SJJA 22-12-11

Venue: Sweat FA

Instructor: Ian Rossiter.  (SJJA)

 

 

Last night was the last session of the year for SJJA down Sweat FA. I have, unfortunately, missed the last 2 classes in Weston due to work commitments so I very much wanted to attend the last one. On getting to the gym though I was initially very concerned as the only people there were the gym staff and they were cleaning(?!). It honestly looked like the place was closing down for Christmas and when I was approached by Josh, one of the managers at Sweat FA, he was unsure as to whether or not the session was on. I was fairly certain the lesson had not been cancelled as I had exchanged text messages with Ian early in the week but when you're the only person in gym waiting for said lesson you start to doubt yourself. To make matters worse I have a tendency to get to the gym about 20 minutes early to socialise/warm up and on this occasion I was the only person to do so which only added to my concern for the possibility that the lesson had been cancelled without my knowledge.

As it got to 8 o clock though, Ian trundled through the door to my relief and we walked into the Martial Arts section of the Gym to find there was a guy waiting there who wanted to start training with us. As we were chatting and getting ready 3 others walked in and during the warm up another 3 trickled through so we had reasonable numbers in the end.

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 15 x 3, Squats 15x 3, Crunches 15 x 3 and then some leg stretching.



Techniques:
For the first technique Ian had us breaking closed guard (or at least coming to a position where you're about to break guard) by first taking a grip on your opponents gi front with one hand and pulling the guys arm across him a securing it at his belly with the other. Then, standing in the opponents closed guard, push your knee against their ass then drop back down so you're kneeling in their guard. Your knee should come in between you and your opponent so you're in a combat stance in their closed guard - depending on the size difference this action alone may break the guard. We drilled getting to this position for a couple of minutes first. I was drilling with Marcus for this bit and we had a bit of a chat and a laugh about his new job (congratulations by the way, I think forgot to say that in my last SJJA blog post).

Ian then moved us on to the pass. For this we push through the gap with the knee to the other side of the opponents body (be sure to underhook on the farside arm for this and pull up on the jacket sleeve at the nearside elbow), slide the leg through so your ass has passed and is on the mat, then pull the other leg through with a yank. You should now end in Kesa Gatame. I drilled this pass first a few times with Marcus, then we changed and I went with Gary.

Ian then changed the focus of the position to the guard player. As the guy on top is in the combat stance (knee forward through the closed guard), with one of his hands gripping the jacket front and the other gripping the guard players sleeve arm, the guard player then takes a grip of the sleeve cuffs of the opponent (for the one where his arm is gripped just switch your arm under and to the outside to take the grip) and simultaneously clenches and pulls up with his closed guard while pulling up and over his shoulder with the opponents arms (shoulder on the opposite side to the one where the guy was about to pass). This movement should sweep the guy over to his back with you on top but with the guys leg rather uncomfortably in the way in a kind of half butterfly hook that is pushed over to the wrong side. You then pressure down on the leg with your bodyweight so the guy can't use it to sweep you back off, switch your hips so your ass is on the floor and kick the leg the opponent has hooked out and then swing it up and around in a wide arc to the floor. Once there you're in a reverse Kesa Gatame position (facing legs instead of head), you can then switch your hips to bring your lower leg out from underneath to get to a strong side control position. Me and Gary drilled this for a while also trying out some variations on how to either pass over to the other side or get to mount.

After this Ian moved us on to a drill where you start in closed guard, the bottom player sweeps to mount then the mounted player upa escapes back to guard. We drilled this for a few minutes getting the chance to try out a load of different sweeps which was much fun.

After this we had a roll. I was mostly trying to fight from guard for the duration of the session to try out some sweeps and subs. I managed to hit an arm bar from guard but that was pretty much it. I also managed a kind of inverted Bow and Arrow choke from the top which was pretty sweet but it was against a newer guy so it doesn't really count.

I really enjoyed this session. Everyone seemed very light hearted with Christmas round the corner and it felt like a good way to end the year. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ian for the instruction he's given me over the last year and for getting me promoted to blue belt. I've enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait for the new Bjj year. \m/