Category: Jiu-Jitsu (Page 5 of 6)

Omoplata From Armbar – BJJ Training 11.2.2016

November 2, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Really sweaty warmup for me. We did sit-through and rotate drills, which we haven’t done in a while in class, and I could really tell a difference in my fitness and agility with these, which I credit to a weight drop.

Technique was more working from the armbar out of closed guard. I really like that we’ve been working on the different variations from this same setup because we’re getting a lot of reps on the armbar itself. I can tell I’m getting a little better at the finer details that make all the difference–things like keeping my knees pinched!

For the omoplata from armbar:

Set up armbar
Control non-armbar wrist and punch to waist
Foot to enemy’s neck and push head away
Rotate and sit up to side-by-side with (KEY POINT)legs straight and grip enemy across belt to hold in place
Post foot out and scoot hips out, dragging enemy to flatten him out
Move legs to s-mount, pinching trapped arm between your rib cage and thighs
Underhook other arm and gable grip to hand above shoulder
S-mount drill forward/up while bending down to tell him how much you love him

It’s sort of like this, but with more detail. I just like this fella’s accent.

We went to 4 five minute rounds of rolling.

First up was good ol’ Ed. We started with him attempting a guillotine, which I used to work towards side control. Once I got it I focused on the collar and getting mount, where I focused on the collar more. Went for an americana once, which he quickly defended.

The next round was Ed again, but we me having his back. Skipped the RNC and went straight for the bow and arrow. I think I got close, but couldn’t finish it. Moved to my guard and attempted the worst triangle ever, which he got around. I ended up back in mount and got an armbar a few seconds before time ran out.

Next was Rudy, who came at me really hard tonight. I put up a decent fight for a while, defending the armbar and eating a couple of bicep crushers. Defended one seated triangle, but tapped to another. I know he got me with something else too, but I was so exhausted I don’t even remember what it was.

Norm got the scraps tonight. And ate them all. I think he tapped me 3 or 4 times. I know he gave me one sweep from half guard, but we spent a lot of time with him on top. After the last submit we had about 20 seconds left, so I pulled guard and tried to defend that as best I could, knowing he’d try hard for a quick submit. He passed right as time was running out.

No Gi Grappling at Open Mat – 10.29.2016

October 30, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Only three of us made it to open mat this week. Of course Ed was there, and of course we had another really long match. I had his back for a while but..

Still. Can’t. Finish. RNC.

Had a couple of triangle attempts, and one was in pretty deep. I think I was pretty close to the submission, but he’s just dang strong and stubborn. By the time I ended up with him in my half guard my arms were too tired from the RNC to defend the Americana. Got me again! LOL

Next we drilled arm bars from guard with Mitch, who didn’t want to roll because of his shoulder. I’m always down to drill, so this was great.

Afterwards, Frank took on me and Ed for two 3 minute rounds each, and he upped the tempo on us. A lot more movement, and it turned out to be really fun! I think it would do me a lot of good to develop that different gear for when I need it.

Next, Ed and I went for a three minute round, and I planned to focus on pace. I started working a guillotine from guard pretty early, but when I glanced back and checked the clock we were already a minute in, so I got to moving. Got the sweep, side control, and knee on belly. Was working for his back again when time ran out. No submission, but a shutout on points.

Down Bar Submission From Guard – BJJ Training 10.27.2016

October 28, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Warmup was the usual with more partner drills–KoB roatation, pummeling for underhooks and rotating in side control, reverse de la riva (I’m still not there) into single leg takedown.

We spent more time drilling arm bar from guard. I needed this, and it’s getting smoother. We learned a variation to snake out and grab the arm we weren’t attacking and pull it down. Key points:

Knees tight
Sit up to get more space
Crook of my elbow to just above back of enemy’s elbow
Can use other hand to find the right spot–totally in control in this position.

Rolling was much better than Tuesday night.

Dan — tried to stand from beginning and throw his legs to pass. Got past one at least. No tap.

Rudy — Maybe my best roll I’ve ever had. I know Rudy is aggressive. I’m sure he takes it a little easy on me, but he’s always down to get scrappy. My weight is a big advantage with him though. I think I actually threatened a collar choke. No tap.

Frank — Ate a bicep crusher for a long time before finally tapping. Ouch. I was really driving my shoulder in, but I guess I can’t take pain like he can. LOL. Defended pretty well when I was in his guard by scooting out low.

