standing opponents.  Mark wanted to work some deep half, so we drilled a little Homer Simpson sweep a la Jeff Glover and the Faria sweep.  If I could do that after every class ...

158.4 on the scale post-train.  A good number near the end of the week.

Faria Fandom

Here's "classic" Bernardo Faria. The deep half sweep setup has the added gi control and hiding of the outside wrist to avoid the kimura. Also Faria's deep half uses control at the top of the hip, rather than dominating the leg exclusively. What I think this does for him is give him an early entry into his "go-to" guard pass, the over-under (and thanks to Professor Carlos for showing me and reminding me that detail on the "over"!).

He doesn't maintain any control over the trapped leg as he bridges over, something that was my obsession about the half guard in general a few weeks ago. I'll have to get a feel for how much control over the leg I get with that gi grip. Bernardo seems to have no problem getting the reverse; there's never a threat of the guy being able to block it with a backstep, for example. And that's got to be because of Faria's grip on the lapel.

As to the pass, I'm thinking both this pass and the Feitosa Stack pass from Rolled Up over at Budo Videos, would be among the good options to get to the side.

Where Art Thou, Faria Fanboys and Fangals?

From Caleb, of Fightworks Podcast fame, doing Pan 2012 coverage this April.

Here's a question for you, Shawn (Williams). A thought question.

We know that the Mendes brothers have come up with a series of techniques that have made them very successful over the past few years - or, at least, employed. I won't say "invented" but at least make use of.

Bernardo Faria has a very unique sequence that he tends to do regularly that you might expect guys to start emulating, as well. Why aren't more people, at least vocally, professing to be a follower of Faria the way we hear people jump on the Mendes brothers?

I"m sitting here watching the rebroadcast of the Pan and paying muito attention to Bernardo Faria's signature guard pass - one that Prof Rodrigo has taught us a hundred times here at GB Seattle. I think I am about to start "emulating."

On Hall in Houston

One of the most impressive things I've seen all weekend was Ryan Hall's performance at the IBJJF Houston Open.

Down 2-3 (takedown - guard pass), Ryan finds himself on top against a deep half attack. He goes right to the move that he shows on his DVD: grabbing the leg and crunching to break the guardplayer's posture, then slipping into a watchdog top position against a regular half and setting up the rolling back take.

I count six separate times in less than 45 seconds that Ryan goes for this move. Full roll and kicking. No go. Half roll and searching for leverage. No go. Adjust. No go. Complain to the ref. No go. Start over. Full roll, half roll, angle, leverage, momentum ...

On the SEVENTH try, he gets the reverse to take the back. With seconds left, however, Ryan loses the match because, in crossing his ankles, he was not awarded four points for taking position. Time runs out before he can readjust his ankles from crossed to hooks.

Ryan was not amused by the decision (though he was respectful to his competitor). And there's sure to be all sorts of petit controversy on the interwebs.

But all I'll say is that the fact that we were denied a J.T. versus Ryan final is a far greater outrage than the ankle-crossing rule for getting points after taking the back.

3 for the Next 3 Weeks

RDLR to back

half top roll to back

deep half to X to back

3 February Transitions from the Half

Half to deep half to Homer/Stack
Deep half to half to Gordo/Twist Back
Deep half to X to Technical Lift/Back

Training Day: Tuesday

Very nice to get to train the deep half transition to regular half as part of Prof. Rodrigo's class Tuesday night. Too often I still get stuck in a "deep half or bust" or "straight half or bust" mindset, that really limits my ability to be effective. That's why I've had the occasional "love/hate" relationship with the whole House of Half Guard.

Some of this is related to what I touched on in the last post. Some of this has to do with movement and trying to develop a much more agile, dynamic jiu-jitsu. Prof. Rodrigo also had us work on a rolling backtake against the deep half as part of a "transitions-only" advanced class that may be a sign of things to come. It took me a little while to get this one insofar as I kept trying to roll forward instead of curling the attacking leg, falling back and then tossing the guy's body in the direction of your legs. One trick I saw Ryan Hall do with a similar move was to use your outside, free foot to push against your attacking, hooking leg to help give you leverage to move the guy's body around.

Another big plus out of tonight's session was a critical detail on the folding pass. Rather than just pushing the leg sideways, you actually want to twist the leg - it's the difference between trying to take the leg from three o'clock to 9 o'clock, say, right through the middle of the clock and, on the other hand, swinging the knee and taking the leg from 3 o'clock all the way around counterclockwise to 7 o'clock. Doing it this way, it was amazing to see how easily the leg/hip could swivel. And as I learned during the specific training with the pass, if the guard doesn't open, then the likelihood of successfully attacking with the knee cross, for example, is pretty good.

159.4 on the scale, post-train. Anything under 160 in the gi is good.

Wilson Reis Inverted Back Take from Top Half

I'm all for the half guard and have made taking the back an 11th commandment. But is this move a back-take too far? Or just right?

