There were a lot of memorable things at the comp on the 16th, Karma, Andy, Lance and David all did really well and learnt a lot from the day, but there was one moment that has stuck with me. The Video I have included is of one of David's wins, Without going in to a great deal of detail I have to say that it was impressive to see David go in to a comp and win with only a month or so of training behind him. This clip shows an impressive win.
Alright everyone have a safe and happy christmas, but watch this space for more cat-jitsu!
C ya
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Cat Jitsu Guard Pass
| The first of many cat-jitsu clips, Pearl goes for Khan's back but doesn't get the hooks in, khan passes pearl's guard and secures mount. | |
Final Class for 2006
Hi everyone, Thursday night was our last class for the year, we'll be having a christmas break until the 08/01/2006 when we will be kicking back in with a great year planned. We have plans for a comp, a John Will Seminar as well as the introduction of "Mat Devils" our kids class.
We had a casual lesson as it was our last for the year, but we were treated to an unusual bonus. Our long time friend and coach, Clancy Roberts was in town for the night (currently residing in Sydney) dropped in to say gday and check out our new facilities. While Clancy was with us he showed us a few points to improve our Lapel Half Nelson Chokes. We went through the choke from a few positions including side mount, back control and front control. It is always good to be able to see more technical details to improve technique. Another great benefit for Pete and I as coaches, is we need to periodically see someone who is more advanced than us to keep us inspired and motivated. All in all it was a great time, we all thoroughly enjoyed catching up.
Merry Christmas everyone, stay safe, see you in 2007!
We had a casual lesson as it was our last for the year, but we were treated to an unusual bonus. Our long time friend and coach, Clancy Roberts was in town for the night (currently residing in Sydney) dropped in to say gday and check out our new facilities. While Clancy was with us he showed us a few points to improve our Lapel Half Nelson Chokes. We went through the choke from a few positions including side mount, back control and front control. It is always good to be able to see more technical details to improve technique. Another great benefit for Pete and I as coaches, is we need to periodically see someone who is more advanced than us to keep us inspired and motivated. All in all it was a great time, we all thoroughly enjoyed catching up.
Merry Christmas everyone, stay safe, see you in 2007!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Post Comp Monday
Last night was the first session after the comp in Launceston and was also the last Monday night before our brief Christmas closure.
Firstly for those who haven't seen it yet check out our new website www.bjjtasmania.com
We had some success in the comp with our entrants getting a first, 2 seconds and a third place respectively. There are some pics ont he website, but I'll get some up here ASAP as well. As with all comps though the onus is on identifying areas that need work, so both the beginners class and the intermediate class covered techniques that I identified as important from the comp.
Firstly the beginners class, we spent the full hour of this going through the top control drill in detail as a point that was evident from the comp was that we need to spend more time on effective top control and also effective transitions.
Just as a reminder or for those who don't know the Top Control Drill is in the first stripe syllabus and is the drill involving through 360 degrees from mount, to side control, to front control, to stripe control and back to mount. There are important points for each position and transition, but I'll try to be concise on this blog rather than hugely detailed.
Firstly, in the mount remember to keep your knees and feet tight to your partners body and keep your arms wide so they are a good post in either direction. When transitioning to side control lift your foot but keep your knee on the ground pass it across the stomach low and tight to avoid the opponent getting a hook in.
Important point for side control, in short base side control, always keep your knees wide and bum low. I can't emphasise that enough so I'll say it again, always keep your knees wide and bum low. Your chest should be on your opponents chest, not down towards the stomach and you should have pressure into the chest from your side not from the far side as this is unstable and you'll find yourself rolled over. When you transition to front control, change to long base and then change your base towards the head. When you do this make sure that leg you haven't moved is "loaded" by this I mean your foot is flat and you knee is aiming at the ceiling so you can launch off it if necessary. "Swat the fly" and move to front control.
Control for front control is essentially the same as side control, except both arms should be under your opponents arms gripping either the body or the belt. When in this position ask yourself "Am I too far forward?" you need to be prepared to back up a fraction to secure your control. To transition change your base as per the previous movement, but ensure that you move past the opponents head. reach your arm down to hold the gi pants on the near side and move to side control.
Transition to mount be changing base and swatting the fly as previously mentioned. It is important not to follow your leg over to the mount until you are settled otherwise you'll have no control and will get rolled over straight away.
Right, now onto the Intermediate class.
The first thing we touched on was the arm bar from mount as there were a few things that needed to be tidied up. The main points were; Slide you knee up high to trap the shoulder and separate the arm from the body, when stepping your leg over the opponents head make sure you lean forward, so that you don't fall away from the shoulder and make a space to escape. As with all arm bars, squeeze your knees together, get a pistol grip, hold the pinky to your chest and lean with the arm held tight to your chest.
After this we looked at the sprawl drill and added three scenarios to it.
The first 4 we have all done before, they are; the switch out, the Low single, the high single and the double leg.
I will put some detail into the 3 scenarios that we added.
Scenario 1: From head to head, opponent has an arm across your neck like a guillotine. cup outside of arm and face into the biceps, change your base to that opposite side leg goes right down next to the opponents leg, simultaneously pull your head out backwards out of the grip. You should now be laying in the same direction as your partner, over wrap the nearest arm and drag it past your body, reach over their back and move to side back.
Scenario 2: This is the setup for this and the next scenario. Your opponent is circling to side back from head to head, as they spin around throw your near side arm back behind you so that you can get an underhook. Give a little pull if the opponent brings both knees close, grab the outside knee and the opponents foot and do a double leg, circling to the opponents back to get side control.
Scenario 3: As above, when you pull if the opponent keeps there far leg extended do a roll under the opponent, projecting our outside arm and head between the opponents legs, rolling all the way over to side control. It is important to roll all the way over in this technique as the momentum is required to carry the person over you.
Hopefully see everyone and wednesday and then Thursday for the last class of 2006!