Norm — Norm gave me a lot in this roll. One of those gifts was side control. I think he was actually fighting to get out of it. I guess maybe he felt he needed that work from someone heavy, and the only way to get it was to give the position away? He got me with a bow and arrow from back, and he got it a lot easier than Frank can. Those long legs really do it.

Smash Pass Options – BJJ Training October 25, 2016

October 26, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Not much sleep the night before, and I could tell during the warmups this one would be tough for me. Ana and I were the only white belts in the class though, so I knew it was going to be very…”educational”.

We worked on variations from the Smash Pass for technique. First we just went over the pass, then a variation to get mount when caught in quarter guard while passing. This is happening to me a lot lately, and I know we’ve gone over it before, but it’s more meaningful now.

Trap the underhook and post hand
Back step to other side
Grab knee and shuffle backwards 3 steps, switching enemy’s hips
Push down and step back over, holding bottom leg down with shin and top with butt
Slice knee in and pop trapped foot
Underhooks and get mount

Then we worked on the collar choke from quarter guard for when you have a deep grip or just can’t get out. Or, in my case, you can’t dance well enough to step back and forth around their legs.

I rolled with Norm, Frank, Norm, and and Brandon who was visiting from Boise. Or, in belts, purple-brown-purple-purple. I got absolutely demolished! Really fun though–got banana split submitted for the first time. I didn’t know my legs could stretch that far. And Frank got the bow and arrow he’s been wanting.

Funny to know that it’s coming for several days and still not be able to stop it.

Arm Bar Flow From Guard – BJJ Training 10.20.2016

October 21, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Normal warm up and we went into some partner drills–KoB rotation, chucking feet from standing to pass into side control, etc.

Technique was really useful for me tonight because we based everything off of the arm bar from guard–something I’ve had some trouble with since the beginning. Maybe it’s not that I had trouble, but we learned it so early on that I needed to review and also get as many reps as possible. I got a lot of reps tonight with Norm (quality reps).

Wrist control
Reach under one arm for cross triceps control and clamp
Former wrist hand reaches up to control head and/or grab back of gi
Foot on hip and other leg holding down posture
Whip leg over to face and heels to ground
Tight hips, head side arm to kimura grip. Elbow-to-elbow
Bait with the foot between the legs and release head
Post with free hand to take the back or…
Go to back with leg over head, post out and roll to arm bar

Rolls with Dan the man

Escaped triangle, tried shoulder choke

Coach Frank

Defend bow and arrow, mount escape, then choked

Norm

Tapped me at least three times with a bunch of chokes

Rudy

Tapped me with one choke, cardio paid off at the end, attempted the shoulder choke

Foot Lock Defense – BJJ Training Log 10.18.2016

October 20, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Had a meeting run over at work, so I missed the warmup–a day after Coach Frank posted a meme about people who’s best move is escaping warmups. 🙂

I did make it in time for some RDLR single leg drills. Better, but still not very coordinated.

Technique–the objective is to keep the enemy from rocking backwards

Grab same side lapel and pull towards you while…
Kicking the locked foot through the grip
Use hand on the side with the foot on hip to remove the foot from the hip
Scoot out, then sit on that foot
Sit up to mount/KoB, depending on which shoulder/elbow enemy was using to trap the foot

Rolling:

We went five 5-minute rounds. First up for me was Dan the Man. I really like rolling with Dan–his style is the most contradictory to mine, at least if you discount brown belts and up. He’s tall and lanky (~150 lbs), and really technical. I try to be as technical as possible when rolling with him instead of relying on weight and power. Hopefully this will help me to learn his game better. We started with me (again) just trying to pass guard. I made it to side control and immediately moved to KoB, but without all the weight. I have limited attacks anyway, and without weight I can’t even start to set those up, so I focused on trying to travel. The result was me turtled up with Dan attacking. At one point he removed my lapel from my belt, so I was really on the lookout for a choke coming, but he didn’t do anything with it. He rode me for a long time and ended up attempting a bow and arrow, which I was able to defend.

Next up was Ana-conda. Another lighter and more technical opponent. Let her work some, and I did the KoB rotation successfully. Here I definitely focused on changing positions as much as possible–again, it’s still hard for me to attack without throwing weight on other people. Her mount is getting really good. Without muscle, I have a tough time escaping it. She actually inspired me to try some stuff she was doing later with Ed. These rolls are good for me because they force me to rely on technique only.

From here out, it was going against guys who have a more similar style to mine.

