BJJ / Grappling tips: Jiu-jitsu works, always!

Positional sparring is a fantastic way to sharpen your execution of a technique. Way more important than Free Rolling and that's not just my opinion. It's the opinion of practically every single world champ or Gracie family member I have ever interviewed.

For those not familiar with the term positional sparring: The instructor introduces three triangle fundamental escapes (for instance) then you drilled them in isolation (against progressive resistance) and then you roll, but every roll started from inside your partner's triangle set-up position. This is an excellent way to learn fast and learn well!

BJJ tips: Pressure, gravity and dominating from the top

Gravity should always be your friend in BJJ / Grappling whether you are on the top or the bottom, even in the standing phase, as I said in a previous post. I talked about the more unusual bottom application  and here are a few grappling concepts to consider regarding the top positions.
 

Never too young to start jiujitsu

Starting with what we said last time, about never really being fully under your opponent in the bottom position, I would like to reverse the roles and say that, when on top, you want your opponent flat under you. That applies whether you’re on top mount, side control, half guard, back mount or even knee ride. You achieve that by:

1. Preventing them from turning into you: There are many ways to do that. From cross face to pry bar to knee control but they all boil down to one thing: They are not allowed to freely look your way. Control the head or hips and the body will follow.
2. Preventing them from turning away from you*: Same situation here. The ways are many but the fundamental is that you want their shoulders or hips controlled
3. Play the physics game: Apply your weight directly through him. This can be done by following the simple formula for pressure:

Pressure = Force / Contact area In other words, pressure is how your force (your weight) is distributed over the contact area between you and the opponent. In order to increase your pressure you can:

1. Increase the force: No not gain weight but rather put more of your weight on him by anchoring properly and lifting your knees off the ground.
2. Decrease the contact area: Don’t just lie on your partner. Constantly find ways to turn and wedge to reduce how much of your chest is in contact with your partner.

The beauty of the above is that it can be practiced with or even without a partner. Just use a medicine ball, a training dummy or a Swiss ball. Get into Side control on a ball / dummy and play around. Your body will tell you when you exert more pressure on the ball because it will exert it back on you. Play with this and you will soon here the magic words from your training partners: “Man! How much do you weigh?”

That’s the receipt you want. Come on. Admit it!

*You could of course allow them to turn away and give you their back, but that’s another objective and it should still be done on your terms.

--------------------------------------------------

ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

Proudly sponsored by Predator Fightwear: Built for the kill and Brutal TShirt: Made By Grapplers For Fighters

BJJ tips: Pressure, gravity and winning from the bottom

One of the best BJJ concepts I took from reviewing Roy Dean's excellent production: Brown Belt Requirements last year, was that a brown belt in BJJ needs to create pressure from every angle. This is something I've been working on for the past 1.5 years.

Every good grappler /BJJ player will tell you that when you are on top, gravity is your friend. If used correctly, it will fuel your submissions, enhance your positional control and add tonnes to your pressure, generally making life very difficult for the poor soul training with you.

Of course, this is all true. However, I would like to add that gravity should always be your friend whether you are on the top or the bottom. Actually, it should be your friend even in the standing phase. A great mindset I picked up ages ago is that you should never feel alone in the fight. Whether it’s BJJ, No Gi Grappling, MMA you should always look for that trusted friend: Gravity.

“But how can I use gravity in BJJ / Grappling when I’m under someone?”, I hear you ask.

Well, it’s very easy. You shouldn’t really be under them!

At least not lying flat under them. Go to a bookstore and pick up any BJJ / Grappling / MMA book or watch a few matches on Youtube. I challenge you to find a fighter winning when he is directly under their opponent.*

A perfect example is the Butterfly Sweep as demonstrated below: Lying flat under your opponent when attempting this sweep will deprive you of all leverage and put gravity your opponent's side.

In short, you want gravity to be on your side when grappling even (or especially) when you are on the bottom and you can do that by:

Breaking your opponent’s posture: Pull his head. Don’t let him rest his hands on you.

