Take Down Tuesday: Mr. Smith's Low Single

One of the drills we did as part of the warmup during my first week back was alternating single/double leg shots and sprawls. Here's something for me to work on when those warmups come around again.

Danaher & Askren on Jiu-Jitsu Training Styles

John Danaher and Ben Askren talk about the differences between training for jiu-jitsu and training for wrestling and how the former can benefit from adopting aspects of the latter.

"It's my personal belief that jiu-jitsu sees enormous technical change year-by-year. Every year there are new techniques coming in, there's fascinating, new stuff coming in all the time. But jiu-jitsu almost never sees innovation in training methodology. You see massive innovations in technique. Zero innovations in training. And that's got to change. If jiu-jitsu is going to mature as a sport, that's got to change."

--Danaher on building a jiu-jitsu program in the image of amateur wrestling.

Maia and the Role of Wrestling

"Every fight that I won, the last seven fights, I went to train wrestling in United States, in New Jersey. And for this fight I couldn't do that because (the notice) was so short."

--Demian Maia

Get Ready for Wrasslin'!

For the past few years, "March Madness" has meant more than "The Big Dance" for me. I still draw up a bracket for the men's NCAA basketball contest. But lately my TV - and real-time attention - have belonged to the wrestlers.

I've caught a few matches in the last few weeks and months courtesy of ESPNGo/WatchESPN. And while the selection isn't overwhelming, it's just enough to keep you sated until the NCAA Division I Wrestling Tournament arrives in the spring.

So with that in mind, here's a little something for those whose palates, like mine around this time of year, prefers the competition on the sheathed polyurethane mat over the action on the parquet floor.

BJJ Scout Runs the Rousey v. McMann VooDoo Down

There is so much good in this analysis. It is incredible to see how BJJ Scout's work gets better and better. Like all great analysis, it informs and teaches at the same time.

Ronda Rousey v Sara Mcmann Preview Part 1: Grappling and Skill Trees

One thing beginners often do is chase moves all over the BJJ map – 50/50 leg locks, berimbolos, baseball bat chokes etc. There is this temptation to correlate mimicking the “moves” done by top level players as the path to advancing in BJJ. It sort of makes sense – like Roger? Learn to the cross choke from mount. Like the Miyaos? Berimbolo it is. However, focusing on drilling random moves without a well thought out overall strategy seldom makes sense.

Ronda Rousey v Sara Mcmann Preview Part 2: Takedowns and Clinching

Wrestling’s place as a legitimate skill set to bring into the octagon has been validated many times over. The jury is still out on judo though. Despite Ronda having dominated all her opponents since day 1, skepticism still remains as to her abilities and most of it focuses on her being a one trick pony, and the central question in every fight is “can you stop her armbar”. Strangely, until late the question has never been, can you stop her takedown, as if it’s a matter of time before some exposes her judo takedowns/tactics as flawed. 

Rough, Tough Russian Wrestling

Read Mike Riordan's preview here

Takedowns by Faber

One of my favorite videos on lower body takedowns by mixed martial artist, Urijah Faber. Inspired by a FB post by GB teammate, Alex Kyllo.

Winners Score First

Some interesting quantified data from Brandon Ruiz's Grappling Crossover website. I don't know how much this might translate into jiu jitsu. But to the extent that it encourages initiative and attack, it seems like a concept worth keeping in mind and putting to work on the mat.

Winning Wrestlers Score First

What I wanted to know from a statistical standpoint was whether something an old coach of mine told me was in fact rooted in truth or was just his mental psyching techniques.

Coach John Webb, former OSU, Weber State, and BYU coach told me once; “The man who scores first (gets the first take down or points) will win 70% of the time.”

While in college I didn’t think about it too much but as I matured and became a better student of the sport I couldn’t help but ask, “Is it true? And, If it is what does that mean?"

Country Boy Jiu Jitsu

A few years after being reacquanted with mixed martials arts in 2003, I noticed that the man who had more quality wins by submission than anyone at the time was welterweight legend, Matt Hughes.

Matt is not the easiest guy for a guy like me to like. But as someone who values ground fighting uber alles, I found it impossible not to have respect for a guy who, born and raised in a singlet, was nevertheless putting the tap-out on quality opponents in mixed martial arts like no one else at the time.