Good Ol’ Ed was my third round. I spent a lot of time with him in my full guard and attempted a cross-collar choke (now I know why it failed) and a triangle. This time, I was able to prevent him from passing to side control because I bailed on the triangle early and instead tried to get him in the RLDR position so I could go for the sweep. He recognized it and I wasn’t able to set up. But I realized that I was 75% there already, and even if I couldn’t get him to his back, I could still force a scramble for position. I’d have the advantage since I’d know when it was coming. It worked, and I was able to work towards a kimura before we ran out of time.

Roll 4 was Norm. From the get-go, I could see the triangle coming. It was like I was getting sucked into a black hole in slow motion. Tried and tried to avoid it, then defended early. He still got it. Norm. We restarted and he worked me through a few positions. Ended up trying a choke with me on bottom. I was able to bridge up and defend, but it was crazy uncomfortable. I think he cracked my neck about 5 different ways, which actually felt pretty good!

One more round with Ed. This time we went without Gi on the top. Changes the equation quite a bit, especially because I spent a lot of time in this roll with his back. Wished we’d had the gi so I could shoot for the bow and arrow since I’ve been having trouble with the rear naked choke. Oddly, the RNC was much more available all of a sudden. I almost finished it. Almost. This time I gave up on it before I got too tired and moved to mount and practiced grapevining him to flatten him out ala Ana-conda. This was a really good roll for me, but I felt bad for him. He’s got some nasty cauliflower ear going and I could tell he was favoring that the whole time–one reason the rear naked choke was so open for me.

Judo Throws – No Gi Open Mat 10.15.2016

October 16, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

We had a wedding to go to in the afternoon, and we hadn’t planned on making it on Saturday. But I was able to convince Bear Toe and Primo who were visiting from out of town to come work out. Coach Frank let us in at 11:00, and we had a blast.

14700891_186079605131805_7864678260764444907_o

Lots of playing with positions and little mini-rolls, and I had one good long session with Ed. He was able to tap me with the Americana after about 15 minutes. Another guy, Mitch, showed up on his bike. He’s been training at the gym here and there, but our paths have not yet crossed. He was not what he appeared to be. Very strong, very technical. I have no idea what the criteria are for belts, but he’s a blue belt and it felt legit to me. I think I had a cardio advantage on him though. I was talking to him later and found out that he rides ~200 miles a week. He’s definitely more slow twitch than I was when I was all slow twitch, and I could feel it in the roll. Any burst of energy was giving me an opportunity to take advantage of his recovery.

Dave, who is a friend of Coach Frank’s from Ocala, was also there to train. He’s a jiu-jitsu purple belt, and a black belt in judo. He demonstrated three white-belt judo throws for us–definitely some stuff there for all of us to work on our stand up game. I hope he’s able to make ti back more often–super helpful! I rolled with him and could tell he was going pretty easy on me. He’d get a position and then hang there for a while to see how I reacted. I don’t know if I passed or failed, but I definitely did not threaten him. I felt like a ball of yarn getting batted around by a kitten.

Overall, the day was a success. Both Bear Toe and Primo had a blast and are looking for gyms!

Reverse De La Riva – BJJ Training Log 10.13.2016

October 13, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Smallish class tonight, and me the only white belt.

So, yeah…beat down.

For warm ups we mixed it up a little with grip fights, knee on belly drills, and reverse de la riva switching drill. I missed Tuesday’s class, so I was already behind on the RDLR, but wouldn’t have mattered a lot–it will be a while until that coordination kicks in for me. Not a problem–I was in the same place with KoB a month ago.

Oddly, the technique part of class was all reverse de la riva based, and I had a much easier time of it. The sweep I got (not perfectly, but I got it) immediately. Then we did another more technical move.

Reverse De la riva sweep

Pull ankle tight to the butt
Cross grip deep into the lapel
Same side grip on the cuff
Punch down and sweep

Like this

The RDLR to take back–I can’t even begin to explain. Luckily I can post a Kurt Osiander video and he can show it. Like he says in the video, this is a good one for little people.

I’m not a little people.

Three five minute rolls in rotation. Went with Norm first–one tap to some sort of choke, but I felt like I defended some others pretty well.

Next up was Dan the Man. He had a pretty tight triangle on me, but I stacked him up and was able to rotate out. That alone got me pretty tired. I was kinda sorta trying to work a baseball choke at the end, but I was screwing it up in every possible way. He probably was completely confuse.