Keep on rolling!
Gerry
Firstly for those who haven't seen it yet check out our new website www.bjjtasmania.com
We had some success in the comp with our entrants getting a first, 2 seconds and a third place respectively. There are some pics ont he website, but I'll get some up here ASAP as well. As with all comps though the onus is on identifying areas that need work, so both the beginners class and the intermediate class covered techniques that I identified as important from the comp.
Firstly the beginners class, we spent the full hour of this going through the top control drill in detail as a point that was evident from the comp was that we need to spend more time on effective top control and also effective transitions.
Just as a reminder or for those who don't know the Top Control Drill is in the first stripe syllabus and is the drill involving through 360 degrees from mount, to side control, to front control, to stripe control and back to mount. There are important points for each position and transition, but I'll try to be concise on this blog rather than hugely detailed.
Firstly, in the mount remember to keep your knees and feet tight to your partners body and keep your arms wide so they are a good post in either direction. When transitioning to side control lift your foot but keep your knee on the ground pass it across the stomach low and tight to avoid the opponent getting a hook in.
Important point for side control, in short base side control, always keep your knees wide and bum low. I can't emphasise that enough so I'll say it again, always keep your knees wide and bum low. Your chest should be on your opponents chest, not down towards the stomach and you should have pressure into the chest from your side not from the far side as this is unstable and you'll find yourself rolled over. When you transition to front control, change to long base and then change your base towards the head. When you do this make sure that leg you haven't moved is "loaded" by this I mean your foot is flat and you knee is aiming at the ceiling so you can launch off it if necessary. "Swat the fly" and move to front control.
Control for front control is essentially the same as side control, except both arms should be under your opponents arms gripping either the body or the belt. When in this position ask yourself "Am I too far forward?" you need to be prepared to back up a fraction to secure your control. To transition change your base as per the previous movement, but ensure that you move past the opponents head. reach your arm down to hold the gi pants on the near side and move to side control.
Transition to mount be changing base and swatting the fly as previously mentioned. It is important not to follow your leg over to the mount until you are settled otherwise you'll have no control and will get rolled over straight away.
Right, now onto the Intermediate class.
The first thing we touched on was the arm bar from mount as there were a few things that needed to be tidied up. The main points were; Slide you knee up high to trap the shoulder and separate the arm from the body, when stepping your leg over the opponents head make sure you lean forward, so that you don't fall away from the shoulder and make a space to escape. As with all arm bars, squeeze your knees together, get a pistol grip, hold the pinky to your chest and lean with the arm held tight to your chest.
After this we looked at the sprawl drill and added three scenarios to it.
The first 4 we have all done before, they are; the switch out, the Low single, the high single and the double leg.
I will put some detail into the 3 scenarios that we added.
Scenario 1: From head to head, opponent has an arm across your neck like a guillotine. cup outside of arm and face into the biceps, change your base to that opposite side leg goes right down next to the opponents leg, simultaneously pull your head out backwards out of the grip. You should now be laying in the same direction as your partner, over wrap the nearest arm and drag it past your body, reach over their back and move to side back.
Scenario 2: This is the setup for this and the next scenario. Your opponent is circling to side back from head to head, as they spin around throw your near side arm back behind you so that you can get an underhook. Give a little pull if the opponent brings both knees close, grab the outside knee and the opponents foot and do a double leg, circling to the opponents back to get side control.
Scenario 3: As above, when you pull if the opponent keeps there far leg extended do a roll under the opponent, projecting our outside arm and head between the opponents legs, rolling all the way over to side control. It is important to roll all the way over in this technique as the momentum is required to carry the person over you.
Hopefully see everyone and wednesday and then Thursday for the last class of 2006!
Keep on rolling!
Gerry
Friday, December 08, 2006
Thursday Clinch Day
This week we had a great class for the thursday, looking at setting up a standing clinch (the "Radix" clinch) and then various attacks and options from there.
As we were going to be involving takedowns in the class we spent some time on safe falling in the warm up. This involved both forward and back rolls as well as side and back falls. Biggest points to remember:
1. When falling keep your arms in.- Don't try to catch your self or break your fall with your hands, that is how you injure shoulders and elbows.
2. Keep your head up. - When falling backwards or sideways be careful that you keep your head so that you don't hit your head on the mats/floor/pavement/street, you get the idea. This is one is a real danger again and again we here in the news of someone being hit or knocked to the ground and they are injured or killed because their head hits the ground, so it is a genuine danger and one to be careful of.
On to technique...
The factors involved in setting up the radix clinch are listed below;
Ÿ The Visor - the head cover position involvingboth arms covering the head and face with one arm slightly lowered so the elbow aims forward and the legs are slightly bent to lower the body.
Ÿ The spike - lowering the body and penetrating under your opponents strikes to "spike" their chest with your elbow.
Ÿ Clinch - Get a tight under hook, drive your weight onto the outside of the opponents leg and hold the opponents far wrist.
Ÿ Shuck and Duck - Shuck your underhook up high and duck your head so you end up behind your opponent with a harness grip.
In all cases we avoid the opponents strikes by using a Visor, to Spike and set up the Clinch, then shuck and duck to get the back with a harness.
1. Rear Naked Choke - Use a hip bump and step back to take your opponents balance, set up RNC by wrapping arm round neck (remember to reach right to your shoulder), shave the ear with your other hand and place your hand behind the head, remember to have your elbow in front of the shoulder. Expand your chest and squeeze your elbows together.
2. Figure 4 from front control - Use Hip Bum to take balance and then kneel down sharply to pull your opponent down. Grab their free wrist with your opposite hand and secure your own wrist with your other hand. Back away so they lie flat, then mount their head and straighten up so there upperarm is at 90 degrees to their body. Carefully rotate behind them to submit.
