SJJA 16-2-12

I've been on call all week but not really had any call outs which is a bit of a bummer. I'm of the mind that if I'm gonna be on call I may as well be working so no calls seems like a wasted week waiting by the phone. So it was a great relief when Thursday came around and it was time for Ian's class at Sweat FA. Good numbers again this week which seems to be quite a steady theme recently (touch wood), a few of the newer guys sticking around and some of the older faces returning and making a run of it. Always good to vary up who you roll with.

Venue: Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare, UK.

Instructor: Ian Rossiter.  (SJJA)







Ian was running a bit late so I took the warm up. I used Ian's standard template of laps of the mats, whilst wind-milling your arms, first the outside arm forward for a lap then back for a lap, then the inside arm the same. Then laps with ass kicks, knee ups, face inward for a lap and out for a lap, then two steps facing in and two step facing out for a lap. Then we did some neck and arm stretching followed by squats, sit ups and press ups. 4 x 10 of each and finished with some leg stretching.

First technique of the night, Ian ran us through a cross collar choke from guard. You've start with the opponent in your closed guard, reach up and grab one side of his collar with both hands (the nearside hand going above the cross side hand). Escape your hips out to the side (not the side you have the collar grip) and pull the opponent down to break his posture. Your top hand then goes over the top of the guys head (whilst sliding your hand along in his collar) and then down across the neck, for the cross collar choke. Be sure to pull your elbows down toward your torso then outward with the contour of your body rather than just trying to yank outwards from the offset.

We constantly mixed up the drilling partners through out the class this week so I'm not even going to try and remember who I was drilling with at any given time. I do remember initially having problems getting my arm over the top of one of the larger headed members of the class but I realised that once the guys posture is broken down you can actually release the cross collar grip momentarily to pull the guys head down with that hand so the arm can pass over, then replace it quickly, without losing any of the tension on the choke.

We were then shown a variation of this technique by Dan, a blue belt that has recently joined our class after moving up from Portsmouth (I think?). You've got the guy in your Guard. You break his posture down using 1 cross collar so he's close to your chest. Your other arm comes over the top and pulls up a handful of gi at the shoulder and you use the pressure of that arm on his back to uncomfortably press his face into your chest. He’ll inevitably try and make space to free his head by which time you can lift the top arm slightly to let the head go up and pass the forearm under the chin for the cross collar choke.

From there we moved on to a Loop Choke. Start in closed guard again with 1 cross collar grip with a limp wrist grip so the arm can bend under the throat. Pass the other arm around the back of the guys neck and thread that hand through your arm at the elbow crook. You then turn the hold and the guy (like a steering wheel) to hit the choke.

A variation for if your opponent is on the large side is to grab the gi sleeve at the elbow (instead of threading the hand in the elbow) and slapping it on like that.

The last technique of the day was a cross collar choke variation using the opponents gi lapel pass over his back. Firstly, you need to ensure his gi jacket lapel is pulled fully out of his belt on one side. Then, break down his posture using your knees to pull him toward you and pass the guys lapel behind his back and over his opposite shoulder. Then grip with the opposite hand so you have a cross collar grip. Hold it so your thumb is pointing upwards and bring your forearm across his throat. Your other hand reaches up to his other shoulder and you can apply the cross collar choke by pulling your arms down towards yourself in the usual way.

I initially found this move difficult to get to grips with but I think that might be as much to do with the guy I was drilling with who was a bit uncooperative with the positioning of the technique. Got it in the end though.

A variation for this one was to turn it into a loop choke which I found much easier to get to grips with.

Rolling.

Rolled twice against Tom Hill controlled him and took his back twice. Very near to hitting the bow and arrow at the end but time ran out. Next against big Justin who I managed a deep half sweep on. Got him to mount and tapped him to an arm bar from mount. Last roll was another go in the meat grinder against Ian. I didn’t tap this time - result. And got some reasonably good half guard play in there.

A good lesson with some nifty gi chokes in there. Fantastic. Saturday is another Leo Vieira - Checkmat/Trojan Seminar in Cheltenham. Awesome. Can't wait. \m/