Had a decent class for the beginner class today. Ian was there with a couple of the kids and Kris was of course there. In the work I've been doing with Kris I've seen that one of his few remaining big weaknesses is that he stalls out in positions and lets his opponent get settled and start working before he starts to attack or escape, so I had planned on working on that with him solo today. Since I had people there though I worked on it with everyone.
A 30 second review of an escape from side control, kob, mount, and north south. Next we paired up and had the bottom person initiate their escape, and the top person transition immediately to another position, and the bottom person immediately initiate a new escape, continuing to flow through until the person on the bottom escaped.
We did that for about 10 minutes with little to no resistance to get a feel for the flow, then did it again with full resistance with the person on top really trying to maintain their top position. After about 20 minutes of that we did 5 minute rounds of flow rolling adding in subs but only as catch and release. Had a LOT of good flowing moments there and I think everyone got something valuable out of it. I'm going to make the first part of it a common warmup drill I think.
Main class turned out to dovetail nicely with my class as we spent the entire time flow rolling. I had an absolutely fantastic roll with Brian for probably 20 or so minutes. Hit several places where he had to pause and we figured out what his exit path for the position was, he got me with a couple as well, especially one foot lock where I THOUGHT I had control of his back to prevent it, and he was able to secure it. Took a minute to work out a way out of that. He also has the habit of sort of counter-kimuraing people if they go for a kimura on him from halfguard bottom, well this time I was ready for it. When he postured up and started to crank my arm I pushed my bottom leg free and used that torque to spin all the way through and armbar him. It was spectacular. The next time I tried it he kept control of my leg, a third time I was able to get a sweep instead.
I also tweaked my right arm when he had me in a kimura and as we were rolling over my arm got stuck for a second and I couldn't tap in time to avoid having it popped a little. Somewhere along the way my calf also got strained. No idea where that happened.
Also rolled with Vinnie who is another of the ammy fighters. Worked my top game where I could, he has really slick halfguard sweeps but his mount escapes need work. Generally he's a blast to roll with though. Had a great time overall.
Also, day 6 of Paleo is now DONE. Bought some 100% fruit juice, a bottle of water, and got a cup of ice on the way home. Mixed the juice and the water about 35/65 juice/water and drink it all on the way home. Delicious. Dinner was carrots and this awesome braised chicken stuff...
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
BJJ 7/27/2011
Concluded my second full day of Paleo by eating half of a chicken. Apparently my Oodwalla fruit drink counts as cheating though, even though it's all fruit.
We started class with practicing setting up the single leg. Worked some reps back and forth. My biggest problem with takedowns at the moment is freeing my sleeve from my opponent so that I can actually go for something. Too often I get annoyed and trying to free my grips and just go for a sacrifice throw entry into open guard. When it works, it's great, when it's not I end up playing open guard, no big deal. I still need more TD work though.
Technique was halfguard escapes using deep half. Pretty much all the same. Catch halfguard, burrow down, then either pop out the back or reach through and grab the foot for Oldschool or one of the variants.
Drille from halfguard briefly and I tried to let people work the techniques from class. But they were mostly more interested in trying to choke me. So I crushed them all.
We did 10 minutes of man in the middle takedowns. Ankor domainted. He's developed some wicked throws and has good base. I was never able to get under him properly to hit my throw and his grips on my sleeves shut down all of my other attempts.
Rolling was some kind of gauntlet, we swapped around a bit. I rolled with Kris for a while and tried to work upside down guard. Worked sweeps and transitions. Just moving around on top and stuff. Rolled with JC and he spent 90% of the round trying to collar choke me until I eventually passed to side control and held him for the last 20 seconds or so.
In non-BJJ Related news my wife found an awesome website called Turntable.FM which people should check out. It's awesome.
We started class with practicing setting up the single leg. Worked some reps back and forth. My biggest problem with takedowns at the moment is freeing my sleeve from my opponent so that I can actually go for something. Too often I get annoyed and trying to free my grips and just go for a sacrifice throw entry into open guard. When it works, it's great, when it's not I end up playing open guard, no big deal. I still need more TD work though.
Technique was halfguard escapes using deep half. Pretty much all the same. Catch halfguard, burrow down, then either pop out the back or reach through and grab the foot for Oldschool or one of the variants.
Drille from halfguard briefly and I tried to let people work the techniques from class. But they were mostly more interested in trying to choke me. So I crushed them all.
We did 10 minutes of man in the middle takedowns. Ankor domainted. He's developed some wicked throws and has good base. I was never able to get under him properly to hit my throw and his grips on my sleeves shut down all of my other attempts.
Rolling was some kind of gauntlet, we swapped around a bit. I rolled with Kris for a while and tried to work upside down guard. Worked sweeps and transitions. Just moving around on top and stuff. Rolled with JC and he spent 90% of the round trying to collar choke me until I eventually passed to side control and held him for the last 20 seconds or so.
