Reflections Of Training This Week

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013 - Advanced Class at GB San Diego

Professor Dominic Parker taught two (own) lapel chokes from side control.

1. The first choke uses your own lapel closest to your opponent's hip. You cross feed it to the other side of your opponent's neck. The most important part is to pull them close to you to make the choke tight and then you quarter stop to North South and straight your arm while trying to put your shoulder to your opponent's hip.
2. The second choke uses your own lapel closest to your opponent's neck. You feed it across their throat then you behind. Same as the previous choke, you want to pull them close to make the choke tight. Then you want to use your other hand and grab your own wrist/forearm and then straight the arm gripping the lapel to choke.

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 - "Super" Class at GB Encinitas

Professor Rafael "Foca" Ramos was disappointed in the "Super" Class turn out, but taught 3 techniques for while your opponent is in Turtle before having internal sparring. I really learned a lot rolling with new guys.

1. Armbar from top of turtle. The key is to bait your opponent to stick out their arm by tugging them. Then trap the arm using your legs. If their arm is on your far leg, you can hip into their elbow for the armbar.
2. Omoplata roll your opponent into side control while having their arm trapped. The setup is different from the previous because your opponent's arm will be in your close leg. When your opponent ends up on their side, you must pressure them with your arm across them so they can't get up. To finish, hip out and up. It's basically a Kimura using your leg.
3. Taking your opponent's back by rolling them back so that you're sitting and trapping their close arm. Then finish with a choke.

Things I learned from internal sparring.

1. Purple Belt Miles likes to foot lock. I learned that to defend the foot lock you need to grab their lapel and then put on the "boot" by sticking in through their arm so that they're hugging your calf.
2. Purple Belt Fernando tapped me by a choke from behind.
3. Black Belt Brian Franklin swept me all over the place.
4. Blue Belt Jack tapped me 3 times, 2 were from the baseball bat choke from the BOTTOM! I know the choke from the top, but he got me over and over from the bottom with that choke. He says even if you don't finish the choke, you can end up sweep your opponent over. It's a great setup from half because if they pass, the choke tightens itself.

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 - Advanced Class at GB San Diego

Prof. Dominic continued the 2 (own) lapel chokes. Someone tapped me using the close to the neck lapel choke. His pressure was so intense even when I saw the lapel choke coming, I couldn't move from his pressure. Dominic also went into maintaining side control.

1. Don't just maintain control of their upper body but also keep your knee close to your opponent's butt to block their knee from getting back in.
2. Going to knee on belly when your opponent bench presses you. Use their push to go to knee on belly. The key is to use your foot to block their knee from coming back in by having it close to where their leg meets their hip.

Things learned while rolling:

1. Almost got an upside down invert triangle. I couldn't finish it. I couldn't see my leg setup or my opponent's arm, but I just couldn't close my leg. I asked Dominic afterwards and he said to pull their arm over next time or pull up with both arms to go to a mounted inverted triangle.
2. I need to learn how to maintain mount on bigger guys. I need to not give up reverses and sweeps so easily.

Kurt Osiander's Move of the Week - Deep Half-Guard Defense

I always wondered about the defense against the deep half guard. Justin told me to play heavy top, especially on the knee by the head, watch out for your leg sticking out, and attack their arm, but that's when they already have deep half. Kurt shows how to prevent the deep half and turn it into an attack, very sick stuff.

Omoplata Sweep

The key component that I'm missing to this sweep is that I have to shoot my hips up!

Here are some variations and finishes to this sweep.

Reverse Omoplata Sweep:


Omoplata Sweep to Straight Arm-bar:

Puxada Pro Armbar

From Caio Terra's, "Modern Jiu-Jitsu".

More Tips to Improving My Game

Thumb in first Front Choke (Opponent is in your guard):

• Start with cross-face arm, thumb in first and goes all the way to the back of opponent's collar.
• Opposite first grabs opposite collar about halfway down.
• The key to this choke is to flair out the elbow with the thumb in and pull down on the fist halfway down.
• This choke works slowly, so be patient and doesn't give up and readjust.

Positional Training - Back:

• The interesting thing I learned was that Brian turtles up to defend this position.
• When a person turtles and does this, I must follow them and replace my hooks.

Positional Training - Mount:

• Base out with my knees more.
• Apply more body pressure.

Positional Training - Side Control:

• From Top -
• Control your opponent's elbow so they can't bridge.
• From Bottom -
• Fist/Wrist under opponent's armpit and elbow to their throat.

Positional Training - Deep Half Guard:

•   From top - 
• Needs to apply heavy pressure on the knee near opponent's head.
• The opposite leg needs to stretch out to avoid opponent from grabbing for a sweep.
• Body needs to be heavy and close to avoid X-Guard.
• Attack the far arm. (Kimura, straight arm bar laying down, straight arm bar against my shouder).
• From bottom - 
• The legs need to wrap high around opponent's knee to prevent them from advancing to mount.
• Should grab leg in the guard to sweep.
• Transition to X-Guard.

