Went to Powerhouse BJJ in Kapaa on Monday. Interesting warmup which resembled the game Centipede... I guess it maximizes the total mat area. Started with just running around the perimeter of the mat, then bear crawls, lunges forward then backward, karaoke step, sprawl drills, wrestling sit-outs, shoulder crawls, and pushups down the mat (best way to say it.. basically just in pushup position and pushing yourself with shorts bursts). After that we formed a circle and each person would count from 1-10 while doing sit ups so I ended up doing more than 100+ situps, crunches, and other core exercises. After that we did 1 set of 10, 1 set of 20, and 1 set of 30 pushups.
The conditioning was tough partly due to my weekend of soda, pie, and other junk foods. The other reason was the humidity. I attribute my being able to get through the warmup to my own school's Monday conditioning sessions which is basically the feeling of being in hell compressed into 5 minutes. To my understanding this is basically the warmup they do before each class.. so their conditioning is no joke.
The instructor, Kalani (brown belt), went over 3 different techniques. The first was the proper way to go from north-south to side control. If I am in basic north-south (both my knees on bottoms shoulders with my hands on the belt)and I am trying to go back to side control on bottom's left side, I'd first make sure my left knee stays connected to bottoms left shoulder. I'd then slide my left knee down to the side of bottom's arm (bicep area) and maintain contact. Then I switch my hips so my right leg would turn over my hip to land in a modified kesa gatame position. From there I just slide my left knee from bottom's bicep area to the hip and gain side control. Keeping the knee connected to bottom's hip makes sure they aren't able to get any space and shrimp out to regain guard or half guard.
The 2nd technique was an escape from north-south. So if I'm bottom what I want to do is first make sure I have my elbows in and my hands on my cheeks (basic t-rex). From there bump up (don't extend arms or you put yourself in danger of getting armlocked) and then plow over and put my shins into top's biceps (inverted butterfly guard). If I'm trying to sweep to the left side I push my right knee out from top's bicep, push my right knee into the other bicep, and with my right hand push the arm. What should happen is a kind of pendulum motion.. This move requires surprise and isn't something you can just wait to happen. It has to be explosive and the timing has to be perfect. Otherwise it's not going to work.
The third technique isn't legal in competition but it's a counter move to the 2nd. Basically when the bottom person goes to plow over and stick their shins in top's biceps, top catches the ankle and goes for a toe hold. If I'm attacking the left ankle, I swim my left hand around the outside of bottoms left ankle, and grab my right wrist while my right hand is holding the toes on the foot. From there it's just basic leverage to get the move to go.
Rolling with the people down here was a great experience. Many don't get to compete much because they are basically stuck on the chain of islands so they brought a different style to the table and I'm sure they felt the same way. I got caught a few times with stupid mistakes like leaving one arm in and one arm out. Partly because I thought I was safe in certain positions and didn't expect attacks from those kind of angles. Otherwise I felt I rolled solid until the last couple rounds when I was gassed out. I'll be going back on Wednesday before I fly back home.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday 3/3
Today my instructor's buddy Jon Santos, a Cesar Gracie purple belt, rolled through and taught class. He also brought some of his guys along so it was great to roll with different bodies. After being taught by the same guy for about a year and a half it was pretty interesting having a new instructor and I felt that the change made me more attentive and receptive to what was being taught. We learned 3 half guard sweeps and a sweet armbar from back control.
All the sweeps start out in the same position so I will try to go into detail about that and then just list the 3 finishing parts.
First, if your getting flattened out on your right hip (right leg is trapped by top guy) you would take your left arm and swim it underneath top's (will call it T from now on) chin and grab his left lapel or his shoulder. From there you want to angle your elbow and push up with your forearm to create space. At the same time you want to T-Rex his hip by keeping your elbow in and pushing. By pushing at both places you can create enough space to bring your left leg into his stomach. Something like half way scissor sweep. This is the basic starting position for all the variations.
Variation 1: So starting from the basic half guard position what you want to do is keep your right arm t-rexed to block the crossface and being flattened out again. From there you would take your left arm which was underneath his chin to go for a deep underhook and grab either T's gi or belt. From there you shuck your shoulder (basically like going out the back door) and take the back. When you shuck the shoulder you will already have one hook and should be able to grab the chicken wing grip with your right arm. From there you can sink your left hook and chicken wing the remaining arm to stabilize back mount.
Variation 2: Starting once again from the basic position you want to maintain the space and once again get the deep underhook with your left arm. From there grab the gi or belt again. It may seem a lot like Variation 1, but this is where things get different. So while maintain your underhook you want to take your right arm which is t-rexing T's left arm (left arm is based out) you get grip on the gi/wrist (i found pistol grip helped a lot) and pull on the wrist while you drop your left leg to the mat (left leg would've been scissored across T's stomach but you drop it to the ground.. similar to hip bump in a way). So while pulling away his base you drop your left leg and sit up and push into T to get him over. You should end in half guard.
Variation 3: Variation 3 just starts in half guard with lockdown or the basic position above. So what you want to do with this one is first create space by using the previously mentioned technique. Once again you get the left underhook by grabbing either gi/belt and t-rex with your right arm. Once you have created the space you want to take your left leg and switch it with your right. So instead of having your bottom right leg wrapped around T's leg, you will have your left. With your left leg you can either pull it towards the outside or do whatever makes you comfortable (as long as the leg is trapped the technique will work). So the position you should be at this point is on your right hip with your right arm blocking T's left arm from crossfacing and your left arm underhooked and grabbing onto T's gi/belt. What you do then is turn your head to the left and in one exploding motion roll T over you. If done correctly you should end up in side control cleanly. The thing about this technique is that it doesn't require any strength at all. As long as T keeps driving in, this technique should be cake.