Anchoring your weight to where he doesn’t want you to anchor it: Armdrag Armdrag Armdrag!

Constantly disrupting his base and balance: Your feet / knees / thighs should be pushing his hips and knees. Your hips should be moving freely around him.

Get out from under your opponent: Don’t let him apply his weight directly through you. Deprive him of the opportunity to use gravity against you.

By always applying the above, a smaller person can leverage their way around a larger person.

In my next post, I will talk a little more about how to use gravity to apply pressure from the top in BJJ / Grappling.


* I know I know. Some deep half guard and X-guard sweeps put you directly under your opponent but in those few cases you are that much in control of the opponet's base and balance, it makes up for it. He is hardly applying his weight through you. He’s just trying to survive and not get swept.


--------------------------------------------------

ZHOO ZHITSU IS FOR EVERYONE!

Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

Proudly sponsored by Predator Fightwear: Built for the kill and Brutal TShirt: Made By Grapplers For Fighters

BJJ / Grappling Tips: Grip & Create Levers

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, technique can overcome size and other attributes. One of the keys to that is leverage. To use leverage, you have to create good levers. I spoke about the different types of levers in a previous post, but the most concise description is the one on John Will's blog.

I was looking at some footage from early UFC (UFC 7 - 1995) from the Remco Pardoel vs Ryan Parker

fight. Pardoel represented "Judo" and Parker "Okinawan Karate". There is much to say about the fight but I want you to look specifically at what Pardoel does at 3min22sec which allows him to apply leverage and finish the fight:

He grips. Without friction, there is no leverage. It doesn't matter if you train gi or no gi: If you want to create a lever, you need to have friction and gripping is a great way to do that.

Can you use that to add more leverage to something you are currently working on? Perhaps an escape or a transition? Or even a submission that you don't think you are strong/big/explosive/flexible enough to pull off? Give it a go and let us know how it went.

Liam "The Part Time Grappler" Wandi

----Did You Like This Article?--- Click here to add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks

BJJ / Grappling Tips: Leverage Secrets of the Americana

Yesterday I asked on Facebook: Americana from mount: one elbow next to their neck, where should ur other elbow be & why?

 

The answers people posted were all in the right general area. What I was going for was the best placement from a leverage point of view. BJJ is all about using leverage to beat strength and as I've mentioned in previous posts, two things make a good lever:

1. Placing the fulcrum (centre of rotation) near the object you are trying to move
2. Having a long lever arm

In the case of the americana bent arm lock, the second elbow would be best placed far from their shoulder and near to their elbow.

More leverage

Less leverage

The difference may not look like much, but once you try it, you're partner will feel how much tighter and quicker the submission goes on.

 

The best part is that these small technical details can, and should, be applied to every defensive and offensive technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to make it more efficient. Ah, the beauty of this art.

 

----Did You Like This Article?--- Click here to add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks

BJJ Video Tips: Finishing Straight Armbars from Spider Web / Mount

I have decided to make and post more videos. They really help me get my point across but more importantly, they help start a discussion from the blog readers.

Here is a short video I made with my brother Mr Sam Wandi demonstrating how a weight management principle I picked up in Yoga can be applied to positions and submissions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. To demonstrate the point, I use the straight armbar. Please let me know what you think:



----Did You Like This Article?--- Click here to add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks

Dealing with Frustration in BJJ / Grappling

We've recently introduced a rotating curriculum for the fundamentals sessions at the Labs-BJJ. Last- and this week's themes are mainly techniques from the guard* on the ground. That means that at the end of next session, our white belts would have learnt and - thanks to the I-method - practiced against live resistance up to 6 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques from the closed guard. Going out on a statistical limb, I'd say that's a lot more than 95% of the country's population knows, with BJJ / grappling being a relatively small community.

Why am I mentioning this? Because it's very easy to forget when you are sweating buckets and working your butt off against other BJJ players and grapplers at various levels of experience.