In non-BJJ Related news my wife found an awesome website called Turntable.FM which people should check out. It's awesome.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Back to Mundials Conditioning
So, tonight marks the completion of day 1 on my transition to the Paleo diet. My wife and I have slowly been cleaning up our diet over the last couple of years and finally got within shouting distance of being paleo anyways, so we've taken the plunge, tossed out the last of the bread and sugar and pasta and jumped on the Paleo train.
My dinner yesterday was a large salad. My lunch today was a large salad. My dinner was a half of a big chicken breast and half of a large salad and I'm about to go back to the trough for the second half of all of that.
Additionally I'm back in town and returning to my mundials conditioning program in place of my regular weight lifting program (as described in a post in the previous update). The Mundials program I'm on has been described in here before I think, but I'm going to list it out again:
2 Handed Kettlebell Swings w/ 55lbs x10
Bent Over Row w/ 55lbs, x5/arm
Dumbbell Deadlifts w/ 110lbs x10
Starting Thursday I'll be adding in Bench Press w/ 110lbs x5. I'm up to 3 rotations at the moment. I'll be going for 4 rotations next tuesday if all goes well.
My dinner yesterday was a large salad. My lunch today was a large salad. My dinner was a half of a big chicken breast and half of a large salad and I'm about to go back to the trough for the second half of all of that.
Additionally I'm back in town and returning to my mundials conditioning program in place of my regular weight lifting program (as described in a post in the previous update). The Mundials program I'm on has been described in here before I think, but I'm going to list it out again:
2 Handed Kettlebell Swings w/ 55lbs x10
Bent Over Row w/ 55lbs, x5/arm
Dumbbell Deadlifts w/ 110lbs x10
Starting Thursday I'll be adding in Bench Press w/ 110lbs x5. I'm up to 3 rotations at the moment. I'll be going for 4 rotations next tuesday if all goes well.
Suffering from lack of JiuJitsu
Haven't been able to train due to work related stuff in over a week. Always makes me antsy.
I did get to hit the gym at one of our properties while I was out of town and put in a solid weight lifting session as well as about 20 minutes of active rock climbing on the wall and a 5 minute sprint on one of the fun elliptical type machines. Heart rate topped out at 193bpm. My resting rate is about 55bpm.
Workout looked like this:
Climbing Wall - 20 minutes, some warmup climbs, then 2 traversals. My forearms were killed. Felt great.
Squats - 3x225lbs, 3x225lbs, 2x245lbs, 2x265lbs.
Bench - 3x135lbs, 3x155lbs, 2x165lbs.
Elliptical - 5 minute sprint. HR over 180 the entire time, kept it over 190 for the final 2 minutes.
Back at JiuJitsu Wednesday.
I did get to hit the gym at one of our properties while I was out of town and put in a solid weight lifting session as well as about 20 minutes of active rock climbing on the wall and a 5 minute sprint on one of the fun elliptical type machines. Heart rate topped out at 193bpm. My resting rate is about 55bpm.
Workout looked like this:
Climbing Wall - 20 minutes, some warmup climbs, then 2 traversals. My forearms were killed. Felt great.
Squats - 3x225lbs, 3x225lbs, 2x245lbs, 2x265lbs.
Bench - 3x135lbs, 3x155lbs, 2x165lbs.
Elliptical - 5 minute sprint. HR over 180 the entire time, kept it over 190 for the final 2 minutes.
Back at JiuJitsu Wednesday.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Purple Belt Fail
So the title is a little misleading. I didn't fail my purple belt test. I failed to ARRIVE at my purple belt test. There was some mis-communication as to when Jacare wanted us there for the test. He had to leave at 2:30, and we thought we were supposed to get there at 2. Had everything gone perfectly this might still have worked out, but I hit some kind of interdimensional time sink trying to get on 285 in Atlanta and spent an hour and fifteen minutes travelling four miles. So of course Jacare was long gone by the time I got there.
My next opportunity will be probably be in August, and I plan on going up for the full Saturday class just to make sure I get there in time.
My next opportunity will be probably be in August, and I plan on going up for the full Saturday class just to make sure I get there in time.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Mundials 2011 - Sergio Morias (Make that Sergio Moraes)
I'm pretty sure I got Sergio's name spelled right, and here he is in a great battle at the 2011 Mundials.
I think next week I'll finish up with a batch of Alliance folks and Jerrard Bunch in one final video burst.
I think next week I'll finish up with a batch of Alliance folks and Jerrard Bunch in one final video burst.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Off My Game...
Last night I felt completely off of my game.
I was tired all day, my day at work was frantic and irritating, and I was looking forward to class. The second I started warming up with one of the kids I knew it was going to be an off night. I felt way weaker and slower than I normally do. Nothing seemed to be flowing properly my mojo was just not at its peak.
Technique was more side control work. This time you are working to slide the knee across to take mount and your opponent blocks it with their hand, so you attack the far arm. First attack was the kimura, second attack was farside armbar, third attack was the fancy one.