Last was coach Frank. Of course he got my back, and then he aimed for the bow and arrow choke. I defended. I’m sure he could have submitted me a hundred different ways, but he seemed determined to try and get it, so I kept defending and looking for a way out. He got a wrist lock on me as the bell went off, so I didn’t have to tap. LOL

No Gi Grappling – 10.9.2016

October 10, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

We missed a couple of days training, so Coach Frank had an impromptu open mat at the gym on Sunday night to give us a chance to work out and get going again.

Holy Toldedo.

14543652_183897102016722_5440690595648579549_o-1

Ended up in a 56 minute submission-only/I quite/Ironman match with Ed. To be fair, it started off almost as a flow roll, and about 20 minutes into it I was surprised at how relaxing it was, even though the pace had picked up considerably. By the end, it was tooth and nail.

I wouldn’t begin to know how to score it–back and forth the whole time, with multiple submission attempts both ways. Off the top of my head I know I went for one guillotine, one Ezekiel, one kimura, one Americana, 3 triangles, and a barrage of rear naked chokes. Couldn’t finish any of them.

I ended up getting him with an “I-don’t-know-what-to-call-it” with his head locked between my legs figure 4’d and pressing towards an arm bar at the same time.

Then we both lie still in pools of our own sweat and had a good cry.

Shoulder Choke From Side Control – BJJ Training Log 9.29.2016

October 1, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Intensity is already starting to pick up getting ready for competition. Warmup had an increased volume of pushups, and pace was higher for partner drills–KoB rotation, guard retention, sit ups with partner pushing, Helps having a pushy partner too.

First technique was the #2 Side Control to Mount we learned in the morning class about a month ago. I did not remember this at all until he went over it. I know I’ve never attempted it in a live roll, so it was really good to go over it again. I think it’s something that can be effective for me, especially when opponent is putting his leg up to guard against the mount–practically giving you the hardest part.

The next technique was a choke from side control that, even if you don’t get the choke, is one of the most uncomfortable positions I’ve experienced so far. It doesn’t require any fancy footwork or stretchy hips, so I think this may end up being a go-to for me.

Use far hard to pull up opponent’s far shoulder (assuming you have the cross-face)
Wiper the cross face hand to directly underneath opponent’s spine and settle them onto their back
Lower upper body and drive shoulder into the neck
Active toes and sprawl to head-side hip

While drilling it, Coach Frank came around and asked if Norm could possibly escape from there. I thought he could because of my balance. I adjusted and when he tried to bridge I could maintain. Coach Frank said, “Now…if he DOES try that, go ahead and mount. His feet are going to be flat on the ground and he won’t be able to defend.”

Played KOTM for guard passes and one guy stayed out the whole time. Impressive.

Live rolling was for three minute rounds. Could definitely feel the intensity pick up here. I had two goes with Norm, and he tapped me three times in each of them. Maybe he was getting close to going 100%?

Was on top with Ed for most of the time of both sessions. Couldn’t quite finish the rear naked choke or the triangle. But…

From side control I tried the shoulder choke described above. He bridged. I mounted. Nice!

Seated Guard Pass Flow – BJJ Training Log 9.27.2016

September 27, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Getting ready for competition. Little more intensity, and a lot of rolling. The KoB rotation transition finally clicked for me tonight during partner drills, and we also worked on breaking grips from standing.

Love having Norm as a partner for drills. He pushes the pace and doesn’t give me anything. Plus he’s able to tell me when technique slips. For instance, at the end of my turn breaking grips I was wearing down and not using my hips.

“Hips can go all day long, but arms get tired.”

Technique was a flow for a seated guard pass

When everything goes as planned

Passing headquarters
Push down on passing knee, spin with other hand on opponent’s hip
Backstep around foot to KoB/Side Control

When caught in half guard when trying to pull through

Hand on OUTSIDE of knee and push to opposite side
Weight heavy on top leg and sprawl
Use leg-side hand to thread legs and kick out to side control

When opponent sits back up after initial push

Hand behind head, hand behind triceps
Slice knee down along hip, making space with triceps hand
Sit through with weight heavy on stomach/diaphragm and opposite arm tight to body
NOTE: keep that elbow and butt off the ground. All the weight goes on the opponent.

Worked from bad positions. Couldn’t hold Norm from his back, and got choked out once. My bad position was mount with Rudy and Ana. Rudy got an armbar once, but I did ok after that.

Norm got an 8 minute roll with fresh people every minute. We went two rounds each with bad positions on the second rotation. He’s pretty beastly.