If you're having a hard time getting your new techniques to work against people with a couple of years of experience on you, I beg of you to remember that they are the top 5% of the country's population** and give yourself a nice, big pat on the back. The other 95 are practically clueless to how to defend a properly executed scissor sweep, let alone defend a follow-up technique (e.g. palm-up palm-up choke). By playing this game, you are already part of the elite.

BJJ is a wonderful art.

----Did You Like This Article?--- Click here to add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks ---------------------------------


*Every session starts with techniques from standing.
**Not exact figures of course and doesn't take into account age...etc. Having said that, 1% of Britain's population is 600 thousand people and I doubt that many people in Britain have ever tried BJJ.

Finishing Armbars from Guard in BJJ / Grappling

One thought I always keep in the background when I'm rolling / drilling is: is this the most efficient way to do what I'm doing? While that certainly sounds nice, it can be interpreted in more than one way.

Am I using my whole body?
Am I using too much or too little muscle?
Am I using the right ones and only them?
Am I working 3-4 steps ahead or am I simply reacting to my partner?

And so on. I urge you to come up with a few of your own interpretations.

I was watching an old video, Arm-Locks, and Mr Harris showed a beautiful way to use your whole body and principles from weight lifting (the leg press to be exact) to finish the spinning armbar from guard against the stack. I share that with you here.

They've stacked you and hugged your head. Your back is not strong enough for your legs to push their weight away from you, but your hands are not being utilised

Use both hands on your knees to help you with the difficult first couple of inches. Utilise a popping motion to help push their weight off you.

From there you have a choice of straight-armbarring the near-side arm by pressing down the elbow or just going back to your original armbar on the far arm (with or without throwing them on their back)

Where else in BJJ / Grappling are you leaving a hand or a foot (or a hip or a shoulder or even your head) without use?
Oh, don't forget to visit the Crazy-Ass BJJ Gi Design Challenge Blog and submit your fab designs! Over 1200 visitors can't be wrong.

----Did You Like This Article?--- Click here to add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks ---------------------------------

BJJ Tips: Using Your Belt to Pass the Half Guard

I wrote a quick post a couple of days ago about unorthodox use of the BJJ belt. It was just a silly joke but I thought I may as well make it up to those who clicked on it expecting some functional BJJ knowledge.

Here is a quick video I shot yesterday at the LABS: Fighting Fit-Manchester of a neat trick where you use your belt to create a leverage that immobilises the opponent’s top arm in half guard, affording you more time to work your guard pass to side control.

The inspiration to this move is Sensei Kashiwazaki’s gem of a Judo book: Osaekomi




----Did You Like This Article?--- Click here to add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks ---------------------------------

Invisible BJJ Details: Tips on the Palm Up Palm Down Cross Collar Choke

I covered for Martyn last night, coaching both the Fundamentals and Advanced BJJ sessions. I had planned the first to evolve around the art of getting a deep cross collar grip and the options that that can present (chokes, armbar, back take...etc.) and the second session around preventing stalling in a competition scenario. The second session was hard physically. Very hard, actually. One of our blue belts is competing at the Gracie Invitational this weekend and I had designed that session with him in mind, but I will get back to that in another post.

The first session covered details that you don’t usually see and it was inspired by a quote from John Will’s blog: “Notice what no one else notices and you’ll know what no one else knows.”

There are very few secret moves in BJJ / Grappling nowadays. The real secret is and will always be in your application of the moves and your commitment to the level of detail. The Cross Choke from guard is a great example because when done correctly (with three rotations/shrimp movements and the correct wrist action) it will go on so fast, you’ll tap before you even realise you’re tapping. When done with any less than 100% commitment to the technique, it can still work (of course it can – it’s a choke and even a heavy shoulder bag can choke you!) but it will need a lot of muscle and much longer to set in.