You move up towards your opponents head and get your knee settled in under their shoulder and their arm isolated, then you move to take mount and let them block it. Grab their sleeve or their wrist and pull their arm down and towards you, then take a big step all the way over them into a mounted triangle and grab your shin. Adjust, then roll to the side for the finish.
Drilling I was with Casey, Coe, and Lewis (3rd or 4th class for him) which further exacerbated my lack of mojo. I did have some decent flow with Casey, but that was more due to him creating flow than me flowing well. With Coe everything felt forced, and with Lewis I just spent my time waiting for him to make a mistake most of the time. Johnny came in about halfway through the drill and worked in with us for a bit.
Rolling was with Lewis and Steven and since I decided to work escapes against Steven since his side control pressure is so good. I didn't completely let him pass my guard, but I didn't put up as much of a fight as normal. I need to continue working escapes with him because he does have good top pressure. I still swept and subbed him a few times, but none of it felt as relaxed and flowing as I like it to be. With Lewis I again just waited for him to make mistakes then swept him and hunted for submissions.
On the positive side, my Arm Triangles are getting slick. That's a technique I used to have a ton of trouble finishing and now it's one of my highest percentage submissions. On that note, I need to do a new mind-map with my current game. It's getting a little disjointed and I need to get it back in line.
I was tired all day, my day at work was frantic and irritating, and I was looking forward to class. The second I started warming up with one of the kids I knew it was going to be an off night. I felt way weaker and slower than I normally do. Nothing seemed to be flowing properly my mojo was just not at its peak.
Technique was more side control work. This time you are working to slide the knee across to take mount and your opponent blocks it with their hand, so you attack the far arm. First attack was the kimura, second attack was farside armbar, third attack was the fancy one.
You move up towards your opponents head and get your knee settled in under their shoulder and their arm isolated, then you move to take mount and let them block it. Grab their sleeve or their wrist and pull their arm down and towards you, then take a big step all the way over them into a mounted triangle and grab your shin. Adjust, then roll to the side for the finish.
Drilling I was with Casey, Coe, and Lewis (3rd or 4th class for him) which further exacerbated my lack of mojo. I did have some decent flow with Casey, but that was more due to him creating flow than me flowing well. With Coe everything felt forced, and with Lewis I just spent my time waiting for him to make a mistake most of the time. Johnny came in about halfway through the drill and worked in with us for a bit.
Rolling was with Lewis and Steven and since I decided to work escapes against Steven since his side control pressure is so good. I didn't completely let him pass my guard, but I didn't put up as much of a fight as normal. I need to continue working escapes with him because he does have good top pressure. I still swept and subbed him a few times, but none of it felt as relaxed and flowing as I like it to be. With Lewis I again just waited for him to make mistakes then swept him and hunted for submissions.
On the positive side, my Arm Triangles are getting slick. That's a technique I used to have a ton of trouble finishing and now it's one of my highest percentage submissions. On that note, I need to do a new mind-map with my current game. It's getting a little disjointed and I need to get it back in line.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
2011 Mundials - Jordan
Here is Alliance brown belt Jordan competing at the 2011 Mundials:
Next video will be up Friday and will feature Sergio Morias.
Next video will be up Friday and will feature Sergio Morias.
BJJ 7/3/2011
Just had Kris for the beginners class so we rolled for about an hour and change occasionally stopping to trouble shoot things for him he's still improving rapidly and I'm looking forward to him picking up his blue belt when Jacare gets back.
Main class we started out working takedowns and I'm continuing to improve on my single leg. Still spent more time hitting sacrifice throws though. Went for one Seio Nage to firemans carry combo that ended up with Kris RNCing me. Doing that throw No-Gi requires a hell of a lot more precision than in the Gi since if you let their arm slip at all you get choked.
On the ground we were working Kesa attacks including a sort of chest crush/neck crank, kickstand armbar, and the americana with legs (I believe). Worked with Ankur on those.
Drilling was from Kesa,I swept some folks and whatnot, Ankur subbed me with the chest crush thing from class, Casey murdered me, fun times.
There was a new guy in class today, it's his second class and he's one of Ankur's friends. Very athletic and still pretty spazzy. He caught me across the bridge of the nose with a very nice looking elbow while we were rolling which annoyed me. So I monkey flipped him and armbarred him and told him to relax. He's got great potential if he'll just slow down, take a breath, and work on paying attention instead of tearing peoples heads off.
Rolling was one big gauntlet so I got to play with Casey which is always fun, passed his guard, and was able to get a sweep against him when he stood up one time. Mostly murdered though.
Gi class tonight should be loads of fun.
New mundials video coming up as well.
Main class we started out working takedowns and I'm continuing to improve on my single leg. Still spent more time hitting sacrifice throws though. Went for one Seio Nage to firemans carry combo that ended up with Kris RNCing me. Doing that throw No-Gi requires a hell of a lot more precision than in the Gi since if you let their arm slip at all you get choked.
