DV8 Bjj. 19/9/13

I've had another fairly packed week of training this week with Tuesday to Thursday lunch times all taken up with some very hard situational sparring and hard rolling with Marcus Hedley. After three days of side control escapes, mount escapes and guard work practice I was fairly aching like a bastard. It's all very much appreciated and necessary though as I'm up in London on the 29th Sept for the Checkmat UK Interclub comp. Can't friggin wait. I want to be as prepared as I've ever been.

As for Thursday's lesson under Ian Rossiter at Sweat FA, Weston Super Mare, the numbers we had were massive. We've had a real influx in new guys recently, most of which have stuck around for a more of the same. Always a relief when you get a new guy come back as it feels like our job of promoting Bjj that little bit more has been a success.


As the class was so big Ian separated us up into the newer guys and more experienced guys. Ian took the newbies off and gave them a lot of attention on the basics while me and Marcus took the more advanced guys along a path that Ian started us off on.


Ian started us with a basic defensive concept. Your opponent is in your closed guard. He manages to break the guard open and force your leg (right, for the example) to the mat. He then starts to pass your guard by
passing over the leg, trying to come to side control. As he has one leg through and is coming up you push his head away while shrimping out. As the general rule of thumb is that where the head goes, the body follows, the opponent is pushed out away leaving you an excellent opportunity to counter attack or at least recover guard.


From this defense we were allowed to continue along with various counters and submissions. The first was the Omoplata. You've got to the point where the opponent is passing and you're pushing his head away. For the particular technique the opponent was attempting to pass with an underhook in place. This is ideal because as he's passing you push the head and escape your hips away from him and there is a decent amount of space for you to clamp his arm down to your offside then spin round, bringing your offside (left) leg over his shoulder. Making sure you grab on to his belt or across his lower back you pull yourself side on to him, pulling your bottom leg out as you go. You then switch your legs so they are pointing away from the guy. If he's up on his knees still at this point you can just shift away from him until it collapses his base to lay him out on his front. You can then grab his farside shoulder and use it to pull you body forward over him to apply a really tight omoplata.


We then ran through an underhook to back control. Nice easy transition from the pass. The guy is still using the underhook. You've pushed his head away and hip escaped creating a decent size gap in between you. You can now bring your left arm (the one he had underhooked) under his arm so you now have the underhook. Try to reach as far under as possible so you're grabbing for his opposite side shoulder. You now use the usual shift out, duck and shrug move that helps you claim the back control (one hook in) with him turtling. Don't try and immediately jump across him to get the other hook in for rear mount or he'll just drop down at the front and shrug you off. Instead reach over him (but under his arm) and grab his opposite side lapel. Using your other hand, push his near side elbow in toward him, then drop down to the floor rolling on your shoulder using your momentum to pull him over. As you'd previously reached under his arm for the lapel, that arm blocks him from bringing his knee and arm close together so you can easily get your second hook in for the seated rear mount. Excellent transition to full control.

A great lesson we had and a real pleasure to be allowed the opportunity to teach once again. I've got another full week of training coming up now ahead of Sunday's (29th) Interclub in London. I CAN NOT WAIT!!!! ¬m/  

Roll on.

Checkmat BCL 10/9/13

I've had a fairly full week of training this week. I've hit the lunch time training with Marcus (Hedley) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and I also took a trip up to Bristol Combat Legion to Chico Mendes' class on the Tuesday evening.

Training in the week with Marcus was very varied. We did stand up on Tuesday, focusing on Uchi Mata throws, trips and double and single leg takedowns.

On Wednesday we recapped on a load of the X Guard stuff we studied during one of our past sessions. It was pretty awesome going back over that as I'd forgotten a lot of the set ups. Strange that I've remembered the sweeps really well and have hit a couple of them in active sparring but only when I've basically been awarded the X Guard position by fluke as I'd nearly totally forgotten the set ups. Glad we went back over them.

Thursday was a bit of a mix of some gi chokes and a lot of sparring. Good hard session. We were both totally done after.


Highlight of the week though was going up to Bristol Combat Legion in Bristol, to Chico's new Checkmat class up there. And I have to say, the set up they have going on up there is amazing. The matted area is so smooth and all one peace, it's like grappling on a mattress. Brilliant.