Training Day: Wednesday

So far so good for the week. Tonight was a nice refresher on pulling deep half from standing and attacking with either the deep half scissor sweep (w/sleeve control and collar drag) or the deep half pendulum sweep.

Working with Angela, I had a better time with the scissor than the pendulum (ironically, she was having an ideal time with the pendulum sweep). I think the issue is relative leg length: if your legs are longer than your opponent's, it may be difficult to get the leverage for the pendulum sweep compared to the scissor. Prof. Rodrigo seemed to be making that point when he had us alternate between the two based on your partner's reaction.

Every other Wednesday we are doing about half the first class in specific (half guard tonight) after the technique section. Training with GB Seattle's newest brown belt, Ruben, I made sure that I started out in southpaw half guard. My mid-year jiu-jitsu resolution is to really round out my half guard game. Rather than run away from it as I thought I needed to do this spring, the goal is to completely flesh it out, to explore every aspect of the half guard that I can conceive of.

And one of the first steps is to become more or less ambidextrous when it comes to attacking from the half. I don't necessarily have to be able to do every move from half guard on both sides. But I need to have as many options on the right as on the left - whatever they are. And the current options I have on the left need to become expanded.

Tough training in the Live Training, as well, rolling with Lance, Rodrigo and Elliot - who is back from an injury. Here the goal was largely in remaining active on top, which I met, but I need to be more focused in turning everything into a half guard game and then going right to my best passes.

A large part of getting better and better in jiu jitsu lies in avoiding areas of uncertainty and trying to draw your opponent into places where your edges are the greatest. That doesn't mean that you'll always win. But it does mean that almost always you will be giving yourself the best chance of winning. And at the end of the day, that's all you can ask. As Charles Barkley put it brilliantly, "sometimes we forget that the other guy is out there trying hard, too."

In terms of focus areas I need to keep working on the backstep pass v.s. the half guard, and keeping better posture when passing from standing. I need to sit/squat a bit more because I can feel my upper body getting a little out in front of my hips and making it hard to be really mobile.

To that end, I want to keep training the double underhook pass with the hop variation, as well as the Marcelo series (step/folding/leg over). I also made some half-hearted moves toward the basic toreano. I'd like to get that more into the mix as well. About six passes for the next six months.

161.5 on the scale post-train.

Training Day: Monday

I made it to the academy on Friday - and while it counts as training per my definition (i.e., I wore the gi and sweated) - the truth of the matter is that tonight was my first real session on the mat in about three weeks (May 16 was my last real training, the Monday before the Revolution).

A lot of good things tonight. Ruben got his brown belt (parabens!), Paulao and a bunch of other folks got stripes, and the Monday night judo class has been incorporated into the regular Monday BJJ class. This is great news. I've been wanting to take the judo class, but the starting time was just too early for me (and apparently for more than a few others). So the current solution is ideal.

We worked on breakfalls and rolls in the first part of the judo class, then trained the ouchi gari takedown.

The BJJ part of the class focused on the pendulum sweep from deep half (we started from standing and included the deep half guard pull as part of the training) and the toe grab/Old School/Gordo sweep from half guard. Here, Rodrigo showed one excellent detail in stepping over with the leg and then going belly down as you flatten out and piledrive forward into the sweep. Definitely something to work on with my Gordo sweep.

Live Training was great. I trained twice for about 8 minutes each, first with Ruben and then with a talented young guy Anton, who'd trained some sambo and Japanese jiu jitsu. It was fun to fight off leg attacks (a couple of ankle locks) and I'll confess to spending (more than) a few hours watching the Mundial this weekend didn't hurt at all in that regard.

162.1 on the scale post-train. Given the time I've been off the mat, that's a great number. I still have a featherweight fantasy that I indulge from time to time but, for now, I'll take what I can get.

Training Day: Wednesday

A real savage training tonight. After warmups we started with a little standup drilling, working on the entry for the fireman's carry. From there, we drilled half-guard sweeps, the Xande and the Shaolin, from Monday night. I was having a little trouble getting the momentum right for the Xande, not waiting for it, mostly. And the Shaolin felt a little better than it did on Monday. I felt less like I was bodysurfing into position and a bit more like a controlled roll.

A lot of half guard specific and I really felt like I underperformed. Fatigue came on very fast after just a few rounds of passing and on the bottom my game seemed to fall apart. Compared to the way my guard game was last Saturday, things looked pretty rough - and all the more dismayingly so given that half guard is my bread and butter.

Live Training was better. I don't feel about the half guard the way I used to now that I am opening things up a little bit. But I don't want to lose complete touch with it. In competition, it will still be a go to position - especially if I can keep near the front of the pack in the deep half guard arms race.

161.2 on the scale post-train. A little heavier than I'd like, but that makes weight.

Training Day: Wednesday

If you haven't watched a top level jiu jitsu match at 60% speed, then you are cheating yourself out of an amazing experience.