3. Lapel Half Nelson - Repeat above technique to the point of kneeling with the "figure 4" grip, roll the opponent onto their side (free arm down), step over their stomach to side mount. Open collar with a top hand, "scrunch a bunch" of collar with bottom hand, lift top hand high and put knife hand behind head. Wrap collar round neck and drive fingers of knife hand to the floor (like you are sawing the opponents head off).
Next week we will look at more of the same, but will try some alternate takedowns, such as high single, hip throw and bear hug takedown.
As we were going to be involving takedowns in the class we spent some time on safe falling in the warm up. This involved both forward and back rolls as well as side and back falls. Biggest points to remember:
1. When falling keep your arms in.- Don't try to catch your self or break your fall with your hands, that is how you injure shoulders and elbows.
2. Keep your head up. - When falling backwards or sideways be careful that you keep your head so that you don't hit your head on the mats/floor/pavement/street, you get the idea. This is one is a real danger again and again we here in the news of someone being hit or knocked to the ground and they are injured or killed because their head hits the ground, so it is a genuine danger and one to be careful of.
On to technique...
The factors involved in setting up the radix clinch are listed below;
Ÿ The Visor - the head cover position involvingboth arms covering the head and face with one arm slightly lowered so the elbow aims forward and the legs are slightly bent to lower the body.
Ÿ The spike - lowering the body and penetrating under your opponents strikes to "spike" their chest with your elbow.
Ÿ Clinch - Get a tight under hook, drive your weight onto the outside of the opponents leg and hold the opponents far wrist.
Ÿ Shuck and Duck - Shuck your underhook up high and duck your head so you end up behind your opponent with a harness grip.
In all cases we avoid the opponents strikes by using a Visor, to Spike and set up the Clinch, then shuck and duck to get the back with a harness.
1. Rear Naked Choke - Use a hip bump and step back to take your opponents balance, set up RNC by wrapping arm round neck (remember to reach right to your shoulder), shave the ear with your other hand and place your hand behind the head, remember to have your elbow in front of the shoulder. Expand your chest and squeeze your elbows together.
2. Figure 4 from front control - Use Hip Bum to take balance and then kneel down sharply to pull your opponent down. Grab their free wrist with your opposite hand and secure your own wrist with your other hand. Back away so they lie flat, then mount their head and straighten up so there upperarm is at 90 degrees to their body. Carefully rotate behind them to submit.
3. Lapel Half Nelson - Repeat above technique to the point of kneeling with the "figure 4" grip, roll the opponent onto their side (free arm down), step over their stomach to side mount. Open collar with a top hand, "scrunch a bunch" of collar with bottom hand, lift top hand high and put knife hand behind head. Wrap collar round neck and drive fingers of knife hand to the floor (like you are sawing the opponents head off).
Next week we will look at more of the same, but will try some alternate takedowns, such as high single, hip throw and bear hug takedown.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Half Guard Wednesday
I took the wednesday PCYC class this week as Pete was unable to make it, I decided to run some half guard bottom escapes and reversals for the class. I started by emphasising 2 fundamentals for half guard bottom, first is to get out to the same side as the leg you are holding and be up on your side (not "four on the floor"). Second point is you need an underhook on the side you are sitting out to. With this in mind we started off with a simple method of getting that underhook. If your opponent has the underhook wrap the opponents calf with our inside leg and post on our outside foot.We then reach our hand as far as we can accross the face of the opponent, this creates space and gets us on our side rather than flat on our back. From there we suck our hand in close to get the under hook.
Note: When doing the above, it is important to use your lower arm to trap the opponents opposite arm so that when you are extending your arm away from your body it is safe from being attacked with a Figure 4 or similar.
Once we were able to get the underhook we got started on our techniques, we did 3 defensive combinations as detailed below.
1. Foot hold, bridge and roll - In all of the following techniques we "climb" down the opponents body to take hold of the opponents opposite foot, in all cases we hold around the toes rather than the ankle as this reduces the opponents ability to kick the foot out of our grip. In this technique we climb down and take the opponents foot in both hands (our inside hand between the legs and outside arm around legs). Place our outside foot inside opponents leg and the bridge and roll opponent over you. Move to side control.
2. Inside hand, Foot hold shoot takedown - Climb down and take foot with inside hand and brab belt with outside hand. Step outside foot over opponents leg and lift opponents foot with it, slide inside leg out from under the opponents leg and go to our knees. Drive in for a shoot takedown, pass gurad and get side control.
3. Outside hand, Foot hold shoot takedown - Take foot with both hands and then let inside hand go, retract inside arm and post on elbow. Use outside leg to lift foot and escape your inside leg out to your knees, block opponents far knee with your free hand and shoot takedown, pass to side control.
Extra techniques - Low half guard counters
When opponent is going for a low halfguard sweep, first step is take your outside leg out of reach of their grip. Flip outside leg to the otherside of the opponents body, your technique depends on your opponents reaction, if they let their hand grip go we do the pass and if they maintain the grip we do the arm bar. Below descriptions will be from the point of having flipped over the opponent.
1. Cross body guard pass - Get a cross face on opponent and use your free hand to hold pressure on the opponents far knee, use your free foot to push downward pressure on the opponents near knee to force legs apart, escape leg from half guard, control opponents hip hand that was on the knee and switch to side control.
2. Arm Bar - When opponents hands are still joined flip over and place your knee under the opponents elbow slide hand in between opponents arms to break grip, put free leg over the opponents body and finish arm bar. Remember to arm towards the opponents pinky as this is the angle that locks the elbow and forces the submission.
Note: When doing the above, it is important to use your lower arm to trap the opponents opposite arm so that when you are extending your arm away from your body it is safe from being attacked with a Figure 4 or similar.
Once we were able to get the underhook we got started on our techniques, we did 3 defensive combinations as detailed below.