On the ground we were working Kesa attacks including a sort of chest crush/neck crank, kickstand armbar, and the americana with legs (I believe). Worked with Ankur on those.
Drilling was from Kesa,I swept some folks and whatnot, Ankur subbed me with the chest crush thing from class, Casey murdered me, fun times.
There was a new guy in class today, it's his second class and he's one of Ankur's friends. Very athletic and still pretty spazzy. He caught me across the bridge of the nose with a very nice looking elbow while we were rolling which annoyed me. So I monkey flipped him and armbarred him and told him to relax. He's got great potential if he'll just slow down, take a breath, and work on paying attention instead of tearing peoples heads off.
Rolling was one big gauntlet so I got to play with Casey which is always fun, passed his guard, and was able to get a sweep against him when he stood up one time. Mostly murdered though.
Gi class tonight should be loads of fun.
New mundials video coming up as well.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Product Review: Manto BJJ Shorts
So my friends over at MMAHQ and BJJHQ sent me a pair of Manto BJJ Shorts to check out and I finally got my hands on them today and was able to try them out.
The first thing I noticed was that the color is VIBRANT. The blue is REALLY blue and the red is REALLY red. I don't know if that will fade with time, but for the moment they definitely catch the eye.
The logo on the side is a nice high quality screenprint, not some kind of stick on that will peel off after a couple of rolls so it should last as long as the shorts do.
The material feels very sturdy, somewhat thicker than my old NAGA shorts which gives them a very durable feel. I was worried at first that this might lead to them feeling hotter once I got going. The stitching is VERY heavy duty. A nice triple stitch on every seem with reinforcing at the tension points. These are easily the sturdiest shorts I've ever owned.
The ONLY point that I feel a little iffy on is the amount of velcro being used on to secure the shorts. I only feel some trepidation in that regard because the only real problem with my NAGA shorts is that the velcro teeth broke off over time and so now the fly doesn't really close all the way, but those shorts have snaps in addition that help keep it closed. The velcro on the Manto shorts does feel a lot sturdier than my other shorts though, so I feel pretty comfortable that the velcro will remain fully functional for at least a couple of years (My NAGA shorts are four or so years old now) with no reduction in holding power.
The best thing about these shorts was the fit though, which owes itself partially to the velcro I was just complaining about. I got a small, and I am a 30 inch waist. I could have been an couple of inches fatter and still been comfortable in them, but they would also easily go down to a 26 inch waist. The velcro is very versatile allowing for a comfortable fit at a variety of waist sizes. The shorts also have a drawstring to lend a hand, but they felt very secure even without the drawstring.
To test them out I went through my warmup, did some stability ball work, and ran a mile, then rolled for about 15 minutes straight. During the warmup they felt nice and light, almost as if I weren't wearing anything. Never bunched up or interfered during shrimping or any of my other normal movements.
The stability ball did have some issues though, the fabric that the Manto shorts are made out of has a little bit of friction to it which combined with the rubber stability ball caused the shorts to bind up a little and twist on me while I was moving around in KoB on the ball.
The run was another pass with flying colors though, comfortable to run in, no uncomfortable rubbing points, no bits of label or anything stabbing me. Every bit as good as running naked.
The shorts held up great during the roll as well. They didn't bunch up or interfere with my movement, I was never worried that they were going to pull down or come unfastened, and my earlier fears that the heavier material would be hot proved to be completely unfounded. These shorts pulled sweat away from me far better than my previous shorts and I felt cool and comfortable for the entire roll.
A bonus point for these shorts was that they were almost completely dry by the time I had finished changing clothes. In fact, about 15 minutes after I took them off you would never have known I had been grappling in them. They shed the sweat almost instantly.
My overall impression of these shorts was VERY positive. I'll have to see how the color holds up over a few washes, and how the velcro holds up over the long term, but I feel very comfortable giving these shorts an 8.5 out of 10. As a reference point, my NAGA shorts rate a 5 out of 10.
Manto BJJ Shorts Rating: 8.5/10
The first thing I noticed was that the color is VIBRANT. The blue is REALLY blue and the red is REALLY red. I don't know if that will fade with time, but for the moment they definitely catch the eye.
The logo on the side is a nice high quality screenprint, not some kind of stick on that will peel off after a couple of rolls so it should last as long as the shorts do.
The material feels very sturdy, somewhat thicker than my old NAGA shorts which gives them a very durable feel. I was worried at first that this might lead to them feeling hotter once I got going. The stitching is VERY heavy duty. A nice triple stitch on every seem with reinforcing at the tension points. These are easily the sturdiest shorts I've ever owned.
