Bridgwater Combat Club. 2/9/13

Ok so I've missed out a couple of weeks worth of blogs. I've got the notes for it but I haven't really got time to go back and type it out.

Anyhow, I thought I'd do a quick entry about my good buddy Glenn Cutter's new gig as Bjj Coach down in Bridgwater, Somerset, UK.  Glenn has taken the spot training the club on their ground work as of Monday 2nd September and I had the pleasure of attending his first class.

The Bridgwater Combat Club is a tidy little unit around the back of Deniz Kebab House on St John's Street in Bridgwater and it is decked out very well with a cage wall down the side and a fully matted floor. The all white finish gives the place a cool, fresh feel to it as well.

As the Bridgwater club is relatively new, most of the guys in attendance were fairly new to the Bjj and groundwork game. There weren't many training in the gi to start except for a couple of guys that have come up from Glenn's regular training venue at Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare (under Ian Rossiters tutelage), me being one of those. The rest of the guys were in combat shorts and rash guards or t shirts.

Glenn ran the class through the very basics to begin starting with the theory behind basic closed guard and posture control, then going on to guard breaking and a basic smash pass to side control. He then ran everyone through a rear naked choke from behind (un mounted) and then showed it with the full rear mount with hooks in. He finished off the class with the traditional staple escape from rear mount. All good strong beginning techniques and most of the guys I was watching and drilling with were picking it all up pretty quickly.

We done to Glenn for getting this new position and I hope he enjoys teaching there for many years to come. I know I will try to attend the occasional lesson down there. ¬m/

DV8 Bjj 8/8/13

I had to miss a Thursday session last week due to being on call but I was still getting some good lunchtime drilling and sparring sessions in during the week with the rapidly improving Chris Cook and Luke Brown.

Fortunately I was back for this Thursday though as I was asked by Ian to teach the class. Once again what an honour it is to be given the opportunity to teach a class.

Venue: Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare, Uk.
Instructor: Me :0)   - Martin Eyre (Blue Belt, Checkmat).

This time around I decided to focus on Butterfly Guard. I started by explaining the basic idea behind butterfly guard , how you want your body to be ideally positioned, how you can control your opponent etc..

I then took it quickly on to a Butterfly Guard Collar and Elbow Sweep. Start by sitting in front of your opponent with your knees opened out and your feet close together, your opponent opposite you on his knees gearing up for a pass of some sort. You pull in close to your opponent to get your feet hooked outwards inbetween his legs and take a collar and elbow grip on him. That is grabbing his left collar with your right hand and grabbing his right arm sleeve at the elbow with your left hand. You then lean backward pulling him with you, breaking down his posture and stretching him out long. While doing so you alter the positioning of your left foot from inbetween his legs to foot on hip. This helps to stretch the guy out. It also frees your foot up so when the guy is leaning right over you off balanced, you can use that left leg to push his right leg away, totally destroying his balance and pulling on his elbow while pushing on his collar easily flips him over to his back with you coming over in to mount. Amazingly easy and effective butterfly sweep that I use regularly and so do a lot of the other guys with out even realising it.



The next sweep I went for was an Ankle Pick, Collar Push sweep. You're in your basic seated butterfly position once again. This time the guy is coming at you in a combat stance with right knee on floor and left leg up on foot. With you left hand you quickly grab his right collar while your left hand grabs the ankle of his upright left leg. The grip of his collar you take is a fingers in, thumb pointing down grip at about the neck line. You then simultaneously pull on his foot and push across/into his neck to tip him over onto his back. Ensure as you come up to press one of your knees down upon the pulled leg so as to initiate a pass. It doesn't matter which knee you use to clamp his leg to the floor, it usually just depends on how you land from the scramble and how you prefer to pass. I favour shutting the leg down with my right knee and then kicking my left leg over the top and pulling over in to side control like that.