1. Foot hold, bridge and roll - In all of the following techniques we "climb" down the opponents body to take hold of the opponents opposite foot, in all cases we hold around the toes rather than the ankle as this reduces the opponents ability to kick the foot out of our grip. In this technique we climb down and take the opponents foot in both hands (our inside hand between the legs and outside arm around legs). Place our outside foot inside opponents leg and the bridge and roll opponent over you. Move to side control.
2. Inside hand, Foot hold shoot takedown - Climb down and take foot with inside hand and brab belt with outside hand. Step outside foot over opponents leg and lift opponents foot with it, slide inside leg out from under the opponents leg and go to our knees. Drive in for a shoot takedown, pass gurad and get side control.
3. Outside hand, Foot hold shoot takedown - Take foot with both hands and then let inside hand go, retract inside arm and post on elbow. Use outside leg to lift foot and escape your inside leg out to your knees, block opponents far knee with your free hand and shoot takedown, pass to side control.
Extra techniques - Low half guard counters
When opponent is going for a low halfguard sweep, first step is take your outside leg out of reach of their grip. Flip outside leg to the otherside of the opponents body, your technique depends on your opponents reaction, if they let their hand grip go we do the pass and if they maintain the grip we do the arm bar. Below descriptions will be from the point of having flipped over the opponent.
1. Cross body guard pass - Get a cross face on opponent and use your free hand to hold pressure on the opponents far knee, use your free foot to push downward pressure on the opponents near knee to force legs apart, escape leg from half guard, control opponents hip hand that was on the knee and switch to side control.
2. Arm Bar - When opponents hands are still joined flip over and place your knee under the opponents elbow slide hand in between opponents arms to break grip, put free leg over the opponents body and finish arm bar. Remember to arm towards the opponents pinky as this is the angle that locks the elbow and forces the submission.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Combos from side mount
As I mentioned in my last blog the content in this weeks class was 4 attacks from side mount with the"figure 4" grip. As in the previous weeks class we drilled the aeroplane drill to the stage of getting under a punch, obtaining a harness and doing a takedown to side mount with the figure 4 grip. We went through the 4 techniques individually and then ran them all in quick succession.
The four techniques were;
Lapel Half Nelson Choke -
As this class is a no-gi class lapel chokes are a little bit harder to do as T shirts have a tendency to stretch or even tear. To counter this I made the point of showing a slight variation in the technique, instead of putting a thumb inside the collar and the fingers on the outside, we grab a bunch of collar similar to holding a gi in a rope grip. This takes out a lot of the stretch and allows the choke to come on faster.
Rear Naked Choke -
In order to get the RNC from side mount we used the figure 4 grip to roll the opponent onto their stomach and we got on their back. As they rolled I showed everyone how to get their hooks in. I explained the importance of putting both elbows in front of the opponents shoulders to keep the choke tight and also to make sure that it was square (so as to choke the arteries not the windpipe).
Goose Neck -
To achieve the gooseneck we maintained the Figure 4 grip on the opponents arm, but posted our lower forearm on their jaw. While maintaining that pressure we moved higher up so we were almost sitting on the opponents shoulder. To finish the technique we slide our hand from the opponents wrist to their hand and prop their elbow on to our stomach squeezing the hand in towards our body.
Arm Bar -
The final technique was done from the goose neck position (as though the gooseneck hadn't worked), we stepped over the head and sat down, by keeping the gooseneck tight we can ensure that the opponent stays close and so we have good leverage under the shoulder. Once in the arm bar position, we switch our grip so that we are controlling the opponents wrist and hand with their pinky on our chest and then lean back.
After completing all the techniques individually and then as whole combo we each demonstrated to the group and got feedback, which is something that we are doing more of as a club.
Anyway next week is more of a trip back to guard attacks and combinations, but I will write about that in the next blog.
C ya
The four techniques were;
Lapel Half Nelson Choke -
As this class is a no-gi class lapel chokes are a little bit harder to do as T shirts have a tendency to stretch or even tear. To counter this I made the point of showing a slight variation in the technique, instead of putting a thumb inside the collar and the fingers on the outside, we grab a bunch of collar similar to holding a gi in a rope grip. This takes out a lot of the stretch and allows the choke to come on faster.
Rear Naked Choke -
In order to get the RNC from side mount we used the figure 4 grip to roll the opponent onto their stomach and we got on their back. As they rolled I showed everyone how to get their hooks in. I explained the importance of putting both elbows in front of the opponents shoulders to keep the choke tight and also to make sure that it was square (so as to choke the arteries not the windpipe).
Goose Neck -
To achieve the gooseneck we maintained the Figure 4 grip on the opponents arm, but posted our lower forearm on their jaw. While maintaining that pressure we moved higher up so we were almost sitting on the opponents shoulder. To finish the technique we slide our hand from the opponents wrist to their hand and prop their elbow on to our stomach squeezing the hand in towards our body.
Arm Bar -
The final technique was done from the goose neck position (as though the gooseneck hadn't worked), we stepped over the head and sat down, by keeping the gooseneck tight we can ensure that the opponent stays close and so we have good leverage under the shoulder. Once in the arm bar position, we switch our grip so that we are controlling the opponents wrist and hand with their pinky on our chest and then lean back.
After completing all the techniques individually and then as whole combo we each demonstrated to the group and got feedback, which is something that we are doing more of as a club.
Anyway next week is more of a trip back to guard attacks and combinations, but I will write about that in the next blog.
C ya
Thursday, November 30, 2006
hi all take 2
Hi everyone this is take 2 for the post of the most recent thursday class. I was on line just now and noticed that for some reason the post that I wrote had disappeared, figure that one out?
Anyway, I am pressed for time so I'll just do a quick run down to the class contents.