Rolling at the end of class was pretty fun. I don't really remember a lot about what happened since I was just concentrating on having fun but I did get subbed a few times but it was a awesome experience. I can tell that they really like to play top game so it was a battle just to sweep to get on top. I did have some success with some half guard sweeps (x guard sweeps) and i was also able to get a bow and arrow choke from the back. I'm getting a lot more comfortable maintaining the back now. I also had some limited success with the wrestling sitout which I have been drilling constantly whenever I have free time on the mat. I think when I get more comfortable with it my game will change greatly since I am getting more and more experience scrambling. The one thing that stood out to me was passing guard. It's not that I don't have trouble passing both legs, it's the trouble I have controlling the bottom person's hips. What ends up happening is I'll either get stuck in half guard or guard and it's frustrating when I pass both legs and have to start all over again.
Things to remember/work on:
Controlling bottoms hips when passing guard
The 3 half guard sweeps listed above. (I really want to get good at these by the time I'm ready to compete again)
Wrestling sit-out
Posture in guard (don't look at bottom guy, there is no need)
Remain calm
Breaking down top's posture when I'm bottom guy
Just want to thank Jon Santos again for coming down and bringing his guys to roll with us. Was really a great learning experience and it's cool to see how I stack up against guys from other gyms. Hopefully I can "master" these sweeps. I'm probably just going to work on these for a little while. Of course I won't forget the other basics, but I feel that if I can just get these half guard sweeps to work for me I will get way better.
All the sweeps start out in the same position so I will try to go into detail about that and then just list the 3 finishing parts.
First, if your getting flattened out on your right hip (right leg is trapped by top guy) you would take your left arm and swim it underneath top's (will call it T from now on) chin and grab his left lapel or his shoulder. From there you want to angle your elbow and push up with your forearm to create space. At the same time you want to T-Rex his hip by keeping your elbow in and pushing. By pushing at both places you can create enough space to bring your left leg into his stomach. Something like half way scissor sweep. This is the basic starting position for all the variations.
Variation 1: So starting from the basic half guard position what you want to do is keep your right arm t-rexed to block the crossface and being flattened out again. From there you would take your left arm which was underneath his chin to go for a deep underhook and grab either T's gi or belt. From there you shuck your shoulder (basically like going out the back door) and take the back. When you shuck the shoulder you will already have one hook and should be able to grab the chicken wing grip with your right arm. From there you can sink your left hook and chicken wing the remaining arm to stabilize back mount.
Variation 2: Starting once again from the basic position you want to maintain the space and once again get the deep underhook with your left arm. From there grab the gi or belt again. It may seem a lot like Variation 1, but this is where things get different. So while maintain your underhook you want to take your right arm which is t-rexing T's left arm (left arm is based out) you get grip on the gi/wrist (i found pistol grip helped a lot) and pull on the wrist while you drop your left leg to the mat (left leg would've been scissored across T's stomach but you drop it to the ground.. similar to hip bump in a way). So while pulling away his base you drop your left leg and sit up and push into T to get him over. You should end in half guard.
Variation 3: Variation 3 just starts in half guard with lockdown or the basic position above. So what you want to do with this one is first create space by using the previously mentioned technique. Once again you get the left underhook by grabbing either gi/belt and t-rex with your right arm. Once you have created the space you want to take your left leg and switch it with your right. So instead of having your bottom right leg wrapped around T's leg, you will have your left. With your left leg you can either pull it towards the outside or do whatever makes you comfortable (as long as the leg is trapped the technique will work). So the position you should be at this point is on your right hip with your right arm blocking T's left arm from crossfacing and your left arm underhooked and grabbing onto T's gi/belt. What you do then is turn your head to the left and in one exploding motion roll T over you. If done correctly you should end up in side control cleanly. The thing about this technique is that it doesn't require any strength at all. As long as T keeps driving in, this technique should be cake.
Rolling at the end of class was pretty fun. I don't really remember a lot about what happened since I was just concentrating on having fun but I did get subbed a few times but it was a awesome experience. I can tell that they really like to play top game so it was a battle just to sweep to get on top. I did have some success with some half guard sweeps (x guard sweeps) and i was also able to get a bow and arrow choke from the back. I'm getting a lot more comfortable maintaining the back now. I also had some limited success with the wrestling sitout which I have been drilling constantly whenever I have free time on the mat. I think when I get more comfortable with it my game will change greatly since I am getting more and more experience scrambling. The one thing that stood out to me was passing guard. It's not that I don't have trouble passing both legs, it's the trouble I have controlling the bottom person's hips. What ends up happening is I'll either get stuck in half guard or guard and it's frustrating when I pass both legs and have to start all over again.
Things to remember/work on:
Controlling bottoms hips when passing guard
The 3 half guard sweeps listed above. (I really want to get good at these by the time I'm ready to compete again)
Wrestling sit-out
Posture in guard (don't look at bottom guy, there is no need)
Remain calm
Breaking down top's posture when I'm bottom guy
Just want to thank Jon Santos again for coming down and bringing his guys to roll with us. Was really a great learning experience and it's cool to see how I stack up against guys from other gyms. Hopefully I can "master" these sweeps. I'm probably just going to work on these for a little while. Of course I won't forget the other basics, but I feel that if I can just get these half guard sweeps to work for me I will get way better.
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