It took me at least 20 minutes of repetitions to convince the whole group of exactly how deep I wanted the first hand needs to go into the collar. I mention that for two reasons:

1. They all saw me demonstrate the move a number of times and they all understood what I was saying, but they had probably seen the move so many times before that their eyes were on autopilot. I had to go around to each training pair and say: “Good. Now push that hand at least 2 more inches in. Crunch up and push that hand in and behind their neck”

2. I don’t remember this level of detail being shown to me in a BJJ / Grappling class. If it was, it wasn’t afforded the time it needed to sink into my slow brain. I had to re-learn this choke by rewinding matches and digging into lots of DVDs until I found it and I’m sure that this is the situation for most players.

The way BJJ / Grappling classes are taught at most schools nowadays*, everybody wants at least 3-4 moves from the instructor or they tell you that the class was boring. Well I can put my hand on heart and tell you that when we rolled in the second hour, every single one of those white and blue belts had a much deeper** and more threatening Cross Collar Choke. They learnt something so well that they could apply it successfully in the same day.

Look for the invisible detail. When you find it, drill it against progressive resistance. That’s the easiest and fastest way to gain a deeper understanding of the BJJ / Grappling game.


------------------------------------------------------
*Carlos Valente, 6th degree black belt under Rickson Gracie, talked about this in a great interview on the Fightworks Podcast back in 2006.



**Stephan Kesting lays down the law on deep collar grips in this excellent and concise article.

----Did You Like This Article?--- Click here to add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks ---------------------------------

Tips For Smaller Female Grapplers

That's the title of Stephan Kesting's last Newsletter email (which in it's own right is awesome and should be made compulsory reading!)

You can read the article itself on Grapple Arts, and you can (and should) visit the original author (Krista Scott-Dixon)'s own blog.

While we're on the subject or reading, here is a fantastic little article called the Jiu Jitsu Triangle (but it has nothing to do with the famous choke!)

Happy reading!

----Did You Like This Article?---
Make sure you add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks
---------------------------------

BJJ Concepts: Why the Cross Face?

We covered half guard principles in yesterday's BJJ fundamentals session. Martyn focused on the bare essentials of success for both top and bottom and then we did a series of progressive resistance drills to experience it all in an alive manner. He actually made clear that showing any more passing details at this stage may confuse beginners and falsely encourage them to forget the essential set-up details and get lost in the intricacies of passing, only to get their backs taken or swept.

After the session, someone asked me about my previous post about just that, the bare minimums. I always get so chuffed when someone actually reads my stuff. The question was about why I gave the bottom player a priority that was something other than simply the opposite of the top player's, specifically for the half guard. To be exact, if I think that the minimum the top player needs to do is flatten her partner, why do I not simply recommend that the bottom player fights to stay on her side and off her back? Why do I instead recommend that they focus on fighting the cross face? Well, for number of reasons:

There are many ways to get flattened on the bottom and the cross face is one of the best so essentially you are fighting to stay on your side by fighting the cross face. Preventative action and all that jazz.

But also, I wanted to stress that sometimes it's ok to take a step back in order to jump two steps forward. When the top player tries to get the cross face to flatten you and fails, he can still flatten you with other tools (circle walk, far under-hook, near elbow control and more elaborate ones) but you, the bottom player, can recover from them much more reliably than from a well-placed cross face. Like Saulo says, you have to assept that sometimes the other guy is better than you or at least was earlier than you. So what's the first thing to recover from/protect against? The cross face.

What if we get flattened while fighting off the cross face? Assept that, then bridge and shrimp to turn back onto your side. Why can you get away with that simple move, because your face is NOT crossed!

----Did You Like This Article?---
Make sure you add The Part Time Grappler to your Favourites / Bookmarks
---------------------------------

BJJ Concepts: Fundamentals = The Least You Can Do

You'll see a lot of people going on about "concept" vs "technique" and nowadays you can get fantastic sets of DVDs that will show you both. In HD!

The way I see the two:

Concepts are the first thing you need to concern yourself with in any position. They are the make it or break it detail. They say you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs. Bingo! That's your concept.