As usual I had a stand up component and a ground component. I'll start with the stand up;
Standup
We went thorugh some striking and kicking drills on pads as part of the warm up which included jab, cross hook combos and knees. After the warmup we did the aeroplane drill as far as the harness position. Instead of going to the RNC (rear naked choke) or the the rear hoist takedown, we used a bump to take the opponents balance and then knelt straight down for the takedown. From this takedown we secured our control position by taking the opponents free wrist in empty hand (creating figure 4 type grip) and rolled them to a side mount. My intention is to investigate different attacks from that position in the next class including; Lapel Half Nelson Choke, Goose Neck, Arm bar and Rear Naked Choke from back.
On the ground we went through a few guard attacks.
Figure 4 from guard
Figure 4 from butterfly guard
Omoplata from butterfly guard.
Anyway I must run but I'll try and make my next post actually stay on the site.
Anyway, I am pressed for time so I'll just do a quick run down to the class contents.
As usual I had a stand up component and a ground component. I'll start with the stand up;
Standup
We went thorugh some striking and kicking drills on pads as part of the warm up which included jab, cross hook combos and knees. After the warmup we did the aeroplane drill as far as the harness position. Instead of going to the RNC (rear naked choke) or the the rear hoist takedown, we used a bump to take the opponents balance and then knelt straight down for the takedown. From this takedown we secured our control position by taking the opponents free wrist in empty hand (creating figure 4 type grip) and rolled them to a side mount. My intention is to investigate different attacks from that position in the next class including; Lapel Half Nelson Choke, Goose Neck, Arm bar and Rear Naked Choke from back.
On the ground we went through a few guard attacks.
Figure 4 from guard
Figure 4 from butterfly guard
Omoplata from butterfly guard.
Anyway I must run but I'll try and make my next post actually stay on the site.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
sorry I'm late
I intended to write the entry for my class of last thursday a week ago, but things got away from me and I went to melbourne with my wife for a few days and the next thing I know it is 2 tuesdays later!
Ok quick run down of the class, at the last minute I decided to change the structure of the class due to a request from a student. The student wanted to a refresher on some baton defence techniques which we haven't looked at in a while. So after a quick warm up involving punch drills and some low kicks we start on some baton defence basics. I started everyone on swings that come from the outside in as opposed to a straight thrust. The basis of the defence was a slight modifcation of the under hook and pike defence. the difference between the normal drilla nd what we did was rather than using one of the 3 takedowns in the empty hand version of the drill we used a cutting arm bar both to disarm the opponent and to use as a sharp takedown.
The second variation of the technique was for a low strike aimed at the knee or ankle. The only variation to the defence, is due to the how low the strike is it is difficult to get the underhook so instead we get a tight over hook and support our hand on the arm that is piking the head. Instead of using a cutting arm bar in this case we use head pressure and a backwards movement to take the attacker down. Of course their an improtant emphasis on using knee strikes to the opponent once in the clinch as the danger of being hit by the baton is very real.
Anyway I had better toddle off, but I just thought I would mention that Pearl Jam (who I was seeing in melbourne rocked and Amanda and I had a ball!).
Ta Ta
Ok quick run down of the class, at the last minute I decided to change the structure of the class due to a request from a student. The student wanted to a refresher on some baton defence techniques which we haven't looked at in a while. So after a quick warm up involving punch drills and some low kicks we start on some baton defence basics. I started everyone on swings that come from the outside in as opposed to a straight thrust. The basis of the defence was a slight modifcation of the under hook and pike defence. the difference between the normal drilla nd what we did was rather than using one of the 3 takedowns in the empty hand version of the drill we used a cutting arm bar both to disarm the opponent and to use as a sharp takedown.
The second variation of the technique was for a low strike aimed at the knee or ankle. The only variation to the defence, is due to the how low the strike is it is difficult to get the underhook so instead we get a tight over hook and support our hand on the arm that is piking the head. Instead of using a cutting arm bar in this case we use head pressure and a backwards movement to take the attacker down. Of course their an improtant emphasis on using knee strikes to the opponent once in the clinch as the danger of being hit by the baton is very real.
Anyway I had better toddle off, but I just thought I would mention that Pearl Jam (who I was seeing in melbourne rocked and Amanda and I had a ball!).
Ta Ta
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
no gi class
Last thursday night saw a good class for the no gi group, we had 4 students in, peter, luke, john and chris. It was good to have luke back after his couple of weeks of sick. Peter and I decided to grade Luke to 1 stripe a few days ago so hopefully he will join us in the monday and wednesday intermediate classes now.
We started the class by doing some punch drills and some kicks, I had one pair working on Jab, Cross and Weave drills on the Thai Pads and the other working low thai kicks on the shield. One of the main points that stood out with the thai kicks is helping everyone to remember to turn out their front foot as or before they kick, both to load up the hips for the kick and also to protect the front knee from jarring or over twisting.
The next part of our warm up was to get to the ground so I started everyone off figure 4 guard situps, we then moved to a set of 4 Figure 4 guard situps followed by a Hip Bump Sweep to mount and then the partner bridge and rolls to start again.
Following this introduction, we went through 2 techniques starting from side control with far under hook, Figure 4 arm lock and far arm bar. We concluded with Butterfly sweep. My next class is going to have more of a look at guard attacks on the figure 4 theme. We'll start with Figure 4 from guard, then Hip bump sweep, arm bar from guard.
In other news I have completed the DVD of the Craig Robinson Seminar check out the front cover image below.
See you all later!
We started the class by doing some punch drills and some kicks, I had one pair working on Jab, Cross and Weave drills on the Thai Pads and the other working low thai kicks on the shield. One of the main points that stood out with the thai kicks is helping everyone to remember to turn out their front foot as or before they kick, both to load up the hips for the kick and also to protect the front knee from jarring or over twisting.
The next part of our warm up was to get to the ground so I started everyone off figure 4 guard situps, we then moved to a set of 4 Figure 4 guard situps followed by a Hip Bump Sweep to mount and then the partner bridge and rolls to start again.