The third sweep was from Double Underhook control. You're right in close with your opponent and have double underhooks (both your arms under his arms and reaching around his back) with your feet inside and your knees spread out (butterfly). You lay backward onto your shoulders pulling your opponent with you to collapse his posture. You then quickly kick out with your legs and rock back forward, coming up onto your knees as you do. You alter your arm position behind his back to grip hands at the small of his back then use this grip to pull right in tight causing a lot of discomfort to the opponent and enabling you to push him right back to back with you easily coming over into side control. A really good and surprisingly easy technique to hit.



To vary up the Butterfly Guard game a bit I moved on to a couple of subs. Beginning with a Straight armbar. Starting from the double underhook position you need adjust you arm position to fight for an overhook on his left side using you right arm. Doing this successfully will end with you having your right arm over the top over his left bicep/triceps and wrapped back through underneath, with his arm passing your side. You now lock his arm to your side using that arm levered by your other arm using a gable grip of just by pulling the forearm. Then you push away using your legs to stretch him out, letting his arm go no further than the lower triceps, whilst pushing out with your hips to apply the Straight Armbar pressure. A really painful arm lock when applied correctly and if it is the tap comes really quick.



The second sub and the last technique of the session was a Guillotine from Butterfly Guard. Starting with your legs butterflied out and sunk inside between his leg but without the upper body engaged yet. Using your left hand you grab the opponent at the back of the head/neck and pull him in hard toward you. With your right arm (palm facing up) you bring it up so the blade edge of your wrist meets up with his neck under the chin. You use this hold to pull him further in so you can lean your right shoulder on the back of his head, keeping it down in position, giving you time to take the left hand from the back of his head and gable gripping up your hands. You then only need to extend your legs a bit to stretch him out whilst arching your back and pulling up on the guillotine arm for the tight finish. This is a real eye waterer when landed and a great addition to the Butterfly Guard arsenal.



It was a great session all round and I was really pleased with how easily the guys picked up all the techniques. Being able to pass knowledge on is one of the best parts about the art of Bjj. Love it.

¬m/

DV8 - 25th July 2013.

Managed to get in a couple of good sessions on the mats with Chris Cook this week. Chris's game is really coming along with him trying out loads of new stuff I've never seen from him before and really tightening up his defense too.

At Ian's class this week there was once again quite a good turn out with some new guys coming along for the session. It's always good to see new young guys turning up and lately a lot of them have been sticking to it as semi regulars. Promising things for a potential strong future team. Keep it going.

Venue: Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare. Uk (Possibly for one of the last times as we're supposed to be moving in August sometime).
Instructor: Ian Rossiter (Checkmat Black Belt).


Ian started us off with some Spider Guard drilling for positioning and how to improve your spider guard grips and how to maintain it under duress. Starting out with you on your back and the opponent standing, you have grips of the opponents cuffs and feet on hips, you can transfer the feet to the arms or the shoulders. When the opponent is trying to pass your guard on one side of you, you extend your leg on that side, keeping him at bay. We drilled this with your opponent lazily trying to pass you while you practice the motions of keeping him away.


From there we use the feet on hips Spider Guard to unbalance the opponent pushing him backward then, when he tries to push back forward you use his momentum to kick your legs up and flip him over the top of you. This is remarkably easy to pull off in rolling when everything is random and yet, when a training partner knows it's coming they sometimes have a problem giving it up for practice sakes and end up squatting a bit to much stopping you from landing it. It's just instinct that you don't want to be flipped on your ass I suppose. Great move when you land it though.


We then mess about a bit with a Spider Guard Helicopter Arm Bar. When you're got the position for the flip, instead of flipping the opponent over you hold them up in the air so your legs are extended up and the guy is being balance on your feet (with you still gripping his arms at the cuffs). Now, dropping your left leg out to the side while simultaneously pulling the guy's left arm in close to your body and pushing his right over the top of it, the guy should neatly deposit to the south of you. With a quick adjustment your right leg is in tight below his arm and you pass your left leg over his head for a nice arm bar.