Chico ran us through a basic Butterfly Guard Sweep. First solo drilling the fall sideway, kick up motion. Then going on to the live opponent drilling. Oddly, we were only using one hook in (right) while the other leg (left) was folded in and tucked behind the first leg. Grabbing a hold of the opponent's right wrist with your left hand and underhooking the guys left with your right, keeping your head ducked down inside toward the guy's chest, you now pull his right arm in (to stop him basing out) and fall sideways using the underhook to take him with you. As you are falling you kick up with your right hook to turn the guy over onto his side, with you coming over into top control. You can often get side control here but your opponent has a fleeting opportunity to recover guard in the transition.


Chico then ran us through a drill where you hit the sweep, come over into your partner's guard, then lean forward to force him into the ground. He then using both of his forearms to push against your shoulder, pushing you down his body until he can kick out with his legs and recover to Butterfly Guard. At which point he does the same thing over and you both continue on in a flow drill.


After this we did lots of situational butterfly guard rolling which was awesome. The class ended with the 2 in 1 out for a minute rolling (or mugging as I like to call it). Loads of rolling and loads of fun. A brilliant class to attend in a spanking new gym. Now I've got a ton of training to get to for an upcoming interclub on the 29th Sept. ¬m/

DV8 Bjj 5/9/13

Just got back from a pretty awesome lesson down Ian Rossiter's  DV8 Bjj at Sweat FA, Weston, and I'm on a real Bjj high! I've managed to get a good week of training in hitting Glenn's class on Monday, then getting two lunchtimes sessions in with the returning Marcus Hedley, and tonight at Ian's too. May even get some in tomorrow lunchtime too.

Techniques we learn tonight were :

Baseball Bat Choke from Guard.

Baseball Bat Choke from Half Guard.

Counter the Half Guard Baseball Bat Choke to Kesa Gatame Side Control.

Counter the Half Guard Baseball Bat Choke to Straight Arm Bar in Side Control.

Counter the Half Guard Baseball Bat Choke to Normal Arm Bar from Side Control.

Baseball Bat Choke from Knee on Belly.

Counter Baseball Bat Choke from Knee on Belly - into Arm Bar.

Holy shit did we really cover that much tonight?! And we still got some good rolling in too. Good time management there.



So first the Baseball Bat Choke from Closed Guard. You got the opponent in your closed guard. You reach up with your right hand and grab his LEFT collar (not cross collar) with a fingers in, thumb out grip. You also reach forward with your left hand and grab deep into his right lapel collar with a thumb in, fingers out grip. Your hands should nearly touch around the back of his neck. As the grip control is not a threatening as a cross collar grip the opponent feels a bit more confident to carry on working. So if you then open your guard and drop your right leg as if working for a sweep, the guy will try to pass right over on that side. As he does you just roll away left keeping the collar grip to close off the choke. Lovely and painful. A real game winner if you land it.


The move basically works the same with half guard.


Ian then went on to show us how to block the Half Guard variant. The guy underneath has you in his half guard and has the grips in place. You need to reach under his left arm with your right and grab his shoulder. You also grab his right arm at the triceps to release all tension. Now work your trapped leg out and kick through to seated kesa gatame side control position.

The second counter to the Half Guard BBB Choke was using the same restraint to ease the pressure but then pulling the leg through into side control with knee hard into his right ribs. You then clamp your head right so as to trap his left arm in between your head and shoulder whilsts holding the your left arm tight to you to keep his other arm in place. Next pass your right arm over the top of his left and make a gable grip with your left to secure it in place. You then tightly pull your forearm down (up) his arm until it find the sweet spot at his elbow to put on the really tight straight arm bar. Really painful if caught right but easy to lose if your technique is slightly wrong.

Fortunately, if you didn't get the first arm bar you still have the right arm there. Ensuring the right knee is still hard in his ribs and that foot is tucked under him, you can step over his head with your left foot and sit back to take the arm bar. The problem with this type of arm bar however is that you have to hit it fast over the opponent can roll out. So make sure you keep those knees tight together and extend the hips quickly or you'll lose the hold.



Next up we ran over the BBB Choke from Knee on Belly which I'm sure we did a few months ago but I can't seem to find the write up. Start from tight knee on belly control, right knee on, copying the grip method from earlier. To finish the choke you just step through forward with your right foot, leaning all your weight on the tightened choke around his throat.


To counter this you (as the guy on the bottom) straight arm out with your right arm into his hips to stop him from stepping through. With your left you grab his extended right arm. You then move your hips out left to make space then bring your right knee up tight in front of you while your left leg pass up and over his head for the lovely arm bar from bottom. Brilliant counter.


Wow. Once again that was a feck load of stuff we covered and we even had time for some situational rolling and some normal rolling. Good effort. Roll on next week for more of the same.

¬m/

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/