single leg takedowns (and a double leg variation)

We learned a few takedowns in Jude's class yesterday:

1st:

1) you are standing facing your opponent - grab her left lapel with your right hand and in circular fashion step back and to the right with your right leg, effectively pulling her from a squared front stance to a left leg forward stance

2) drop down onto your left knee, placing it just outside her right foot and loop your left arm around her leg, grabbing your own right lapel with your left hand; keep your head on the inside of her right thigh

3) let go of her left lapel with your right hand and get a grip on her right heel/ankle 

4) push back against her thigh with your head while simultaneously pulling forward on her ankle; she will fall and when she does, angle for side control 

2nd:

1) same as above

2) drop down onto your left knee, grab her right leg and stand back up, securing her right leg between yours; get a good palm to palm grip around her thigh with your head on the inside - instead of keeping your head against her inside thigh (which makes it easy for her to push your head down and extract her leg), get your grip higher on her leg and push your forehead or crown of your head against her floating rib which makes it much harder for her to push you away and escape.

3) step forward with your right leg and bring her right leg from between your legs to the outside of your left leg 

4) push forward with your head and body and pull up on her left leg to take her down

The 3rd is actually a double leg variation on the 2nd technique above:

1) same as above

2) same as above

3) take your head from the inside (her floating rib) to the outside (right side of your head pressing against her right lats); looking up to encourage posturing up

4) take your right arm from it's grip on her right leg to a good grasp around her waist (if you are strong you can grab her left leg instead)

5) step forward with your right leg to off balance your opponent, step your left leg in a better position (closer to your right) to get under (if you will) your opponent and then lift her up, swinging her legs to your right, and take her down

In all of the above techniques it is important to keep your back straight; bending at the hips - for better leverage and posture (and presumably back health and safety?).

In sparring later in the class I successfully used the sweep we learned in class on Wednesday - Yay!

cool sweep

Gustavo taught us a very cool sweep from open guard tonight:

1) get a cross grip on your opponent's right sleeve and from the inside, encircle his left leg with your right arm like you would for a handstand sweep; then swivel your body to your right so you are perpendicular to your opponent

3) extend your left leg up; securing your foot in his left armpit

4) quickly extend your right leg and secure the sole of your right foot against his right thigh close to the knee

5) push up and to your right with your left leg and back and to the right with your right leg (don't forget you still have a cross grip on his right sleeve) effectively sweeping your opponent to your right

6) his downward momentum will pull you up and onto him AND you will have his left leg in perfect position for a knee bar!

I also sustained my first disfigurement in class tonight by way of a finger/nail in my (closed) eye - it will surely heal, probably without scarring, but  have a good raspberry and a good story to tell for the next couple of days. 

Gratitude

Last nights class was great fun! Great warmup - hard core abs and press-ups - thanks Ollie! Then we did king of the hill (guard passage) for awhile. It seemed like everyone that started in guard stayed there for the duration while white and blue belts went around in quick succession. I was having fun with it and had the epiphany that it is great that those of us with less skills do this - eventually we will get good at passing guard! Duh! Twice I tried to pass Gustavo's guard - I took the opportunity to ask him about a move I've often seen other's do but have never been shown - to pass guard: 

1) grab both lapels high with both hands and push your fists (each holding it's respective lapel) into your opponents armpits

2) put your forehead on your opponents sternum and push with your arms, moving your hips back, in the direction of your feet

3) your opponent will likely move his legs up your back in effort to keep you down/break your posture - as soon as he does, put your knee behind his tailbone, posture up and break his guard - you are now in open guard and better able to pass

Later Roger taught an escape from half back mount:

1) your opponent is on your back his right hook in deep and his right arm around your neck in preparation for a choke

2) you first protect against the submission (in this case the choke) by placing your left hand on his bicep and bracing the left elbow tightly against your left thigh (so he can't get the other hook in)

3) reach up with your right hand and grab his gi at the shoulder (his right shoulder), while basing up with your left leg

4) pull his right arm and shoulder to your left turning your torso and head to the left and keeping your left arm/elbow tight against your thigh

5) now your opponent cannot finish the choke because he is off balance (clinging to your side like a koala bear) and he will fall off mount if he lets go to reach for the choke

6) continue to pull his right arm and shoulder to your left while pushing forward with your right shoulder and left leg, pop your head up onto his chest and find yourself in a half guard side-control position!

