Detail on Seatbelt Grip From Behind

Brazilian black belt Alex gave me an Brian a tip last night for Seatbelt Grip from behind. The arm that is under your opponent's armpit grips on top of the hand/arm that is over your opponent's shoulder. The reason is that your opponent will likely push off your top gripping hand, in which case you can continue your hand/arm above their shoulder for a choke. This tip was like a light bulb moment.

In class yesterday, Justin went over the following:

• Fireman's Carry (Throw)
• Bow and Arrow Choke (without foot over opponent's shoulder)
• Bow and Arrow Choke with shin to back of opponent's head.
• Brazilian black belt Alex showed a modified Bow and Arrow Choke where you remove your leg from underneath your opponent but without putting your foot on your opponent's shoulder. The key is to remove your leg as you're laying your opponent down.

Baseball Bat Choke With Magid Hage

I wrote about getting Baseball Bat Choked from the bottom last week and how cool it was to see Magid Hage pull it off on someone in a big competition. Well... Magid Hage IV stopped by Gracie Barra San Diego to teach a Baseball Bat Choke seminar. It was awesome! Apparently, Prof. Dominic has known Magid for at least 8 years and keeps calling him "Little Magid". Magid is not very little anymore.

He taught us different variations:

• Starting with both people kneeling.
• From Half Guard bottom.
• From Half Guard top:
• Passing to North South
• Kicking over to Scorpion
• From opponent's Closed Guard

I also had the pleasure to roll with Magid during interval training. I got Baseball Bat Choked from everywhere!! Even knowing about the technique after the seminar I couldn't prevent it, his hands are huge, and this grip is deadly!

Of course my eyes are closed! :P

Baseball Bat Choke From The Bottom!

I wrote about the baseball bat choke from the bottom in my reflections from last week. Now here are two videos of Magid Hage IV from Gracie Barra Escondido pulling it off in the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials. Very cool to see a move you learn last week successfully pulled off in a big competition.

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.

Seminar with AJ Agazarm at Gracie Barra Mission Viejo

Wayne and I went to an AJ Agazarm seminar at Gracie Barra Mission Viejo. Here are his notes:

• Defense to single leg-over hook (half wizer and wrist control. 
• Loop choke from sprawl-feed cross collar, weave wizer hand to back of head, tuck head roll to superman.
• Single leg takedown- wrist control, step if needed to shoot for front leg clamp leg with knees, foot sweep.
• Sweet spot, step over back leg bend over leg clamp leg with chest, flare knee to feed collar to hand pop up, drive forward
• sweet spot-guy kicks out leg break down pull back up, Thai clench drive forward.
• Open guard pass-grab belt with same side arm with knee in middle, grab knee from underside switch to top grip, kick trap leg out go into side control, grab back neck lapel after letting go of knee.
• Baseball bat-elbow pressure, trap arm on ground windshield wiper it to keep trapped and choke.

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.

Reflections

I had a great roll with Justin this Sunday before Memorial Day. Justin taught the Sunday class in which he showed many arm bars and variations resulting from an arm bar setup.

• Justin's advice to me after rolling is don't flare out my knee to much when I open guard.
• When someone stacks my triangle, try to finish with a collar choke. This works for when someone does a double leg stack pass too.
• When working a trip, bait them with a tap to their front foot fist, when they step back sweep/trip the front leg. (Sam)

North South Choke by Marcelo Garcia

Marcelo Garcia talks with Stephan Kesting about how to set up and execute the North South choke.

This Week's Training

On Monday we went over the most basic guard pass. The one with one straight arm and other hand on opponent's hips. I get the concept in theory and in my mind I can do it, but in real life I still have trouble with this guard pass. I feel like my arms are too short and I have to move back as I'm posted up.

Yesterday was an awesome day because I got to roll with J (aka Justin). He's really good, better than the 4 stripe white belt that he displays. When we first rolled, I started out in his guard and his spider guarded me when I opened him up. He swept me with the spider guard sweep that I hate and mounted me. I didn't want him on top of me so I tried to get him into half guard, but really it ended up like a quarter guard. While in quarter guard, he did a Neto Roll, it caught me by surprised and I ended up in his guard again! Lots of things happened after which he submitted me with an arm triangle. After the match I asked him to show the Neto Roll and he said it's supposed to get my back from it.

I also rolled with Glenn. I had his back most of the time but he did a good job of defining. He's pretty good for only being a 2 stripes white belt. I ended up getting him in a rear-naked choke. Justin told me I could have finished him with a gi choke from behind: grab the lapel then grab their collar from behind, try to push their collar through my arm grabbing the label, what this does is brings my forearm grabbing their lapel closer to their throat. Pretty interesting choke for when you don't want to keep fighting for the rear-naked or traditional gi choke.

Frustrated...

Yesterday's Advanced class was very frustrating. I felt like a total "newb" rolling with the blue belts. Well, let me go over the techniques we learned in class first:

1.  An escape from Turtle Position, where the guy is on top in North-South Position with their arms around your waist. Start out by grabbing onto one of your arms and then basing out the leg on that side, then sit all the way through while holding onto their arm. It's like you are almost laying perpendicular on their back and arm-locking them. After which, you pass through and take your opponent's back from behind.
   
   It's similar to the following video here, but ending up in North-South.
   
   
2. Clock Choke. Click here to see the one I was taught in class.

Two things Prof. showed me after I sparred:

1. Getting one leg outside of opponent's open guard then applying pressure on their leg to pass to side.
2. Kicking out a leg and wrapping the arms around their body.

To be continued...

Clock Choke

In Wednesday's Advanced class, we learned the Clock Choke. At first I thought it was an awkward choke and that I was too light to finish it, however I tapped someone out with it. The key thing about this choke is really lay your weight on your opponent when you spawn.

Will update with some videos...