The ONLY point that I feel a little iffy on is the amount of velcro being used on to secure the shorts. I only feel some trepidation in that regard because the only real problem with my NAGA shorts is that the velcro teeth broke off over time and so now the fly doesn't really close all the way, but those shorts have snaps in addition that help keep it closed. The velcro on the Manto shorts does feel a lot sturdier than my other shorts though, so I feel pretty comfortable that the velcro will remain fully functional for at least a couple of years (My NAGA shorts are four or so years old now) with no reduction in holding power.
The best thing about these shorts was the fit though, which owes itself partially to the velcro I was just complaining about. I got a small, and I am a 30 inch waist. I could have been an couple of inches fatter and still been comfortable in them, but they would also easily go down to a 26 inch waist. The velcro is very versatile allowing for a comfortable fit at a variety of waist sizes. The shorts also have a drawstring to lend a hand, but they felt very secure even without the drawstring.
To test them out I went through my warmup, did some stability ball work, and ran a mile, then rolled for about 15 minutes straight. During the warmup they felt nice and light, almost as if I weren't wearing anything. Never bunched up or interfered during shrimping or any of my other normal movements.
The stability ball did have some issues though, the fabric that the Manto shorts are made out of has a little bit of friction to it which combined with the rubber stability ball caused the shorts to bind up a little and twist on me while I was moving around in KoB on the ball.
The run was another pass with flying colors though, comfortable to run in, no uncomfortable rubbing points, no bits of label or anything stabbing me. Every bit as good as running naked.
The shorts held up great during the roll as well. They didn't bunch up or interfere with my movement, I was never worried that they were going to pull down or come unfastened, and my earlier fears that the heavier material would be hot proved to be completely unfounded. These shorts pulled sweat away from me far better than my previous shorts and I felt cool and comfortable for the entire roll.
A bonus point for these shorts was that they were almost completely dry by the time I had finished changing clothes. In fact, about 15 minutes after I took them off you would never have known I had been grappling in them. They shed the sweat almost instantly.
My overall impression of these shorts was VERY positive. I'll have to see how the color holds up over a few washes, and how the velcro holds up over the long term, but I feel very comfortable giving these shorts an 8.5 out of 10. As a reference point, my NAGA shorts rate a 5 out of 10.
Manto BJJ Shorts Rating: 8.5/10
Friday, July 1, 2011
2011 Mundials - Kron Gracie
After a grueling week in 100+ degree temperatures out in Texas I've made it back into town and, as promised, am providing you with tasty, tasty Mundials action in the form of Gracie JiuJitsu Prodigy Kron Gracie:
Next video will be up on Tuesday and will feature alliance brown belt Jordan.
Also, my shorts from MMAHQ arrived while I was out of town and I'll be testing them out tonight and posting the review, so far it looks like I'll have nice things to say about them.
Next video will be up on Tuesday and will feature alliance brown belt Jordan.
Also, my shorts from MMAHQ arrived while I was out of town and I'll be testing them out tonight and posting the review, so far it looks like I'll have nice things to say about them.
Friday, June 24, 2011
2011 Mundials - Preston - Match 2
This is Match 2 for Alliance Purple belt Preston at the 2011 Mundials. Enjoy!
Next video will be delayed while I go out of town, but it will feature none other than Kron Gracie. Look for it NEXT Friday!
Next video will be delayed while I go out of town, but it will feature none other than Kron Gracie. Look for it NEXT Friday!
S&C 6/23/2011
Back to my Strength and Conditioning workout I did 3 sets, then 1 more rep of each exercise. Felt pretty good. Set 3 felt a lot more like set 2 did last time. I'm hitting up one solid day of class tonight before I head out of town for a week for work, going to try to make the most of it.
Points to work on:
Side Control escapes that include reversals or immediate sweeps.
Guard pass progression - Pass -> Side Control -> KoB -> Mount -> Standup
Takedowns from Standing - I'm good at sacrifice throws, so I'm just going to keep working those and try to get even better at them.
Points to work on:
Side Control escapes that include reversals or immediate sweeps.
Guard pass progression - Pass -> Side Control -> KoB -> Mount -> Standup
Takedowns from Standing - I'm good at sacrifice throws, so I'm just going to keep working those and try to get even better at them.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Mundials 2011 - Cobrinha - Match 1
Here is Cobrinha's first match in his weightclass, I don't know the name of his opponent unfortunately, if anyone does post it and let me know.
Next video will be Preston's second Match.
Next video will be Preston's second Match.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Mundials 2011: Preston v Unknown
Alliance Purple belt Preston (He's the one in white with the big ALLIANCE logo on his Gi) at the 2011 Mundials. If anyone happens to know his opponents name (or his last name!) please let me know so I can update it.
I've got one more of Preston, but first I think I'll post one of Cobrinha's matches. However, I'm on my way out of town so you'll have to wait until Wednesday for more Mundials awesomness!
I've got one more of Preston, but first I think I'll post one of Cobrinha's matches. However, I'm on my way out of town so you'll have to wait until Wednesday for more Mundials awesomness!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Ian McPherson v Eduardo Telles
As promised here is the exclusive video of the McPherson v Telles match from the 2011 Mundials.