After lessons we had open sparring - I rolled every session and was the only girl in class so got to work with lots of guys I don't normally work with. I am glad to be getting out of the limiting habit of mostly only rolling with the other girls. I guess I went through a phase where I was a bit afraid to work with people I wasn't used to working with and afraid to work with guys - but really the level of almost everyone in the advanced class is really good and, as far as I can tell, they are there to practice technique - not work out their aggression or display their superior strength or to kick some girly ass! I have really really enjoyed working with the guys lately and think it is improving my game to open myself up to working with a greater variety of people. I even pulled off (almost) the technique Roger taught us in one of my sparring sessions with a really good blue belt - it felt like he was letting me - either that or I was doing a good job of it. To give myself some credit - my defense has probably gone up a level which enables me to increase my confidence in working with a greater variety of sparring partners.

After class a bunch of us went to the pub down the street to have a birthday drink with Joanna. It was good fun. I talked a bit with Goran Reljic - UFC fighter who trains BJJ at RGA when he is in London and will be fighting in UFC 84 on May 24th in Las Vegas - with he and Roger Gracie in attendance I felt a bit a part of an elite crowd - for that and all the fun had joking around with the others it was a very memorable evening and reminds me how grateful I am to be able to take part in this sport at this time with these people.

March 28th 2008

Learned a technique for passing guard in No Gi tonight: 

1) get a good base and move your right knee right behind your opponents tailbone - step/base your left foot out to the left - push back to make a little space in front of you between your opponents legs 

2) with hips forward and a good base, weave your left arm behind your back and under your opponents right leg while simultaneously weaving your right arm in front of you between his legs

3) 'underhook' his right leg with both arms and lean your bodyweight on the leg pushing forward with your chest

4) keep your left arm/hand gripping his right leg and sweep your right arm around his left leg so that you have a good grip of each thigh

5) drive forward while bringing your palms to grip each other, effectively stacking your opponent

6) pass to one side and gain side control

morale

Jude has returned - YAY!!! And it was brutal - in the best possible way - so much so that I don't even remember the warmup. Lots of calisthenics - followed by specific sparring.

Techniques - there were two. 

The first was a triangle from guard:

1) you have your opponent in your guard

2) grip his gi at the left knee securely with your right hand

3) base your right foot on his left hip

4) push/snake out your hips to your right while securing your left foot in the crook of his right arm/bicep

5) get a grip on his right sleeve with your left hand and pull him forward onto you while snaking your hips back in to your left; slipping your left leg up >> over >> behind his head and securing the triangle - you can now let go of his gi trousers to tighten the triangle.

The second was a sweep from half guard:

1) you have your opponent's right leg in your half guard

2) you grip his gi at the bottom of his left trouser leg securely with your right hand

3) get a grip on his left arm/sleeve with your left hand

4) get your right knee between his body and yours - braced against his chest

5) turn/snake to your right - pressing against his chest with your left leg/knee and with both arms down and to the right (by his left knee) 

6) quickly arc in a large C from right to left effectively pulling his body on top of you with his right arm ending up way out to your left and his left knee still firmly in your grip

7) as you arc and pull him onto your chest continue with the momentum rolling backward all the way over his body and then secure side control or mount if you can get it.

Damn - this stuff gets complicated!

There was a new blue belt girl in class today which is always cool!

I sparred all but one session - and though I was in an amazingly good mood at the beginning of class I felt a bit deflated by the end. I rolled with a brown belt twice, a guy I totally like and respect, and it was a total bummer to realize yet again that I just give up before I've started with the higher belts. I totally am ridiculous to feel bad about it because in addition to complimenting me (I should assume it is honest eh?) he taught/reminded me that when I'm in someone's guard and he has a grip on one of my legs to put up the opposite leg - spoiling his ability to sweep me; and also when he has a grip of my sleeve (?) to hold down his hand with my free hand (and pressure from my body) and pull/rip the sleeve free.

Note to self - go to class well rested, and make the most of it when a higher belt offers to roll with you! Actually - make the most of rolling with everyone - take every opportunity. As my friend says "I'll take whatever you give me!" I did feel like my fitness is coming along - nice! All the spinning and running is paying off.

No Gi

With some prodding from a BJJ buddy I decided to try a No Gi class. I have never been particularly interested in No Gi because there is (as the name implies) the absence of the big protective Gi that makes regular BJJ less awkward as a girl; I wore several layers under my Gi trousers and t-shirt in effort to combat this. (You may wonder why in a No Gi class I was wearing Gi trousers? Well, an acceptable get-up for No Gi training appears to be Gi trousers and t-shirt, and a few others in class were sporting this particular look. I think that before one commits to No Gi and invests $$ in specific No Gi garb, that this is the de rigueur choice for training). Another reason I was not keen on jumping into No Gi is that I have watched some No Gi and it looks messy - sweaty and fast and therefore perhaps more likely for one to get hurt with elbows and knees slipping and flying this way and that. 