I thought about this after watching his submission victory over Ricardo Almeida, and after reading post-fight remarks like this:

I don't want to be labeled as a guy looking for the Gracies. I've never asked to fight a Gracie, the UFC has always come to me with fighting the Gracies, Ricardo came to me. I don't want that. I've got too much respect for them to be labeled the 'Gracie Killer.

Someone pointed out that in the last several years, Hughes has only lost to three guys: BJ Penn, Thiago Alves and GSP. It's worth keeping in mind the next time Mr. "Army of One" steps into the cage.

More coverage of UFC 117 and Matt Hughes at MMA Mania here.

"Front Headlock to Short Shoulder Backhand"

"Front Headlock to Cross Ankle Pick to Kelly Turk"

"John Smith Low Single with Ankle Chase Finish"

Train Jiu Jitsu, Appreciate Wrestling

Make this a bookmark today.

Flow Wrestling: Amateur Wrestling Videos

The Helio Test

Saulo Ribeiro talks about how Helio Gracie's creed was not that he would always defeat his adversary, but that his adversary would never defeat him.

I found myself thinking about that having rewatched a little of the GSP v. BJ Penn rematch earlier today and now after training reading a Sherdog thread on Brock Lesnar victory over Frank Mir. Even for someone whose first introduction to grappling was Boys Club wrestling in 3rd grade, there is a part of me that still hates seeing jiu jitsu guys get finished by wrestlers. Fortunately it's a smaller and smaller part - it's completely irrational and in both cases wrong-headed. Those victories by GSP and Brock actually proved that all was right with the world - or at least the world of fighting.

But maybe most disappointing is the way that both BJ and Frank lost. Neither was at a great shortage of words before their respective rematches. And to see them both so summarily silenced was stunning in a way. But more painful was to see two talented - world class if you want - jiu jitsu fighters unable to use their jiu jitsu to defend themselves.

Compare that with Diego Sanchez's losing performance against Jon Fitch, which should probably win an award for the most effective jiu jitsu against a wrestler in a losing context. Diego does not win. But he doesn't lose either. And his jiu jitsu was the difference.

I'd argue that Florian's loss to Sean Sherk might be part of that group of fights, as well. Kenny never gains the advantage on the ground. But he never loses his capacity for defense against Sherk's relentless top game. I think Kenny wins that rematch - standing or on the ground.

I remember Rodrigo telling a teammate a few years back (a teammate who was a blue belt at the time and whom I haven't seen since), that "jiu jitsu doesn't make you Superman." That's true. But your jiu jitsu should at least enable you to pass the Helio Test against an otherwise "equally" matched opponent in a mixed martial arts contest. You have to be able to survive.

Freestyle Takedowns

Some great stuff from Rudy Ruiz of UWM Wrestling and Wisconsin Combat Sports.

Here's a knee pick off the under/over hook pummel. The trick is to get the guy to step forward. I actually think Lindsey showed me something like this that he liked to use from the clinch.


And here's an old-fashioned double leg. I need to remember that the first step is the penetration step, the second step is the turn-the-corner, power-up step.

Me, Wrasslin' and GSP

I wrestled for a summer or two as a kid. I can't remember if I was in elementary or junior high. I don't remember anything more than the fact that I was wrestling. Soon after I do know I ended up studying a "real" martial art in Korean karate, Jhoon Rhee's tae kwon do, which was a big deal in the Washington, D.C. area back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I trained for a little while as a 12,13, 14 year old karate guy, earning my tae kwon do black belt on April 21, 1981.

I've never had a problem with my TKD study. Most of the instrutors were professional fighters with the now-defunct Professional Karate Association. Joe Lewis, Bill Superfoot Wallace, Jean Yves Theriault, Benny Urquidez ... all of these were the fighters that our instructors - Michael "The Cobra" Coles, Rodney "Batman" Batiste, and my own personal instructor, Dan Magnus, the first professional athlete ever to successfully return to competition after open heart surgery, trained day after day to topple.

So my TKD was filled with the sort of kata that is now widely ridiculued in a post-vale tudo, post-MMA world. But there was as much if not more live sparring with gloves, footpads and headgear (for non black belts). In that way, it was half very traditional Korean tae kwon do, half sport kickboxing with live kicks and punches to the head.