Following this introduction, we went through 2 techniques starting from side control with far under hook, Figure 4 arm lock and far arm bar. We concluded with Butterfly sweep. My next class is going to have more of a look at guard attacks on the figure 4 theme. We'll start with Figure 4 from guard, then Hip bump sweep, arm bar from guard.
In other news I have completed the DVD of the Craig Robinson Seminar check out the front cover image below.
See you all later!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Thursday Underhook
In thursdays no Gi class we had 3 students on the mat, same as the week prior. I was a little bit disappointed as I was expecting more, but it was Hobart Show Day and public holidays often make people forgetful, I even nearly forgot to get to training! At this particular class we had John, Peter and Chris (second class for chris and he is doing great!).
Peter Rogers are currently working on the coaching concept of providing a mixed experience class, which not only means coaching to a group of mixed experience levels, but also coaching to cover mixed needs. With that in mind I spend a bit of each Thursday looking at Standup and Clinch, with self defence and takedowns as the driver. The rest of the time is spent on BJJ techniques emphasising no gi.
During the class we covered the following;
In the Standup section we built up to ran this drill;
Peter Rogers are currently working on the coaching concept of providing a mixed experience class, which not only means coaching to a group of mixed experience levels, but also coaching to cover mixed needs. With that in mind I spend a bit of each Thursday looking at Standup and Clinch, with self defence and takedowns as the driver. The rest of the time is spent on BJJ techniques emphasising no gi.
During the class we covered the following;
In the Standup section we built up to ran this drill;
- Jab and Cross on Thai Pads
- Penetrate to clinch with underhook
- Shuck arm and take back
- Harness position and bump of balance
- Rear Naked Choke
- Switchbase guard pass from hooks safety guard.
- Getting an underhook from side back on the bottom.
- Rolling takedown from side back bottom.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Thursday night last
Hi all, this is post should have been written after last thursdays no gi class (instead of slightly preceding tonights no gi class), but still better late than never.
We had a fairly small class, but still it was a good class. We had a new student called Chris come along who was largely motivated by the need for self defence. Chris was unfortunately a bit nervous about trying a martial art and I suspect his family was his main motivation for coming. I got the impression that he wouldn't stick around on his own if he wasn't motivated in some other way. So I took him through some basics and tried to spend a bit of time making him feel welcome. For the other 2 participants, Nick and John, I went through a combination of techniques from guard, it went;
I am not sure how many people we'll have tonight because it is Hobart Show Day public holiday, but I have heard that there may be a few folk coming along, so maybe it'll be OK. Anyway I'll put up a post and say how it was.
We had a fairly small class, but still it was a good class. We had a new student called Chris come along who was largely motivated by the need for self defence. Chris was unfortunately a bit nervous about trying a martial art and I suspect his family was his main motivation for coming. I got the impression that he wouldn't stick around on his own if he wasn't motivated in some other way. So I took him through some basics and tried to spend a bit of time making him feel welcome. For the other 2 participants, Nick and John, I went through a combination of techniques from guard, it went;
- Figure 4 from butterfly guard
- Opponent forces arm straight, Upwards shoulder lock.
- Opponent doesn't tap, force arm past your body and take opponents back.
- Fence position
- Straight Right Punch
- Head cover and shoot to body
- Underhook and setup "Radix" Clinch
- Shuck with underhook and get back
- Rear Hoist take down
- Establish Knee Ride
I am not sure how many people we'll have tonight because it is Hobart Show Day public holiday, but I have heard that there may be a few folk coming along, so maybe it'll be OK. Anyway I'll put up a post and say how it was.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Craig Robinson Seminar
Hi everyone, sorry this is a bit late, but I have had heaps on at work and no time. Anyways this entry is about the seminar hosted at Launceston PCYC by Chris Stone and all the Lonny boys, which featured Geelong based brown belt Craig Robinson. Unfortunately (but not untypically) I was benched with injury due to my recovering shoudler, I still had the oppurtunity to video tape the seminar though. I am in the process of editing the video into a DVD for all the participants which should be ready in a week or so (don't panic everyone it is coming soon). The video looks good though.
All in all it was a good seminar and i think everyone got a lot out of it, in a way I may be lucky to have been solely a spectator as I got to see everything in detail and also see everyone's questions and of course the responses to them. I had a go at one of the techniques (a rolling takedown from under side back) at class the other night with nick and was really happy with how easily it worked. Especially considering I was really ownly using my movement and not being able to even grip with my right arm, it still worked a treat and I look forward to giving it a try for real in a few months... another technique for my turtle repertoire.The seminar covered standup to a takedown, then a combination from guard which was an
armbar setup, a cross ankle choke, a sweep a triangle and an omoplata. This was followed by a rolling takedown or double leg from head to head and side back. Also very good was the fact that at the end of the seminar Craig pointed out several white belts and said they would be blue in geelong and several blue belts and said that they would be purples or at least pretty close. It was good for everyone to hear that kind of compliment, anyway must go, my jogging partner has just show up... enjoy the pics.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Theraband Graduation
Hi everyone, as I promised I am putting up a report of my last visit to the physio. As the title suggests the physio has upgraded my rehab from boring old isometrics to the exciting world of therbands. I have 6 sets of movements to go through all pulling against the tension of the band, they are; rotating my arm inwards (pictured) and outwards, pulling in and out accross the front of my body and pulling the band forward and back in the direction I am facing.
It is surprising to me how much weakness I am finding in the shoudler from these exercises. The only thing I can think of that is a similar feeling is the times when I have done high reps of crunches and had my abs shudder from the pain. The only thing is that on some of the exercises my arm starts to shake after about 2 reps! The positive thing though is that, as I am really weak in these areas I am noticing huge improvement very quickly, I wish my grappling game improved that fast!
Anyway i had probably better go, but before I do I have to mention the movie my wife and I saw the other night. We went out to see Kenny, the film about the guy that rents out porta loos for major events, it was bloody funny, see it if you can! I'll have something more to add after the 2 classes tomorrow night, beginners and intermediate.