There were very few people in class - I think 9 in total - and most of them BIG guys! This did not help my nervousness, but the warmup, lead by Ollie, did. I have found this in competition as well - when I start to get nervous it helps tremendously to just MOVE - run or do calisthenics. I was hoping to get paired up with the friend that had encouraged me to go to the No Gi class and was not looking forward especially to getting paired up with one of these huge guys that had turned up on Good Friday for a tough, rough-n-ready roll. 

We continued the warmup in pairs doing the frog jump over and then crawl through the legs 10 times each (I was dripping!); and then 'pumelling' (exchanging alternate underhooks from a standing 'clinch' position). In effort to find a better explanation of pumelling I found this inspirational clip: Luta Livre -- No Gi Brazilian Submission Wrestling and Vale Tudo

Warmup rolled right into specific sparring from closed guard with no instruction whatsoever. I ended up paired with a guy new-ish to the academy - well, new to the advanced classes, who I had only rolled with once before and though he was very nice he was also very intense. Since I worked with him last he seems to be concentrating on technique instead of strength and speed - he said as much himself. I think that often this happens in the transition from the beginners classes to the advanced. He also had an elbow injury which likely slowed him down even more - fortunately for me. Anyway, he was a pleasure to work with, though I had no idea how to get out of guard without use of collar, sleeves or trousers! I kept grabbing his trousers at the knees as I would in a regular Gi class and heard from behind me somewhere, Ollie, chiding me that the point is to NOT use the Gi! 

I worked with a few other guys and had a pleasant experience with each of them. I didn't wonder, until now actually, how they must feel about rolling with a girl in No Gi - I could be wrong but I think that they were, for better or worse, more mindful of working smart as opposed to working hard. I was at a couple of points acutely aware of how much more exposed I felt without the Gi but for the most part I was just trying to figure out how to do anything I've learned without using the Gi. I really have no idea if I was successful or not - In my opinion No Gi is a much tighter game as it is so easy for your opponent to slip and wriggle out of anything you get him in - I think it will serve my game, Gi or No Gi, well to work on getting tighter.

I took it pretty easy and sat out for a couple of rounds - watching Braulio Estima and Roger Gracie training No Gi on one end of the mat - a definite perk of training at Roger's academy! Even with two years of BJJ behind me I still often wonder what I am looking at when I watch the masters in action - though I may not know what they are doing it is still brilliant fun to watch and maybe even inspirational...

No Gi is definitely faster, and therefore more of a cardio workout than Gi, which I definitely like. I also have to agree that I think learning No Gi will help my Gi training because most of it can be used in Gi - it could be a huge advantage! I would like to learn more No Gi technique and to become more comfortable working without the psychological protection of the Gi jacket; I think it is safe to say I may find myself in the No Gi class again.

***

Tonight I really did not want to go to class. I was tired and have trained in one form or another for the last 4 days straight after a fairly inactive period while I was battling a cold. I just wanted to crawl into bed and fall into early and blissful sleep - but - I figured there will be plenty of time for that this coming 4 day weekend. And it is usually the time you need a class the most when you feel least like it. I've often been soooo glad I went when I forced a reluctant self to get my butt to class. I am glad I went tonight but it was not a euphoric experience - merely enjoyable and provided a sense of dedication and accomplishment - not too shabby.

Ollie warmed us up - I suffered an embarrassing inability to keep up the pace for the 12th set of 10 press-ups - but you know what? I don't really give a damn - I'm a girl AND yes I did girl press-ups but I did them with very good form which is a lot more than I can say for most of my fellow classmates! And I will be able at some point to do regular press-ups - and 12 sets of them! 

Then we did some drills - throws - just the pickup and then one person attacking and the other defending for 3 minutes each, then guard passage.

We learned a new technique! Yay! I guess you would call it a sweep from guard - but a sweep from guard to full back mount - I wonder, do you get 6 points for that? 

So: 

1) you have your opponent in guard and you feed both your hands under his armpits and then, with guard closed, hoist him onto your chest pulling with both your arms and both your legs

2) then you open your guard while holding him tight to your chest with both arms

3) pull your opponent up further on your chest and then triangle his legs at knees or below

4) then snake to one side (Gustavo swears it doesn't matter which side) pull out the arm that is under your opponent, come up on the elbow and then take his back!

We finished with open sparring for the last half hour. I think I only sparred 3 rounds, but it was fun. I wanted to take it easy as my shoulder is bothering me and I didn't want to go to class in the first place!

As the title suggests - 3 *'s - a decent technique, a decent workout, fun with my peeps and a good attitude - room for improvement all around but as I said before I am glad I went.

Tchau!