Checkmat Bjj - 2/10/12

It's been a while since I've managed to get up to train with the guys at Checkmat Bjj Bristol and I've definitely missed it. They've got a well attended class up there with a few new guys I've not seen before, mixed in with the regular old faces. Great atmosphere with lots of camaraderie but also a good batch of guys who take their training relatively seriously.

Venue: Bristol Combat Legion, LA Gym, Bristol, Uk
Instructor: Chico Mendes (Grade 2 Black Belt, Checkmat Bjj)


Techniques:
(I will describe each technique using the method I originally learned it. ie. left and right grips etc. for ease of description)

Chico started off by running through a couple of the techniques he did last week (which was good for me as I wasn't there last week). Seems last week he was dealing with various methods for breaking the closed guard of which he re-demonstrated 3 quickly and had us run through them quickly a couple of times.

1/. In opponent's closed guard, right hand gripping the lapels of his jacket together, left hand gripping the material of his gi pants right around his pelvis region and pushing your knuckles into said pelvis region in an attempt to keep his hips pinned to the floor. From there you bring your right leg up and forward on the outside, so you can press that shin/knee against the opponent's side. From there you can increase the pressure on his side as if you are turning in towards him (sometimes this can break a guy's guard) or you can stand in this position, increase the pressure on the side and use you left hand to lightly push away his right, easily breaking the guard.

2/. In opponent's closed guard, using your right hand, grab his left and push it hard into his pelvis area to achieve the same sort of pinning as in the first method. With your left hand on his knee you raise your left leg outside of him to apply pressure in his side. The just use your right elbow to push against his left inside leg to achieve the easy guard break.

3/. In opponent's closed guard, both hands gripping the gi pant material at the pelvis and pushing down. With this one you just lean off to your left slightly and use your left elbow to push hard into his right inside left until he eventually lets his guard go just to relieve the pressure.
It's worth noting that this technique is not the same as the one where the guy in guard postures up and deliberately digs his elbows callously into your quad muscles just about halfway up your upper leg. The former technique is a good and legitimate way of passing guard. The latter is a bit of a fuck wits move to callously and intentionally hurt the sparring partner until they let go of their guard in agony and will probably be left with heavy bruising for the next week. Don't be that guy.

I did all my drilling with Tom "Medal Collector" Hill.

Chico then took us through some methods of passing the guard after you have broken it open.

The first passing method was the knee slide. You've just broken the guard open. You now need to press your left leg into the guy's inside leg, pushing it out ward to keep the leg at bay so as to not allow the guy to recover guard. With your right arm you push the guys left leg down to the floor and quickly hop your right leg over it. You then quickly slide your knee over the top of his left leg until gets to the ground one the other side of him. Whilst doing that you also underhook the guys right arm with your left, lay your down either to the mat on the left of him or pressing hard against his chin/neck area, and also overhook his left arm with your right so you can pull that arm behind you to stop him from blocking your pass. Once in this position you can bring yourself further over him and then work to pull your trailing leg through too. Then scissor your legs to switch over into side control.


The second pass demonstrated was basically exactly the same as the last but against the De La Riva guard.


Next up was a variation of the smash pass. You've broke the opponent's guard open and have your left leg pressing against his right inside leg. Your left hand is grabbing his gi pants at the right knee. Your right is gripping his gi front/lapel/belt. You now reach under his left leg with your right arm and then push your arm under as far as it will go so you can grab his right lapel. This enables you to bring the leg right up on your shoulder, leaning your weight against the leg to make it quite uncomfortable for the opponent. You also need to make sure you've kept your left leg in place and brace it there with your left hand. This stops the guy from being able to hit a triangle on you.
From this position we were shown two passes. The basic smash pass and a variation. For the basic smash pass you heavily press your weight up against the guy's left leg until it's basically pushed across his body. When it's forced as far as it'll go you can just turn your upper body slightly (the right shoulder goes forward) so the leg flies right by you and you can pass comfortably into side control.