Last up was a Clock Choke on Turtle. The guy is huddled up in his turtle with you out to left side leaning across him, keeping him down in turtle using your body weight. You reach through under his neck with your left hand to grab his collar quite deep, then reach over his back and under his right arm with your right arm to grab his forearm. Pulling this forearm in whilst putting body weight on him will push his elbow out so he can't roll you over at this point. Now you switch your legs so your whole body is facing north of him by kicking your right leg through under you and out. You now apply wicked pressure to this move by walking yourself around his head. This is a great move when you land it (which I never have properly in sparring or comp). Very tight. I just never find myself remembering it when I'm in that position. I will have to make it one of my aims for the next few months.


Good session in all and I am happy that I'm now back to full rolling with the rib injury a distant memory. Let the good times roll (sic). ¬m/

DV8 18/7/13

Well I've had a week off from Ian's class last week as it was my Birthday. I've managed to get some lunchtime sessions in though. Most notably with my very good buddy Marcus Hedley, who graced me with his presence on Monday. We just mucked about showing each other a few techniques then sparred the crap out of each other until we were both fit to pass out. Good times :0)

Anyway. This week at Ian's class at Sweat FA (that name took on a whole new meaning this week!) was down in numbers. To be expected really in this heat but I love training so no one else has an excuse!!!

Ian started us off this week with a cool overhook drop knee throw (there's probably some funky Judo name for this but I'm not really up with that stuff). Standing face to with left hand gripping the opponents right arm sleeve and your right hand gripping his left collar you step in and pass your right hand over his left shoulder. As you do this you turn to your left whilst wrapping the right arm around the back of his head and holding his right arm off. Once turned you bend your knees and push your butt in tight to him pulling him over your back, then straighten you knees lifting him off the ground. Pulling his right arm in tight to you drop to your right knee and throw him over your back. This throw lends itself well to practicing with a partner you like as you can go easy on it or you land it like a bodyslam. Good takedown.



Once you've taken the guy down using that throw you should land in a kesa gatame side control with his right arm still secure. You can push this arm right across his upper body then drive your right shoulder into the triceps of that arm, keeping your right arm wrapped around his neck. Now you can either gable grip your hands together OR put your right hand in the crook of your left arm to tighten the arm around the neck, then you lay over flat on your front to maximise the pressure and get an easy tap. Nice transition to the Head and Arm Triangle.




Another transition from the throw was to pop up into knee on belly. With the knee on belly quite high on the chest and the right arm still secure you just lean forward a touch while passing your left leg around over his head then fall back while tightening your knees together for a nice tight arm bar. Got to make sure you come in to the body tight though. If your butt isn't right in close to his shoulder he can escape if he's quick enough.


Next up is if the opponent blocks the previous arm bar by gripping his hands together. In this situation you can just pass your right hand inside the crook of his left arm and pull that arm in hard so it's close to your upper body. This will tilt him on his side. You can now pass your left leg over his head to his now tilted up shoulder and turn your whole body around with it so you're now facing the other way. Secure the guy's left arm properly and fall back into the same style arm bar but on the other side of his body. I use this submission a lot and have managed to get quite quick with the turn, using a sort of cork screw motion to get into the position quickly so as to minimise the amount of time the opponent has to react and block the arm bar.


Great sesh. As per the norm lately I have typed this out horrendously late. Been very busy with other stuff but I will try and get back on track.

Train hard  ¬m/

DV8 4/7/13

This last week has been brilliant for me. I've been back to sparring and managed to get three sessions training in. Great stuff. Can't argue with that. Tuesday was Lunchtime with Chris Cook, Thursday lunch was with Marc Aplin and Thursday evening was down at Ian's class. Got some good techniques from all of it but I'll be focusing on what I learnt at DV8 for this log.


Once again we picked up good numbers for Ian's class this week and there were quite a few off too so it leaves me wondering just how many attend on and off these days. If everyone was to attend one class together would we pack the mats out? It's bound to happen soon.

Venue: Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare, UK.
Instructor: Ian Rossiter (Black Belt - Checkmat)


We started off the lesson recapping the Side control forearm choke which we covered here so no need for me to rehashed.