8 minutes with Ed at the end of the night. Another stalemate. Legitimately lost top position this time instead of choosing the bottom. Spent a lot of time trying to get to top. Threatened a triangle once and finally got the sweep for the last minute or so.

Muay Thai Training Log 9/19/2016

September 20, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

This whooped me. Wish I could go more often because it’s another totally different type of workout. Here’s what I was to determine after reflecting on this night of training.

I’m not limber
I’m slow
I’m not very coordinated

So…It seems like the only thing that may be left for me to have as a strength in kickboxing is that maybe, maaaaaybe, I can take a punch.

I’m not to keen to find out if that’s the case or not. I think I’m more a ground and pound type guy.

1-2-3-roundhouse

1-2-switch-inside

Check-2-3-roundhouse

Check-2-3-2-inside

S-Mount arm bar

Bicep cruncher

Simple Mount Escape – BJJ Training Log September 7, 2016

September 7, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Really awesome training today. One of the upsides of being on the ground floor of a new gym I guess–when a new class time starts, it will be small and more individualized. Worked out for me this morning since I was the only one there.

While we were stretching, Coach Frank asked what I’d like to work on. I said, “You’re the coach…fix something that’s broken. LOL.”

We rolled for a couple of rounds and he said, “Alright…cool…I know exactly what we need to work on.”

Technique–Simple Mount Escape

I think he saw this watching me roll a few times, then felt it when we rolled. My only real effective option when mounted has been to upa and shrimp/twist to get to a hip and hope I can get a knee in. He gave me a better option today:

Trap arm on the side you want to go to
Foot on that side outside of their foot
Other foot with active toes under butt
Twist upper body away from trapped arm
Look up
Roll head to the gap between shoulder and head while pushing up
If using an underhook on the other arm, be aware of that because you roll into full guard

Pretty much like the first one demonstrated here, but with a little more space created with the head/shoulder to make the roll easier.

Alternate Triangle Choke Setup – BJJ Training Log September 6, 2016

September 7, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Technique was a triangle with a different set up. Instead of push-pull with wrist control we:

Posture control and trap arm
Sleeve control on other arm and shrimp to foot on elbow
Knee to the ceiling and foot to the floor
Kick foot out to set the leg for triangle
Figure 4, then hand to shin
Wiggle for the angle and deepen the figure 4
Pop the posture to get the arm through
Wiggle for angle

And the defense:

Answer the phone and pressure
Other hand to opponent’s hip
Both hands to hips an posture up
Free arm to collar grip
Drive shoulder through leg to the collar
Enjoy side control

Rolls

Andre–tough to get past his guard. He’s young, flexible, fast, and strong. Got to half guard once and was looking for side control but he regained guard

Ed–tried to pull guard and he got around. Worked from the bottom for top position and tried for Ezekiel. No dice. Went back to side control at 30 seconds and KOB, pulling up leg and head for discomfort. Still no tap.

Norm–focused on staying out of his full guard and trying to pass. Got around once (gift) and didn’t tighten up the side control so I lost it quickly and got choked. Went again and got one leg through. Stayed tight and got side control again (another gift), but tightened it up this time and was able to keep it longer. Was defending an arm bar when time ran out.

Ed–Was able to pull guard from the get go (finally). Held him and threatened the few submissions i have there. Was able to work my way to a triangle threat. Couldn’t finish, but was able to roll it to mount. Going for Americana when time ran out.

BJJ Open Mat August 27, 2016

August 28, 2016 / Scott / 0 Comments

Cooked. Bonked. Spent.

Started off with my own vicious cycle and got a good sweat going quickly. Rolled with Frank after that with the expected results.

Rolled with Alicia after that–first roll with her, and it was really good. Trying to not use strength and weight for offense. Not ashamed to use it for defense though because she was constantly attacking. She had my back a couple of times, and when I was in side control she was consistently grabbing my foot with her feet. None of the guys I’ve rolled with have the flexibility to do that.

Then Ed showed up. Another marathon session. Same result–arm bar on me after about ~30 minutes. Still unable to finish arm bar twice and had what I thought was a really deep triangle but couldn’t get it ended. I was completely on empty at the end. I was literally laying on my side with my eyes closed happy that I was able to defend that position for several minutes before I got caught. Afterwards I was happy to lie on my back in a pool of my own sweat.

Went to the beach after for more of the same. Realized after I got some food in me and my head back that I was completely calorie depleted. No more rolling without any food. Rest day earned.

Gettin’ After It!