For the second variation, you're in the smash set up position with the guy's left leg pressured. Instead of trying for the first smash pass, you can use your left hand to wrap around the guy's left leg, then roll left and forward while bringing your right leg up high and over, passing the guy's right leg. If done correctly, when you rolled forward, your knee at his inside leg would've passed over as well leaving only that foot left to pass. Once there you just switch your hips to gain a strong side control position.
I was really impressed with this move. When you drill it repeatedly you can really make it flow. I could easily see it becoming a go to pass of choice.





Situational rolling:

We started off the sparring with some situational stuff. You each get a couple of minutes in guard. Guy on top has to pass. Guy on bottom has to sweep or submit.

I went first against Tom with him going on the bottom first. I managed to pass his guard twice and then swept him once during my guard time.


Next up was Tom Kocur. I have a lot of respect for Tom's guard game. He's definitely a dangerous guard player, so during the course of this session I was very mindful of Tom's ability to whip out some sneaky subs. I did however use his sub hunting skills against his to get passed his guard as I lured him into trying for an arm bar, then turned the arm up so he couldn't hyper-extend it while I just passed around the open side. I was really chuffed with this. Tom is one of those guys that is pretty damn slick, so when i get anything on him it feels like I'm progressing. We restarted back in guard and before long Tom was threatening, first with and arm bar, which I switch out of again, then with an omoplata, which I managed to extend my arm to keep out of. It was during this second escape/block that Tom managed to switch on me getting the sweep. Very slick.
during my guard with the guard, neither of use managed to accomplish anything of noted. I threatened a couple of subs but he easily blocked them. He didn't manage to pass my guard.


Last guy I did the situational against was Mark Acton. Mark is a very wiley opponent who brought it too me straight from the off. He broke my guard using one of the techniques from the beginning of the evening, then after a good struggle and a few well varied attempts, he managed to pass my guard using a Toreando pass. we were both pretty gassed after the struggle mind and basically killed off the rest of my round with stalling play.
My time in Mark's guard was horrendous. I don't know it it was due to me gassing in the round before or what, but I couldn't summon up the strength to break open Mark's guard. I was throwing a lot of stuff at him but he was resisting fantastically. The only plus I take away from that was the fact that Mark didn't manage to sweep me either.


Rolling: 7 Minutes rounds.


For proper rolling I had a go against Rich Long first. Rich's game is ever improving and once again he used some really good techniques to get out of some tricky spots. It was a very back and forth roll with each of us getting a good amount of time on top and on back. I found myself attacking Rich's turtle twice. The first time he executed and immediate escape recovering to half guard. The second time I just marginally missed taking his back. I did manage a pretty cool half guard sweep on him at one point, but then he managed to burst out of a flattened half guard (using the very recognisable Lucas Leite technique) to recover to full guard. During one of my times on the bottom he made the mistake of presenting too much arm while postured up trying to break my guard. I bluffed him by pretending I was going for a gi choke while sneakily pulling myself in to position, where I managed to hit an arm bar on him. All in all it was a great roll. 


My last roll was against a new guy I'd never met before (Chris?) who said he'd only been going 2 months. I went very easy on him and talked him through some escapes from some of the tougher situations. I also tried to talk him through some of the basic mistakes he was making but as is always the case with new guys, no matter what I said I couldn't get him to stop trying to push away using his extended arms whilst in my guard. To his credit though, he had a contingency plan for when I went for the arm bar, using his other arm to block. From there though I threatened the omoplata, making him extend the arm, leaving me in the position where I just had to kneel upright and extend his arm straight to get the tap. It still didn't ram the point home though as he went straight back to arm extending in my guard after the reset. I was just about to hit him with another arm bar when time was called. I guess he's gonna need to be arm barred a few times before he learns. Oh well, we were all beginners once.

That ended a really cool session in Bristol. It was great to be back up there with those guys I hope to get back there really soon. At the end, Chico gave a quick talk about the London Open and European No Gi Championships being held in London at the end of the month, of which Chico himself is entering. Should be good fun but the prices are astronomical so I will not be able to participate myself. Ah well. Stick to training hard and hopefully good things will come. ¬m/