BJJ Class 139
Early afternoon gi class. It was a really great class.
After a heavy warm-up, we paired off and were told to work on game plans. It was really awesome as I paired up with a purple belt. We worked on a game plan from stand up, working up to submission, with variations based on how your opponent reacts. I got a ton of tips. Some were old tips that I never got to incorporate and are great to be reminded of while some tips were new.
Here’s some of the tips I remember (man, I forgot some already!):
- Always stay tight
- (Secure your) position before (going for a )submission
- For max armbar control, grab the wrist with your hand (I tend to grab with my forearms and wrists)
- When falling back for an armbar, fall back toward the legs as opposed as toward the head as that will make it easier for a bridge & twist escape
- Slow and tight is better than quick but loose
- When posting to transition, post on your opponent, not the mat
- With scarfhold side control, grab the gi with your nearside hand and lower your head toward your opponents far side shoulder
- Keep a knee tight against the opponent’s hip in regular side control
- In top north-south, grab the pants and sprawl out
- Always fake to set-up takedowns, don’t just go for it
- When defending the back from a choke, overemphasize looking up to protect your neck
- When defending the back, fall to one side, remove the bottom leg hook, and spin around on top of that leg. Keep the leg pinned so you can recover from the position and avoid ending up in guard, getting side control instead
- An arm triangle is less about arm strength and more about putting your weight over your opponent’s arm to get the submission
- When faking to set-up throws or takedowns, pulling your opponent down is the least effective fake
- When securing an arm for an armbar, just grabbing your gi is not enough. Pin your elbow against your body too
After all the game plan stuff was a round (five minutes) of regular rolling. Then with the same partner, one person would take his gi top off and roll a round no-gi versus gi. Then the next round was a switch with the gi no-gi, another with both people no-gi, and finally a round with both wearing the gi. All rounds were with the same partner.
What I did right:
- I wasn’t swept from inside the purple belt’s guard. About three times I was swept but that was from half-guard and when I would try standing passes
- About twice we got into a leg/footlock battle (both people going for foot/leg subs) and I felt like I defended them well and always had my own submission attempt against those on me. I have to say “I felt” cause there’s a chance my training partner was doing “trap & release” (secure sub and let go) and my subs may not have been subs at all
- My back wasn’t attacked and no guillotines were done on me. But neither was attempted
What I did wrong:
- I never did successfully pass guard, but came close just once or twice
- I went for the grab the shoulder and stack the one leg guardpass against no-gi and succumbed to a triangle. Twice!!
- I got open guard once or twice, and it was quickly passed
- I successfully defending a triangle by posturing up, but I was pulled in for an armbar
After all the rolling, those who are competing in a small local tournament in a few weeks were made to sprint six laps up and down the mats. I’m not competing, but myself and a few other non-competitors joined in the sprinting. Ooh, am I way out of shape!! I felt lightheaded in the last lap and my left hamstring felt tight afterwards. Needless to say, I’ll do it again in the next class!
And that was that for jiu jitsu this week.. I won’t be able to train again this week since I have a bunch of wedding preparing stuff planned for the rest of the week. I’m not only falling short of my training goal this month (not miss a class), but I’m failing it.
Related posts:
March 21st, 2009 at 5:35 pm
At the end of my last class I paired up with a guy with no gi. It was frustrating, as he had a multitude of choices of grips and flexible hips. I spent the entire time trying to stay in the pocket as he tried to twist and turn for armbars and kept breaking my base as I tried to pass.
I found myself at one point gripping his t-shirt (rashguard) above his shoulders and then quickly letting go because of ‘my’ code of not grabbing clothes. I still think that if you are no-gi and your partner is gi you should not grab his gi unless it is a drill.
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:56 am
It is a bit frustrating isn’t it.. I won’t grab clothes either if the other person is no-gi, but I think it’s open season on me if I’m wearing a gi.
Other than the variety of grips the no-gi person has, he doesn’t have any other advantages. Cause of your gi he won’t be able to slip out of submissions as easily as when both are no-gi.
I think it’s great for training. You get a slight disadvantage, which isn’t as bad as the disadvantage you get by tucking your arm in your belt and rolling one-armed.
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Great tips! And good luck on the wedding preparations!
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Thanks Patrick!!