We then went on to Side control to knee on belly to north south choke. From in side control you pop of to Knee on belly (well duh) and take a thumb in grip of the opponent's far collar with your offside hand and a fingers in grip of the nearside collar with your near hand. Then opening the elbow of the near arm you pass it over his face as you transition to North South so you now have a cross collar on him with one of your elbows past each of his shoulders. To finish you lean your body over to the side you have just come from so your head is at his side and bring your elbows in tight around yourself to apply the pressure (as you would for a standard cross collar).



From back to the knee on belly, your right knee on his belly, left leg out straight. This time the guy puts his offside hand on your knee to push it away. With your right hand you reach inside then under his left (defending) arm and cup/grip at above the elbow. You then pull him in tight to your body so he's up at an angle and step your left foot over his head. You can now corkscrew turn and come down on your butt bringing his left arm in with you. Clench your knees together and extend hips to finish the arm bar. This is a technique I've been loving for a while now.



Last move of the night was one that I really enjoyed. The opponent has you in a typical american wrestler style pin for side control with his right arm hooking your leg. This is blatantly a stalling tactic as there aren't really many good places to go with the arm under the leg and he hasn't got the points for a pass if the arm hasn't first come through. You grab the arm that is under your leg and pull it right down so the hand is somewhere near your ass. Try to secure that hand there by getting a bit of your body weight on it. You then (quickly or you'll lose the position) release your grip on the secure arm and quickly use your left forearm or hand to push the guy's face/head away so you can quickly kick your left leg up and over the top of his head, pressing that leg down across his back. You then close up the triangle with your right leg and pull the secured arm down across your back/butt for the triangle choke. Voila!! Triangle choke finish from THE BOTTOM of side control. NICE.
It's worth noting that I have now almost hit that move when the guy wasn't even trying to pin me. I just pushed his arm through of my own accord and nearly got the triangle. It's only (probably) because I'd just shown him the move about 10 minutes before that he blocked the finish but I still used it as a fine escape from side control.


Great lesson overall. It's worth mentioning that between the time of this lesson (and me starting this log) to now, 2 weeks have passed. I've been off celebrating my birthday and learning stuff with my other project etc. So I've slacked off. I've been getting in my Bjj though which is really the important thing. More to come real soon as the Summer Bjj bug has really bitten me.

¬m/

DV8 Bjj 27/6/13

So this week I was feeling a bit better in the rib department. Not fully healed up by a long shot but I definitely wanted to have a crack at rolling. Due to work commitments however, I did not have the chance to train and spar at all during the week so come Thursday I was gagging to hit the mats.

Venue: Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare, Uk.
Instructor: Ian Rossiter.



First technique Ian ran us through this week was a Standard guard break. The good old knee up backside guard break that has been covered many times before so I won't go over it again.


He followed it up with a standing guard break. In your opponent's guard on your knees you grab his right hand with your left and force it in towards his groin area straightening your arm to hold it in place. You then push your right knee in against his ass and step out to the side with your left leg (he can't punish you for this by grabbing your leg as you have his right arm secured) and use that leg to stand to your feet in a squat position. Now using your right arm you grip the opponent's gi pants high up (or low down as he's essentially upside down) near the groin on his left leg and drive your elbow into his lower quad to break the guard and push the guy's leg down your leg all the way to the floor, at which point you can pin that leg down just above the knee by passing your knee over top but keeping your foot back (this enbles you to pin his leg down with your leg). Keeping his other leg pushed away using your left arm you can now lean through and press your upper body against his midriff to pin him to the floor, resting all your weight on him, then high crescent kick your trailing (left) leg over and through to finish the pass into side control.


We then reviewed the standard Smash pass which I've covered here a few times too.



Next up was the good old standing opponent sweep from closed guard. You've got your guard closed on him and he's managed to get to his feet. Unfortunately for him in this position his legs are to far forward enabling you to grab him around the ankles with your hands, open your guard dropping your hips to the floor and then bend your knees in together and push outward with your legs tipping the opponent down to his ass. With a quick enough scramble you can't sit up and instantly pass to mount. Unfortunately, if your opponent is quick enough you can end up in his guard so you'd only swapped positions but it's still 2 points for a sweep.