It is surprising to me how much weakness I am finding in the shoudler from these exercises. The only thing I can think of that is a similar feeling is the times when I have done high reps of crunches and had my abs shudder from the pain. The only thing is that on some of the exercises my arm starts to shake after about 2 reps! The positive thing though is that, as I am really weak in these areas I am noticing huge improvement very quickly, I wish my grappling game improved that fast!
Anyway i had probably better go, but before I do I have to mention the movie my wife and I saw the other night. We went out to see Kenny, the film about the guy that rents out porta loos for major events, it was bloody funny, see it if you can! I'll have something more to add after the 2 classes tomorrow night, beginners and intermediate.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Gerry's BJJ Blog
Gerry's BJJ Blog
Tonight I taught my normal Thursday night class, but I decided to start a slightly different approach. Up until now I have been teaching a class integrating standup to clinch to takedowns, with a focus largely on self defence. Due to my inability to train for the last month or so and the apparent limited interest in the stand up class I decided to try a no-gi BJJ class. Actually, I was quite excited about the prospect as no-gi has always been a bit of a favourite of mine and I think it is probably the better side of my game. Anyways I had Luke, John and Peter come to class and they all seemed to enjoy it. After doing a warm up and spending a bit of time on safe falling (a bit of recurring theme at the moment due to a few injuries in the community plus a bit of a learning need for our students), then taught the technique chain step by step.
The entire chain was; double leg takedown to near side control to far head/arm wrap to mount, to arm wrap (or "who's your daddy?") to head and arm choke. I also intended to go from the mount with arm wrap to front control figure 4 and possibly even use the arm wrap to roll opponent to back, but we really only had time for the first sequence. We did spend a fair bit of time on the basics aswell, but most it was a small class and the details are important so that is OK.
In other notes it is crazy-hot today and the whole city is burning down so I hope those who are affected by the fires are going OK...
Also I have a physio appointment tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes and what hardcore exercises they have in store for me!
C ya
Gerry
Tonight I taught my normal Thursday night class, but I decided to start a slightly different approach. Up until now I have been teaching a class integrating standup to clinch to takedowns, with a focus largely on self defence. Due to my inability to train for the last month or so and the apparent limited interest in the stand up class I decided to try a no-gi BJJ class. Actually, I was quite excited about the prospect as no-gi has always been a bit of a favourite of mine and I think it is probably the better side of my game. Anyways I had Luke, John and Peter come to class and they all seemed to enjoy it. After doing a warm up and spending a bit of time on safe falling (a bit of recurring theme at the moment due to a few injuries in the community plus a bit of a learning need for our students), then taught the technique chain step by step.
The entire chain was; double leg takedown to near side control to far head/arm wrap to mount, to arm wrap (or "who's your daddy?") to head and arm choke. I also intended to go from the mount with arm wrap to front control figure 4 and possibly even use the arm wrap to roll opponent to back, but we really only had time for the first sequence. We did spend a fair bit of time on the basics aswell, but most it was a small class and the details are important so that is OK.
In other notes it is crazy-hot today and the whole city is burning down so I hope those who are affected by the fires are going OK...
Also I have a physio appointment tomorrow so I'll let you know how that goes and what hardcore exercises they have in store for me!
C ya
Gerry
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Gerry's BJJ Blog
Gerry's BJJ Blog
Hi all,
After having a chat to Pete (who is our main instructor at BJJ Hobart) I decided to include another ongoing story here on my blog. That is the tale of my recovery...
I am currently recovering from a shoulder reconstruction to a dislocation about 2 years ago, without going into to many details of the injury I'll go as far as to say that my injury is the result of a poorly executed rolling crucifix choke (check this link if that means nothing to you; http://www.grapplearts.com/Rolling-Crucifix-Choke.html) . Anyways that was 2 years ago and since then I have had lots of aggravations to the injury and plenty of mis-diagnoses, but finally I have had the surgery.
In a nutshell, the process of the surgery was to dislocate my humorous from the socket and put a screw in to the edge of the socket to act as an anchor. This anchor was used to tie the damaged ligament back across the shoulder joint, really tight.
It is now nearly 2 months later (surgery was 21/08/2006) and I have reasonable mobility and strength, however I am a long way from strong yet. My surgeon said he envisages that I will be able to do full contact grappling again between February and April, so 6-8 months off.
To get you up to date, with the rehab process, the first month was off work sitting at home, watching TV and feeling sorry for myself, I also had to carefully work on my mobility in 3 plains; up in front, lifting out to the side and rotating my arm outwards at the shoulder. During that month I want from about 5% mobility to about 75% in all plains except the last one which probably got to about 30%. I have gotten far enough now to start isometrics in all the same plains. I have also been doing further flexibility work, including large circles in both directions and using a short pole (dubbed "the rehabilitator") to push my arm out to rotate my shoulder outwards.
I am due to go back to the physio on Friday for my next set of exercises and I have been told to expect things to get harder so I am a bit excited/nervous about it all, but I won't be rolling until I get fixed so I'll jump in head first... No, wait that is how I got hurt in the first place...
Anyways watch this space for my continued rehab story.
Hi all,
After having a chat to Pete (who is our main instructor at BJJ Hobart) I decided to include another ongoing story here on my blog. That is the tale of my recovery...
I am currently recovering from a shoulder reconstruction to a dislocation about 2 years ago, without going into to many details of the injury I'll go as far as to say that my injury is the result of a poorly executed rolling crucifix choke (check this link if that means nothing to you; http://www.grapplearts.com/Rolling-Crucifix-Choke.html) . Anyways that was 2 years ago and since then I have had lots of aggravations to the injury and plenty of mis-diagnoses, but finally I have had the surgery.