While I've always defended by karate background, I've been much less vociferous in my support of my wrestling. In addition to my prepubescent stint as a young wrassler, I spent my senior year on the Dulaney Senior High School wrestling squad. Why it dawned on me to try out for the wrestling team in my final year of high school is something I don't remember. I had spent two average years on the football, lacrosse and track teams as a sophomore and junior (JV hotshot, varsity backup), and the notion to try my hand at wrestling came largely out of the blue (though I do remember being mesmerized by the wrestling, coming of age movie, Vision Quest that was out at the time.)

I was a pretty mediocre wrestler. I was athletic, and stronger than the guy at 136 who had been on the team for years. This meant that about half the time I would beat him in the trials to see who would compete at the coming tournament. Unfortunately, because my wrestling technique was horrible, I lost almost every time.

But I loved wrestling. It totally a "where have you been all my life?" kind of moment. It was a better combination of individual and team that I found in football and lacrosse on the one hand and track and field on the other. Wrestling also put me in better shape than any other sport ever had. It wasn't even close. I still remember coming home one day after practice - I'd been a latch-key kid since 2nd grade - and dropping down in the living room and cranking out 50 pushups like it was nothing. I had never been able to do anything like that before (or, probably, since).

Flash forward some 20 years ... When it comes to jiu jitsu, my love of wrestling is pretty damn apparent. My guard game is the most wrestling-esque in the form of the half guard. And my top control is clearly the most advanced part of my game. Whenever I doubt that I deserve the faxia roxa, it is my top game - particularly my top control - that I hide behind in defense of the belt I wear.

Unfortunately, my top-oriented, wrestling based jiu jitsu has one glaring weakness: guard passing. While my psychological hangups about takedowns remain a challenge, it is when I'm trying to open and pass the guard during which my purple belt too often starts to look a little bluer than it should.

This, more than anything else, is my top priority for 2009. Yes, I need to regain the feel of Twist Back. Yes, I need to get comfortable with the Rap Star suite. But the difference between having true confidence on the mat and wondering if I'm going to embarass myself in front of God, Rodrigo and everybody else lies in my guard passing ability. It has to be the alpha and the omega of everything I do.

I was reviweing an excellent little snippet from Mike Fowler's No Gi Made Easy series, where he talks about some passing guard passing fundamentals. They dovetail and amplify what I've been working on and thinking about in terms of locking down the hip and limiting the guy's mobility. I'm extremely anxious to get back on the mat and work on some of these techniques.

Like I said recently, I lack an "agenda" when it comes to opening and passing the guard. The closer I get to one, the better my guard passing will be - particularly against the rising crop of blue belts who whose footsteps I increasingly hear behind me

But more the point: if I'm going to be a "takedown, pass the guard, top control, submit:" kind of guy, then I need to make sure every link in the chain is tough. And right now the link that represents guard passing is more aluminum than iron. Over the next three weeks, that has to change. Lloyd Irvin says that it takes "21 days of straight corrective practice to break a bad habit." With the tournament three weeks away, that doesn't leave for much time.

So what does this have to do with Georges St. Piere? In short, that when it comes to me and jiu jitsu, I have a lot in common with the Quebecois champion. We are both athletes with traditional karate backgrounds who have above average wrestling despite sub average wrestling pedigrees. We both share a jiu jitsu that is more positional than submission based, and we are far more comfortable fighting from the top than the bottom.

Size differences notwithstanding, when I think about GSP v. BJ Penn, I think of all my fights against guys with great natural ability, flexbility and hip movement. Guys who are true kings of the guard: leggy, constantly luring you deeper and deeper into the trap of their submission or sweep. Sauleh, probably represents this better than anyone else right now of people I have trained with or competed against - though I think these qualities are very much the signature of the lighter weights.

What I need to do, and what my reflections on guard passing are reminding me, is focus on my strengths, to embrace the wrestling that is so obviously at the core of my sense of what grappling is all about and to use it to help figure out what my jiu jitsu should ulimately look like, what a black belt version of myself will ultimately look like.

That means recommitting to the kind of takedowns that am most comfortable with, fancy or not. And that means committing to passing the guard as a primary goal for 2009. Every single time I'm on the mat.. Every time I'm even thinking about jiu jitsu, I need to be asking myself, "Am I ready to pass the guard? Right this second, do I know exactly what I need to do?"

If I can bring my guard passing game up to the level of my half guard game - even if my half guard doesn't improve by a single inch - then I'll consider it a win for this year.