Techniques are means to an end. They are sets of steps that lead to a destination or outcome. Usually that end is a new concept or at least an extension or a variation on a previous one. A basic egg cracking one is when you use both hands and a flashy advanced one is when you do it single handedly. Any one else getting hungry?

Here is my list of concepts for the most common situations in a roll.

Mount Bottom:

Keep your elbows glued to your ribs (unless strikes are allowed)

Half guard Bottom:

Prevent the cross-face

Side Control Bottom:

Keep your elbows in posture

Turtle Bottom:

Shut one side and guard the other

Turtle Top:

Let them carry your weight

Inside Closed Guard:

Keep them flat on their back and in front of you

Inside Open Guard:

Keep your elbow(s) connected to your thigh(s) to block their hooks

Half Guard Top:
Get them flat on their back

Side Control Top:

Make them carry your weight

Mount Top:

Remove obstacles and climb your knee(s)

Closed Guard:

Get your body off-centre

Open Guard:

Entangle their leg(s)

This, of course, is not all you need to do, but you'll struggle to do anything productive if you violate these. There is a variety of ways to achieve these concepts. Those are techniques. You can spend a lot of money and time learning techniques but chances are they won't work* unless you observe the concepts first.

Furthermore, if you run into a situation where your techniques aren't working or they are taking a whole lot of energy/strength/speed to do so, check your underlying concepts.

----Did You Like This Article?---

Drop me a line on parttimegrappler@ymail.com or explore some of the recommended past articles on the right...

----------------------------------

*You can violate a concept intentionally, setting a trap. This, of course, is not advised early on but you will see the advanced players do it now and again.

Answers to Saulo - Guard DVD Questions

If you read my last post "Thank God for Saulo", you saw that I posed three questions inspired by the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Revolution Series One (more specifically, the Guard DVD) and invited you all to send in your answer suggestions. Of course I am very grateful that you took the time to read the blog and send in your answers. The questions were:

1. Which part of your opponent's body doesn't move when you perform a knee tap take down from the knees?

2. Which part of your body doesn't touch the mat when you perform a butterfly sweep?

3. Which direction do your hips move in when you are flower-sweeping to your left?

Not the most complicated question, I know, but if you've been reading my blog for a while you'd know that I don't believe in beginner vs advanced techniques (in fact, I don't believe in techniques at all!) I believe in experiencing positions with a focus but without judgement and put all my energy into raising my level of awareness. Enter Saulo!

From watching the DVD for the nth time, I once again picked up a few great pointers. Some I do and some I've seen others do repeatedly. I'll go into what I perceive the answers to these three questions to be and why I chose them.

1. Which part of your opponent's body doesn't move when you perform a knee tap take down from the knees?

The knee that you are tapping. I think everybody answered this one correctly. The reason I chose this is because I see people all the time, rather than just obstruct the knee, trying to actively pull it towards them. That's strength, wasted strength I may add. To gain further leverage (where needed), rise off your knees and drive from a higher position rather than try to pull the knee.

2. Which part of your body doesn't touch the mat when you perform a butterfly sweep?

Got some very interesting answers here. Some were right, but the one I was looking for was "your back", simply because I see too many people who get their grips for the butterfly guard, get into the right "momento" (that's what Saulo calls "timing") and then lay back for the sweep, when they should be going completely on their side/shoulder/arm.

3. Which direction do your hips move in when you are flower-sweeping to your left?

By far the most interesting answers, and I think I'm to blame. The question was a little open-ended as (in most sweeps) the hips move a lot!

The funny thing is, the way Saulo performs it (using his left leg to block the opponent's right leg/side, rather than throwing the legs up in the air for momentum as per the Ceasar Gracie DVDs), he only moves them to the left a few inches before he launches it. My sketch at the top (Blue is the sweeper) is supposed to illustrate just that (no, it's not a scene from the Baby Delivery Room!)