In a nutshell, the process of the surgery was to dislocate my humorous from the socket and put a screw in to the edge of the socket to act as an anchor. This anchor was used to tie the damaged ligament back across the shoulder joint, really tight.
It is now nearly 2 months later (surgery was 21/08/2006) and I have reasonable mobility and strength, however I am a long way from strong yet. My surgeon said he envisages that I will be able to do full contact grappling again between February and April, so 6-8 months off.
To get you up to date, with the rehab process, the first month was off work sitting at home, watching TV and feeling sorry for myself, I also had to carefully work on my mobility in 3 plains; up in front, lifting out to the side and rotating my arm outwards at the shoulder. During that month I want from about 5% mobility to about 75% in all plains except the last one which probably got to about 30%. I have gotten far enough now to start isometrics in all the same plains. I have also been doing further flexibility work, including large circles in both directions and using a short pole (dubbed "the rehabilitator") to push my arm out to rotate my shoulder outwards.
I am due to go back to the physio on Friday for my next set of exercises and I have been told to expect things to get harder so I am a bit excited/nervous about it all, but I won't be rolling until I get fixed so I'll jump in head first... No, wait that is how I got hurt in the first place...
Anyways watch this space for my continued rehab story.
Hi, I thought I would just write a quick account of our 2 classes (beginner and intermediate) last night and what we covered. Rob took the first class and started with what Pete calls "body confidence" eg. rolls, back rolls etc also regaining your feet when you are down with an attacker standing over you. Once we got onto techniques Rob decided we would do guard pass cycle so we took everyone through the full cycle. I noticed a lot of the people who were doing the actual basic pass were tending to make the following mistakes; they were either holding the opponent down with their high arm giving triangles and arm bars away or they were posting on the floor with that arm giving triangles or omoplatas away. Justin and Kathleen were doing the pass very well but they were tending to not get their shoulder low enough under the leg for the actual pass so that when they drove forward they didn't actually stack the person on their shoulders as much as lift the persons leg. I showed them how to get a lot lower once the guard is open and the drive which stacks the person right up.
After that we ran 2 sequences; Elbow escape, double hooking sweep, far arm bar and then side control escape to guard, basic sweep, figure 4 from mount.
On a whole it was a good class, I am a bit concerned about my shoulder though, I reckon it is to soon to be doing very much physical activity, I am regulating my activity a lot, but I find it hard to go to class and do nothing, I will have to pay very close attention to it to much sure I keep it safe. On Thursdays class I am going to start a no gi BJJ class as opposed to standup as I don't think we have been getting the interest, hopefully more people will come with a change of focus to the class.
I had better clear off, but I'll leave you with a picture from by Cat-Jitsu collection, this is The Darkness holding The Khan in guard with his head in a Thai Clinch. Check out the eyes, I reckon someone turned The Darkness from "stun" to "kill"!
After that we ran 2 sequences; Elbow escape, double hooking sweep, far arm bar and then side control escape to guard, basic sweep, figure 4 from mount.
On a whole it was a good class, I am a bit concerned about my shoulder though, I reckon it is to soon to be doing very much physical activity, I am regulating my activity a lot, but I find it hard to go to class and do nothing, I will have to pay very close attention to it to much sure I keep it safe. On Thursdays class I am going to start a no gi BJJ class as opposed to standup as I don't think we have been getting the interest, hopefully more people will come with a change of focus to the class.
I had better clear off, but I'll leave you with a picture from by Cat-Jitsu collection, this is The Darkness holding The Khan in guard with his head in a Thai Clinch. Check out the eyes, I reckon someone turned The Darkness from "stun" to "kill"!
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Hi I thought I would add a pic to my blog to put face to name.Actually you can't see a lot of my face, but you get the idea and I have alwasy liked this pic. This was taken at my brothers place a few years ago when he wanted to test his new digi camera on quick movements for sports, so he suggested a few board breaks, which is always fun!
Me and my wife Amanda, mucking around at a friends house pretending to propose. We spend a lot more time mucking around than being serious! Amanda does roll her eyes at me a lot when my imagination gets carried away with me and I start talking crap though, but I think she finds me amusing, at the very least she puts up with me.
Me Demoing a front Sweep in a BJJ introduction and self defence awareness course I taught for a local College recently. This technique may not be the most appropriate self defence technique, but it certainly looked good for the young men and women in the course, and it is a good demo for sport jiu jitsu.
Doing a Demo of Side Control in the same course. The guy under me was 17 but weighed 122kgs, he was certainly a hard one to move around! The whole course was taught "no-gi" both so that we could try to get a more street feel and also because in terms of BJJ I have always preferred no-gi.
My New Blog
Hi Everyone,
I decided to create this blog largely to test out this blog page. I am currently creating a web page for the BJJ Club that I teach and train in and would like to add a blog to it to act as a sort of training diary. I also envisage something along those lines that all instructors statewide can contribute to on the BJJ Tasmania website (also under construction).
I am in the middle of this web page project because a) it needs doing (along with advertising, signwriting, yellow pages, etc. etc. etc. etc.) and b) I am about 2 months into a 6-8 month recovery of a shoulder reconstruction on my right shoulder. I do get on the mat and take classes or help with classes, but I am not able to "roll" at the moment.
Anyway keep your eye on this space for more BJJ and life ramblings.
C Ya
I decided to create this blog largely to test out this blog page. I am currently creating a web page for the BJJ Club that I teach and train in and would like to add a blog to it to act as a sort of training diary. I also envisage something along those lines that all instructors statewide can contribute to on the BJJ Tasmania website (also under construction).
I am in the middle of this web page project because a) it needs doing (along with advertising, signwriting, yellow pages, etc. etc. etc. etc.) and b) I am about 2 months into a 6-8 month recovery of a shoulder reconstruction on my right shoulder. I do get on the mat and take classes or help with classes, but I am not able to "roll" at the moment.
Anyway keep your eye on this space for more BJJ and life ramblings.
C Ya
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