A fantastic match full of a lot of back and forth and some really great jiujitsu from both guys.
My next video will feature Alliance Purple belt Preston (Sorry, don't know the last name) vs an unknown opponent. Look for it tomorrow!
A fantastic match full of a lot of back and forth and some really great jiujitsu from both guys.
My next video will feature Alliance Purple belt Preston (Sorry, don't know the last name) vs an unknown opponent. Look for it tomorrow!
Exclusive Mundials Videos Incoming!
Listen up my Grappling Brethren! I’ve managed to get my grubby little hands on exclusive video of 14 matches from this years Mundials with guys like Kron Gracie, Cobrinha, and Marcello Garcia. I’ll be releasing these videos one at a time here on the blog over the next couple of weeks.
The first video will be up this afternoon featuring Alliance powerhouse and rising star Ian McPherson vs one of the best in the world Edwardo Telles.
Now, with that out of the way, I’ve been hitting my S&C workout nice and regular on schedule and I already feel a difference. We worked on takedowns last night and in the clinch I could feel the additional strength and stability in my back and was able to maintain a lot more control and execute a whole bunch of sacrifice throws. I only hit a couple of things that weren’t sacrifice throws, but still that’s more successful takedowns in one night than I generally get in a month.
Technique was a continuation of open guard passing techniques based around the knee cut pass. First one was for what to do when you can’t get the kneecut to work, you secure a grip behind the collar, and a grip on the far pants leg, then backstep and drop down laying next to your opponent. The control of the pants leg is CRUCIAL to stop your opponent from rolling up on you. Next you use your free leg to shove your opponents bottom leg while you pull their top leg with your Gi grip to free the trapped leg. Settle in to side control.
Second up was the same beginning sequence, but your opponent lets their elbow get a little loose from their body while trying to prevent you from freeing your leg, so you switch your pants leg grip to their wrist and move your collar grip to scoop under and secure the kimura grip. Use a combination of the Kimura grip and your free leg to apply pressure and free your trapped leg, then finish the kimura. You also have the option if your opponent makes a mistake of locking up the kimura grip at the same time as you move to backstep at the very beginning of the sequence. But that can get very scrambly, so you want to be pretty confident of your ability to control the position if you take that route.
Third was the “Fancy” technique of the night. Same setup as the first two, but instead of going for the wrist you free your opponents lapel and feed it under their armpit to the hand with the collar grip. Suck it up nice and tight. Next kill their far arm by either pulling it down between your bodies or pushing it up over their head and trapping it with your hand. Now step your free leg (The one you backstepped with to get here) Over them and pin them down on their side.
Now you can try to finish with a modified armtriangle/brabo style choke, or you can put your shin in their back and roll, allowing you to secure hooks, and work to finish from the back.
After that we did some drilling from open guard, I swept and passed a lot, but JC managed to trick me into a really wicked tight guillotine while I was passing. Very nicely done.
Next up we worked takedown sparring and as previously mentioned I had a ton of success, even against Kris who usually shuts me down pretty well during standup. Eventually I got tired enough to screw up a takedown and flubbed a sacrifice throw against JC.
Rolled with Casey, Johnny, and Brian for a couple of rounds and had a blast with Casey. He dials it down to just above my level and lets me work and I always have a great time with it. Johnny and Brian are a completely different story. I’m able to get on top and pass guard against Brian for a while but eventually he generally manages to dump me over and then I spend a ton of effort just defending. Johnny pretty much immediately smashes into me and I spend the entire time defending against subs. I’m kind of a jerk with them though, I don’t tap unless they are doing things EXACTLY right, so sometimes I end up getting my head crushed for two or three minutes while they try to sink in a choke using more muscle than technique. That’s getting less common now though, which is nice. They tend to set them up and sink them in properly before starting to crank up the power.
S&C Again tonight, then 2 days off since I’m going down to Florida to hit up Disney with my in-laws.
The first video will be up this afternoon featuring Alliance powerhouse and rising star Ian McPherson vs one of the best in the world Edwardo Telles.
Now, with that out of the way, I’ve been hitting my S&C workout nice and regular on schedule and I already feel a difference. We worked on takedowns last night and in the clinch I could feel the additional strength and stability in my back and was able to maintain a lot more control and execute a whole bunch of sacrifice throws. I only hit a couple of things that weren’t sacrifice throws, but still that’s more successful takedowns in one night than I generally get in a month.
Technique was a continuation of open guard passing techniques based around the knee cut pass. First one was for what to do when you can’t get the kneecut to work, you secure a grip behind the collar, and a grip on the far pants leg, then backstep and drop down laying next to your opponent. The control of the pants leg is CRUCIAL to stop your opponent from rolling up on you. Next you use your free leg to shove your opponents bottom leg while you pull their top leg with your Gi grip to free the trapped leg. Settle in to side control.
