SJJA 24-11-11

Totally contravening what I said on Tuesday night, I was actually able to go to Bjj on Thursday. Cool Beans (it's a saying my missus keeps coming out with and it's starting to get in my head). This was mostly due to my previous family commitment not being needed any more and my wife being absolutely amazing and just coming out and suggesting I go to Jiu Jitsu instead (bless 'er). On top of that we had a good turn out tonight with a guest appearance from Nathan "Matrix" Moore Pointing who is trying to get in as much training as possible for Sundays English Open so all the best of luck to him on that.

Venue: Sweat FA

Instructor: Ian Rossiter.  (SJJA)

Warm up: Laps of the mat, including ass kicks, knee ups, facing inward for a lap, facing out for a lap. Neck, Arm and Shoulder stretching. Push ups 10 x 3, Squats 10 x 3, Crunches 10 x 3, then a shitload of seated knee tucks and then some leg stretching.

Techniques:

Takedowns:

Started off tonight by re-drilling the takedowns from 27th-Oct Class, the walking forward tipping your opponent to the ground; the same again but with a sweep; then the arm bump to double leg and this time we added the single leg variation where you bump the guys arms up then shoot in for a single, figure four your arms high around his leg (like RNCing) and stand up raising the opponents leg. You then just turn and corkscrew the guy to his back. I was drilling with Marcus for most of these which was cool as Marcus is a good drilling partner who puts in the right amount of effort, never gives anything away too easily and always picks you up on something if you're getting it slightly wrong. At one point though (on the sweeps) we were swapped and I was with Big Steve. Big Steve is, as the name suggests, quite big. And when he sweeps you and lands on you it's not the most pleasurable of experiences. Regardless of that though it's always good to try your stuff out on people who are quite a bit larger that you as you will always find someone who is bigger than you and if you've never experienced what it's like to grapple against someone like that you'll just be crushed and laid on when you eventually do. Not a pleasant experience at all.

Guard passing:

Ian swiftly moved us on to some guard passing, starting with the basic pass from kneeling in a closed guard. In closed guard, secure guys arm to the front of him and put weight down on his hips using the other arm ( a combination of grabbing his gi and driving down with your elbow). Then, drive the same side knee as the hand that is gripping his gi, into his ass. Now put the other leg out and behind you slightly with the foot flat on the floor and shift your weight backwards so your hips move back to your rear leg. This action should drive your knee into him (not literally you sick people) while the rest of your bodyweight rips open his guard. You then, using the hand that was holding his arm down, reach back behind the leg on that side and scoop the leg up, then reach up to his opposite shoulder and push your weight down on the leg and slide across making sure to clear your head. Then just bump his leg down so you land in side control. Me and Marcus drilled this a few times.

The next technique was just a variation on the last. If, as you're sliding past his leg, the guy on the floor posts his arm out into your side to stop you from completing the pass, all you have to do is bring your nearside knee in and up toward you then tuck it inside his posted arm and turn the leg to push it back out again. This easily upsets the post and all you have to do is fall neatly into side control. I drill this with another big lad called Justin. If I was being honest I found it hard to close my guard on Justin anyway so I do not think I would be using a closed guard on a guys his side. He could break the guard just by inhaling so I don't think that's the way to go.

Ian then moved us on to another pass. On this one you are kneeling and had broken the guard and managed to get both arms around the back of the guys legs so his knees are near your face. Then, pulling the guys hips into you so his back is riding up your legs, simply push one of his legs down on the floor and then continue as if for the other pass, forcing his leg up and smashing passed in to side control. A nice user friendly little pass that I shall definitely remember for future. I drilled this with Nathan and Gary, both purple belts which was fun as they both give you a few tips to help improve your moves.

The last move of the night Ian showed us was without a doubt my favourite. Ian showed the technique as if the opponent was about to try for the previously shown arms behind legs pass. While the guys got your hips up and pulled in, you slot an arm under his armpit on the facing side (left to right, right to left) and reach over the top with your other arm and grab your hands together. You can then pull on the tucked under arm which forces the opponents arm to pop out from under your leg and leaves you in the most delightful position to fire your leg up around his neck for the triangle. I practised this sub with my brace of purple belts and they started to vary it going into straight arm locks and arm bars too. Nice stuff. A favourite was when you popped the arm out it naturally lands laying flat on you. If you literally just hug his arm at the elbow and move as if you're performing a crunch it earns you a nice cheeky tap. Amazing move. Triangle and straight arm lock. Cool beans (argh).

Rolling:

We rolled using the 3 guys, two in one out system. Unfortunately I was with the Purples at the end of drill time and got landed with sparring with them. I say unfortunately but I love the challenge really. Admittedly with Nathan in pre Tournament mode he really wasn't giving much away and he managed to pull off some fantastic escapes. His turtle has always been a thing of beauty, just when you think your got him and can work his back he pulls off some wizardry and you end up in guard. I managed to sweep him once and pass his guard once (maybe twice, unsure about the second) and even nearly accomplished a sweep from half guard on him which is amazing given how badly my half guard game sucks. Still, I managed to come out of it recovering guard which if is worth it. All in all I was only tapped once, by Nathan via triangle which he'd turned over and ended up on top with, so I walked away feeling pretty good about the whole affair. It's always good surviving higher belts and even though I didn't get to fire off any sub attempts myself I survived most of it which is important. Especially as on one of change overs, Gary jumped straight on my back into bow and arrow and I managed to escape it. That deserves a back pat in itself considering how much Gary loves that sub :o)

Anyway, it was a great surprise Jiu Jitsu sesh tonight and I can't wait for next week.
Til next time \m/