To follow up on the above technique, you hit the sweep and the guy's gone to his ass. As you scramble forward to get to mount he extends one of his arms, placing a hand on your chest, to keep you away. To counter this and land yourself and awesome finish you just grab the wrist of the extended arm and keep it close to you while you drive your butt toward his body passing one of your legs over the top of the arm and around the head for the arm bar. A nifty finish.

Last up was the Ezekiel but I've covered that quite a few times here too.


To finish of the lesson I indulged in a bit of light sparring. I did quite well and left in relatively good shape with minimal side pain. A good lesson and getting back to health. What could be better?

DV8 20th June 2013

So once again, I'm writing this out a week behind. Anything you read here actually applies to last week.

Still injured. Shit ribs. :0(  Although it's slowly getting better. I can do some really light sit ups now and I've been doing some technique training mid week at lunch time to help one of the lads whose just started up at our club, Marc Aplin, get ready for competition. That's been going pretty well and it is great to be doing something on the mat but I don't half miss sparring. I've been told by everyone that I talk to though that I absolutely must let the intercostal muscle heal properly before hard sparring or it'll just result in further injury time. Fucking thing.

Anyway, on to this week at Ian's class.

Venue: Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare, Uk.
Instructor: Ian Rossiter (Black Belt, Checkmat)



Ian started us off this lesson with the excellent Brabo Choke from closed guard. Starting with the opponent in your closed guard you break his posture down and bring him in close to you, reaching over his back with your left arm and grabbing his gi at his left shoulder blade. This will help you keep him down while your right hand pulls his left gi lapel out of his belt. With this gi lapel in the right hand, you pass the end of it over his back to near his right shoulder. Once it's there you can release your left hand grip on his gi and grab the end of the lapel, using that to keep him down in position. You now pass your right hand under his face/neck and grab the proffered gi lapel over his right shoulder with that hand. This should now be quite tight around his neck with your wrist pressuring his throat somewhat. To finish you now bring your left hand over the top to reach for the tightened gi material at his left shoulder and drawn the opponent in tight to you, closing the choke on his throat and earning a pained tap. Nice move to start the lesson.




Moving it on from there, you've got the guy to the above position but for some reason - be it a hand in or the gi being slack in the wrong place - you can't finish the Brabo. You can vary the move by opening your guard up and swinging your left leg out and over the top of the opponent's head (your body will now be out right perpendicular to the position it was in previously) and then drive the foot down whilst maintaining the pulling pressure on the gi. Another awesome choking move and one that I have liked for a long time.



Alternatively, instead of going for the leg over choke, you can keep the Brabo grip on the over shoulder lapel and rotate out right (as above) but this time keeping your left leg in tight to ensure he can't remove his right arm from the set up . Once you've done this the right arm will be neatly in position for you to hold to your chest with your left hand, giving you time to remove your right hand grip from his lapel and pull it out of the way, so you can pass your left leg up over his head and extend the hips for a brilliant and painfully tight arm bar.



Now if you get to the above arm bar position but the guy has managed to pull his arm out enough to stop the threat you can change to concentrating on his right arm. From that angle (given the slightly twisted angle the opponent would be in at that point) It's an easy matter to pull his left arm onto you so his wrist is resting at about your right shoulder. Now ensuring that his thumb is pointing downward, you can press your right forearm on the back of his arm at just a fraction above elbow and use your left hand to gable grip the right, piling on the pressure for the extremely painful Straight Arm Bar finish. Jesus H Christ does that one hurt when put on right. You certainly want to be careful with that move and be sure you release AS SOON as the opponent taps. This is a move that can cause some pretty decent injuries if not carefully applied.



We finished of with a fairly standard switch from that last move to an Omoplata. Easy, obvious and not really worth explaining.


After that I got the opportunity to watch the guys roll again while I had to sit out. I took this chance to practice my cornering by verbally trying to assist someone to better their positions etc by shouting advice. A tactic that would help me out well for Sunday when I go up to Hereford to support Marc.

Injuries gotta be over soon. Pleeeeeeease!!!

¬m/