Second up was the same beginning sequence, but your opponent lets their elbow get a little loose from their body while trying to prevent you from freeing your leg, so you switch your pants leg grip to their wrist and move your collar grip to scoop under and secure the kimura grip. Use a combination of the Kimura grip and your free leg to apply pressure and free your trapped leg, then finish the kimura. You also have the option if your opponent makes a mistake of locking up the kimura grip at the same time as you move to backstep at the very beginning of the sequence. But that can get very scrambly, so you want to be pretty confident of your ability to control the position if you take that route.
Third was the “Fancy” technique of the night. Same setup as the first two, but instead of going for the wrist you free your opponents lapel and feed it under their armpit to the hand with the collar grip. Suck it up nice and tight. Next kill their far arm by either pulling it down between your bodies or pushing it up over their head and trapping it with your hand. Now step your free leg (The one you backstepped with to get here) Over them and pin them down on their side.
Now you can try to finish with a modified armtriangle/brabo style choke, or you can put your shin in their back and roll, allowing you to secure hooks, and work to finish from the back.
After that we did some drilling from open guard, I swept and passed a lot, but JC managed to trick me into a really wicked tight guillotine while I was passing. Very nicely done.
Next up we worked takedown sparring and as previously mentioned I had a ton of success, even against Kris who usually shuts me down pretty well during standup. Eventually I got tired enough to screw up a takedown and flubbed a sacrifice throw against JC.
Rolled with Casey, Johnny, and Brian for a couple of rounds and had a blast with Casey. He dials it down to just above my level and lets me work and I always have a great time with it. Johnny and Brian are a completely different story. I’m able to get on top and pass guard against Brian for a while but eventually he generally manages to dump me over and then I spend a ton of effort just defending. Johnny pretty much immediately smashes into me and I spend the entire time defending against subs. I’m kind of a jerk with them though, I don’t tap unless they are doing things EXACTLY right, so sometimes I end up getting my head crushed for two or three minutes while they try to sink in a choke using more muscle than technique. That’s getting less common now though, which is nice. They tend to set them up and sink them in properly before starting to crank up the power.
S&C Again tonight, then 2 days off since I’m going down to Florida to hit up Disney with my in-laws.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Bullshido Presents: James Clingerman
*Update* Just want to give a shout-out to Matthew Perry, James Clingerman, and the guys at Indiana Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
As promised here is some more in-depth info on the Clingerman guard passing videos that are up over at Bullshido.
Video 1
My personal passing style shares a LOT with the style James uses. All the way from the way he maintains combat base through the passes he uses. For that reason I was able to pull some GREAT details out of this first video.
The very first thing I picked up is that his stance is even MORE compact than mine is in combat base. To that end I've started tucking my chin even deeper and burrowing my elbows in even tighter which has already led to a higher guard passing percentage for me.
Second great detail is how he uses the forearm across the throat as well as the stacking pressure to make your opponent WANT you to pass. At the point where you are half-choking them and smashing their own knee into their face they want nothing more than to let you take side control and that detail has also helped me to increase my pass percentage.
Third thing, and one that I've been doing for a while now, but a LOOOOT of people miss comes in at the 4:45 mark. When you are passing over a pinned leg, bring your back foot up and cross it over that leg BEFORE you move your lead leg off of it. Stops you from getting caught in half guard and gives you a lot more control of your pass.
From there the rest of the video is gravy. I recommend watching it three or four times, but just the three points I mentioned will do wonders for your guard passing.
Video 2
This video picks up pretty much where the previous one left off, with some specific guard passes. This time against butterfly guard. Again I share the same methods. the first detail I picked up that I liked was at the four minute mark, up to that point I already was doing everything he mentioned, but the way he scoops the arm across at the end of the pass is a detail I've not previously paid attention to. It really makes your pass more aggressive forcing your opponent to start defending against your submissions immediately instead of trying to regain guard.
The second thing that I really liked was the detail on the pass at about the 6:15 mark. It looks like you're giving your opponent a free triangle choke, but if you pay attention he actually has complete control and as long as you maintain the control he described you aren't in any danger and it really adds a LOT of options to your passing game.
This video just has some great specific pass techniques in the first 10 minutes. Several of them I plan on drilling into my main game over the next few months.
Towards the end he revists some of the details for controlling your opponent while you are passing which are all 100% pure gold.
The detail at 11:40 where he is passing to one side, his opponent blocks his hip and he switches to the other side is a fantastic point to take note of since it's one of the things that people have tons of trouble with. You get committed to passing on one side and get blocked, so you just shut down and your opponent gets to take over the momentum. Switching your pass to the other side lets you maintain the initiative and more likely complete your pass.
I highly recommend that everyone keep an eye on The Fighthub Forum over at Bullshido for more Clingerman videos to come. The guy is awesome and he has an excellent teaching style as well.