I love instructionals as much as the next guy. I've got Saulo's first, Jeff Glover's, a couple of Kesting's, GB Fundamentals ... I've even got Cesar Gracie's brick-like instructional series (!), a Mike Swain judo instructional and an old school VHS from Joe Moreira. But as Prof Rodrigo has pointed out, just watching competition footage can do an incredible amount of good when it comes to getting a better and deeper understanding of what jiu jitsu is all about.

And slowing the action down to about 60% (the slowest speed on my DVD players fast/slow play function) gives you the opportunity to see every grip, every posture adjustment, every opportunity seized and missed at a speed that is not so agonizingly slow that you become impatient, but not so fast that you don't get to actually see - and anticipate - what actions and reactions are likely.

Maybe I'm making too much of it. But the "vision" I felt watching Michael Langhi v. Augusto Mendes (Mundial 2010 leve) at 60% speed, for example, was pretty incredible. I can already feel it starting to transfer into my actual training, how I think about every position and feeling like I'm capable of being more aware of options and "best practices", so to speak. I felt I could really see, for example, why specific guards like the inverted guard continue to give even the highest level competitors problems - and to see exactly why a certain alternative (maybe from an instructional book or video, maybe from class) would have been so much more effective.

It's been really something else. I can't say enough about this kind of film study.

A great night of training Wednesday evening with a whole lot of familiar faces. I got to train deep half guard takedowns with Alex, a blue belt on the eve of purple, including 12 minutes of specific training with the deep half. For live training, three sessions (two eights and a ten with Prof Rodrigo) with about two minutes break in between each.

Very grateful for the off-mat conditioning, I'll tell you that much. While I'm still reaching pretty significant fatigue levels during performance, my recovery time is not very long. That bodes well for my overall conditioning, if not the more specific, alactic conditioning competition tends to require.

Did some solo drills before class, working on the initial posture for the running escape, the rollover and sideroll escapes from north-south, my basic "hips right/kick left" mount escape ... Alliance leader Fabio Gurgel is a big fan of "range of motion" as a way of warding off injury that is superior to both "warming up" and stretching exercises. But they are also a great way of branding into your casca-grossa some of the fundamental motions and mechanics that make possible all the rest.

164.5 on the scale, post-train. Absolutely shameless.

Deep. Butterfly. Halfguard.

Some great material from one of the best jiu jitsu bloggers on the Interwebs.

Training Day: Friday

A really excellent session to finish the week. In many ways, it was everything that competition training is about: drills, drills, drills, with a little open mat/live training at the end to wrap things up. I went for two rounds at the end, and probably would have done a third given a little more time. But all in all just the kind of session that makes you looking forward to coming back.

We did takedown drills, guard pass drills (slap pass to knee on belly), adding mount takes and finishes as we went along in a steady, technically progressive way. It was a very good way to train for a couple of reasons, but the biggest reason for me was the way that each technique led into the other. From the different angles we attacked the leg and then the upper body for the judo throws to the variations on passing the guard, improving position and finishing, it was great "flow" work, training your body through the entire range of activity from takedown to finish as a series of progressive drills.

For me, there are days when I don't feel my brain can take any more additional technical information. I'm just not in the mental state to "learn" effectively. But training this way completely circumvents that both by being simple (each move building on the previous move) and more drill/body oriented than learn/mind oriented.

One thing I would love to try as an experiment some time would be to train this way for a month at least three times a week and see if what differences I might notice in my game. I think more than anything it would speed my jiu jitsu up some, creating more of that "high speed circuitry" that Daniel Coyle writes about in his book, The Talent Code.

All that said, there are some good things coming out of sparring to help me refine my guard game. In terms of the pass, I still need to be working more of the step-over/Hioki game against the half guard and more sccop against the closed guard. But there's still plenty of time to work on all of that. The 2nd Seattle Open has been announced for Saturday, January 29th - the last Saturday of the month. That at-home event will be a nice testing/proving ground for the Revolution to follow.

164.4 on the scale, post-train, everything but the coat. The weight is just not coming off me after the average training session like it used to three or four years ago. Insert "alas" here.

Training Day: Monday

Skills training:

Backroll/Sacrifice to mount counters to the double and single leg takedowns. Smash counters to armbar and triangle from the guard.

Live training:

Some good work in converting back and forth from deep half to half guard passes (i.e., switching to watchdog v.s. deep half). Also good step-over to crossbody against the deep half.

This will be the main strategic goal: to use transition from half to deep half and back as strategy for controlling pace and creating opportunities. For example, using Gordo to set up a deep half entry and direct move into Homer Simpson, as well as the typical Gordo/Twist Back combo.

Not as many opportunities to work the pass game outside of the half. Still looking for opportunities to smash straight into mount a la Hioki - that will be a habit to establish early.

Also did some film study this morning on the crossbody to knee on belly transition via Saulo. The key is in keeping connected hip-to-hip, and remaining sideways as you make the transition rather than turning to "square up" and face the guy's side, thereby giving too much space for the elbow/knee block from the guy on bottom.

164.6 on the scale post-train, everything but the coat.