I love things like that. Small details that I either experience or suddenly realise/notice about a situation or a position that simply change the whole dynamics of it.

Once again, thank you to all those who posted or emailed their answers. Awareness is king.

----Did You Like This Article?---

Drop me a line on parttimegrappler@ymail.com or explore some of the recommended past articles on the right...

BJJ Legends: Thank God for Saulo

I was watching Saulo's Guard dvd from his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Revolution Series One last night. The level of detail is outstanding and the dvds are timeless. It was perhaps the 10th or 11th time I watched this particular dvd but I still managed to pick up a couple of important points which I might go into in future posts.

What I do have however is a couple of questions to check your understanding of some of the most basic techniques/mechanics of BJJ:

1. Which part of your opponent's body doesn't move when you perform a knee tap take down from the knees?

2. Which part of your body doesn't touch the mat when you perform a butterfly sweep?

3. Which direction do your hips move in when you are flower-sweeping to your left?

Either post your answers as comments here, via email or on Facebook. This should be interesting.


----Did You Like This Article?---

Drop me a line on parttimegrappler@ymail.com or explore some of the recommended past articles on the right...

BJJ Tips: Gi v No-gi Grappling. Is the Gi Necessary?

This issue has been debated and hammered but I still find that a lot of the arguments for and against are too loaded with emotions and attachment. What I mean is that people who do or did a lot of gi training often insist that it is necessary while those from a nogi/submission grappling background insist that it's a waste of training time.

I'm not too fussed really. I feel that not only is grappling grappling, irrespective of what you are wearing, but I also have friends who prefer nogi and I liked training with them in the nogi sessions and vice versa. I say liked because our advanced sessions are now of the gi-optional variety. I also like a lot of techniques that are unique to the gi and some others that show up more often in the nogi.

I also have a few more brain sneezes on this and I've written them on the Cage Warriors BJJ Forum.

What do you think? How do you feel? Please recline on my chaise longue (made entirely from old gi material, of course!) and tell me your take on this.

Have a good weekend!

----Did You Like This Article?---

Drop me a line on parttimegrappler@ymail.com or explore some of the recommended past articles on the right...

BJJ Mechanics 101: Levers

Helio Gracie did not invent leverage. He did, however, implement them and ingenious ways in jiujitsu.

There are three important points to remember in the study of levers:

A: The point where you affect your force.
B: The point where the object is affected by your force.
C: The fulcrum about which where two rotate.

Naturally that means that there can be 3 general types of levers, depending on the arrangement of these three elements:

How well the lever performs depends on two factors:

1. How much force is used?
2. How long is the distance to the fulcrum?

In simple terms, the longer the distance, the less force you need to generate the necessary torque. Of course, we all know this from our childhood. If you've ever played a game of Seesaw with someone much bigger or smaller than yourself, the bigger person always sat closer to the fulcrum

How does this translate to BJJ / Grappling? The answer to that can fill volumes and volumes of books and if you are not using levers and leverage properly, in my opinion, you are not really doing Gracie jiujitsu. Here is an example that springs to mind:

The armbar defence counter:

Picture borrowed from the amazing LockFlow website

You are in armbar prep position (coined Spiderweb by Eddie Bravo - see above) .

You can see that the point where you affect your force (low on his forearm) is much closer to the fulcrum (his elbow) than the point where the object you want to affect by your force is (his grip).

A smart way to break his grip from a mechanical perspective is to make the distances more favourable to you. Don’t yank at the elbow, but pull his hand instead!

Instead of yanking at a, you should
shift to a' for better leverage

Now go and jot down a few levers that you recognise from your training. When you feel spent, think about an area where you are currently struggling and think about where and how you can use levers to offer a solution.

Here are a few super cool ways to finish the armbar from the Spiderweb, courtesy of Stephan Kesting and Grapplearts.com.



ps: (These two together give you the torque= Force x Distance)

----Did You Like This Article?---

Drop me a line on parttimegrappler@ymail.com or explore some of the recommended past articles on the right...