Think about turning in for a single leg takedown; the options are there.

Kurt Osiander's Armbar & Triangle Defense

Armbar Defense


Triangle Defense

Things I Need To Work On

Yesterday was my first time rolling with Professor Dominic. I could tell he was going easy on me. He kicked my ass twice and after the roll he said, "Good hip movement though."

I got caught in a Triangle and Armbar while trying to escape from guard. So I need to work on the following:

1. Triangle Escapes
2. Armbar Escapes

Rolled Up Epsiode 26 – Jiu-jitsu Missionary: Andre Galvao

Andre Galvao shows the following from guard:
1) sweep,
2) arm bar,
3) taking the back

in the following video.

Armbar From Bottom Of Side Control

This move is for when you're the bottom and your opponent has side control.

1. First, hip out and replace your knee like you would to regain guard.
2. While in doing the first move, over-hook your opponent's arm. The one closest to your arms.
3. With this arm trapped, put your forearm under their elbow, pin your knees, and stretch your opponent into an armbar.

This move was learned from purple belt Mark.

Advancing Position While Opponent Is In Turtle Position

Mark taught class today because Dominic was out of town. Mark taught some very moves when the opponent is in the Turtle Position.

1. Rolling forward and putting in your hooks:
1. Start out behind your opponent. Make sure to keep your hips close and apply weight near your opponent's hips.
2. Double under hooks and grab your opponent's gi collar with each hand.
3. Force your opponent's head down by grabbing their collar deep.
4. Now start applying pressure across your opponent's back with your head diagonal across their body. Your head should be close to their head if not more over.
5. Tuck your chin in and roll forward diagonally.
6. While your opponent is in mid-air put in your hooks.
2. Chest bump to side control:
1. Start out with your body perpendicular across their back.
2. Grab your opponent's arm and ankle farthest away from you. Note that your knuckles are faced up. Also, you are NOT reaching around their head and butt; and you are not reaching under their arm and leg. You are reach across their arm and legs.
3. Pull their arm and leg towards you and use your chest to bump and roll your opponent over. Do not let go of the ankle, use this to obtain side control.
3. From behind to North-South to arm bar:
1. Start from behind.
2. Under hook grab your opponent's closest arm.
3. Now start to go perpendicular to your opponent.
4. Now get your opponent to lay down on their side by collapsing the arm.
5. Continue into North-South position.
6. Place your knee on their rib while hanging onto their arm.
7. Finish with arm bar (knee in arm pit).
4. Roll opponent over knee:
1. Start by pressuring down on one of your opponent's shoulders across back.
2. Grab your opponent's belt with arm parallel to your opponent's spine.
3. With your other hand grab your opponent's ankle. The grab is more like an upwards cup.
4. Put your leg straight on top of their head. It's kind of like help tucking in their head.
5. Next, roll back and use your momentum to roll your opponent over your leg.
6. Take side control.

Learned 2 takedowns from "Russian" David.

1. Single leg takedown:
1. Start by going for a double or single leg take down. Mostlikely you will end up with only one leg.
2. Now trap their leg in between your legs. Also hold onto their leg with your arms.
3. When ready, shoot down for their other leg while keeping the trapped leg in between your legs.
4. This should take them down because both legs are trapped.
2. Drop and roll:
1. Start by trapping your opponent's arm. Almost like in a figure-4 grip, but not necessary.
2. You can try to step in and go for a single leg hook sweep. Usually this does not work, but it gets them to square up with you.
3. Once they are squared up with you, you can drop the other leg in and lay down, pull and roll them. You will mostlikely end up in side control. What you are basically doing is blocking their arm so they can't post and using your body to break down your opponent's dead zone.

David also offered me another tip. He said to control your opponent's wrist as much as you can. Especially, when they have you in side control. Don't let the opponent control your head, but instead grab their gi/wrist and push it across their chest (i.e. push their arm to your side) and hip escape outward.

Tip from Mark. I had the Omoplata on Dan but couldn't sit up and finished. Mark walked by and shook his head then said, "change into a triangle." I totally forgot that you should use your opponent's momentum when trying to sit up preventing the Omoplata as a transition into a triangle. I need to remember this!

Techniques From Closed Guard

I missed the "advanced" bjj class on Monday due to work, so I went to the later "beginner's" class. It was actually a very enlightening class because I didn't get crashed by blue belts the whole time and got to work on some techniques I have been wanting to try. The beginner's class worked on the following techniques from the closed guard:

1. Pendulum Sweep
2. Pendulum Sweep attempt to arm bar

Some observations:

1. I often take people's back but have a really tough time finishing them. Especially with guys larger and stronger than me. Their defense is to grab onto my arm and pull down preventing me from finishing the rear-naked choke or the gi choke from the back. Any suggestions would be great!
2. I'm not exactly the strongest or heaviest guy, but I need to learn how to apply my weight and pressure my opponents better.
3. I need to work on my d'arce chokes.

Till next time... ;)