As promised here is some more in-depth info on the Clingerman guard passing videos that are up over at Bullshido.
Video 1
My personal passing style shares a LOT with the style James uses. All the way from the way he maintains combat base through the passes he uses. For that reason I was able to pull some GREAT details out of this first video.
The very first thing I picked up is that his stance is even MORE compact than mine is in combat base. To that end I've started tucking my chin even deeper and burrowing my elbows in even tighter which has already led to a higher guard passing percentage for me.
Second great detail is how he uses the forearm across the throat as well as the stacking pressure to make your opponent WANT you to pass. At the point where you are half-choking them and smashing their own knee into their face they want nothing more than to let you take side control and that detail has also helped me to increase my pass percentage.
Third thing, and one that I've been doing for a while now, but a LOOOOT of people miss comes in at the 4:45 mark. When you are passing over a pinned leg, bring your back foot up and cross it over that leg BEFORE you move your lead leg off of it. Stops you from getting caught in half guard and gives you a lot more control of your pass.
From there the rest of the video is gravy. I recommend watching it three or four times, but just the three points I mentioned will do wonders for your guard passing.
Video 2
This video picks up pretty much where the previous one left off, with some specific guard passes. This time against butterfly guard. Again I share the same methods. the first detail I picked up that I liked was at the four minute mark, up to that point I already was doing everything he mentioned, but the way he scoops the arm across at the end of the pass is a detail I've not previously paid attention to. It really makes your pass more aggressive forcing your opponent to start defending against your submissions immediately instead of trying to regain guard.
The second thing that I really liked was the detail on the pass at about the 6:15 mark. It looks like you're giving your opponent a free triangle choke, but if you pay attention he actually has complete control and as long as you maintain the control he described you aren't in any danger and it really adds a LOT of options to your passing game.
This video just has some great specific pass techniques in the first 10 minutes. Several of them I plan on drilling into my main game over the next few months.
Towards the end he revists some of the details for controlling your opponent while you are passing which are all 100% pure gold.
The detail at 11:40 where he is passing to one side, his opponent blocks his hip and he switches to the other side is a fantastic point to take note of since it's one of the things that people have tons of trouble with. You get committed to passing on one side and get blocked, so you just shut down and your opponent gets to take over the momentum. Switching your pass to the other side lets you maintain the initiative and more likely complete your pass.
I highly recommend that everyone keep an eye on The Fighthub Forum over at Bullshido for more Clingerman videos to come. The guy is awesome and he has an excellent teaching style as well.
Monday, June 13, 2011
MMAHQ Launches BJJHQ!
So my friends over at MMAHQ have seen the light and launched a similar website devoted to BJJ related merchandise deals. The current deal is a Vulcan LW Gi for only 135$. So go check it out! Hopefully I'll get some merch from that side of the show to review soon as well.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
BJJ 6/10/2011
Spent some time watching the videos from James Clingerman posted over at Bullshido about guard passing. I love his videos because his style is so similar to my own.
Taught some guard passing to the beginner class and had them work on posturing, guard breaking, and passing for a while.
Main class was open guard passing which tied in quite well with the stuff I was working on with the beginners. Drilled for a while then did a gauntlet with the lightweights. Spent the whole time sweeping and passing. Also hit the Ghost escape a few more times on various people. Really starting to get it tuned up.
Saturday was a full rest day and I took my wife to see “As You Like It”, it rained so I built us a makeshift tent and the play ended up going on despite the rain.
Sunday my jiujitsu was interrupted by work, but I was able to hit up my S&C Routine as well as the Riders fitness routine my wife is doing.
Managed 3 full sets. 10 swings, 5 rows/arm, 10 dumbell deadlifts w/ 55lb dumbells.
That is a ferocious pace for me and I really feel like if I can push my way all the way to 15 minutes solid of it I’ll be in the kind of physical shape I need to be for the mundials.
There will be a more detailed post about the Clingerman guard passing videos soon.
Taught some guard passing to the beginner class and had them work on posturing, guard breaking, and passing for a while.
Main class was open guard passing which tied in quite well with the stuff I was working on with the beginners. Drilled for a while then did a gauntlet with the lightweights. Spent the whole time sweeping and passing. Also hit the Ghost escape a few more times on various people. Really starting to get it tuned up.
Saturday was a full rest day and I took my wife to see “As You Like It”, it rained so I built us a makeshift tent and the play ended up going on despite the rain.
Sunday my jiujitsu was interrupted by work, but I was able to hit up my S&C Routine as well as the Riders fitness routine my wife is doing.
Managed 3 full sets. 10 swings, 5 rows/arm, 10 dumbell deadlifts w/ 55lb dumbells.
That is a ferocious pace for me and I really feel like if I can push my way all the way to 15 minutes solid of it I’ll be in the kind of physical shape I need to be for the mundials.
There will be a more detailed post about the Clingerman guard passing videos soon.
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