Best grappling in a HW MMA match, ever

This is Big Nog and Josh Barnett at the Pride Absolute Grand Prix. This probably the best grappling ever displayed in a HW MMA match. Barnett and Nog are two of the best and their grappling styles (BJJ for NOG and CSW for Barnett) are just different enough to make it exciting.

Daily Submission

Yesterday we worked on a few different things. We learned an Octopus guard like move from half guard. I really like Octopus guard and I have a feeling it will start to show up more and more in my game. I also learned a sweep from half butterfly guard which is kind of cool. Essentially it is exactly the same as a typical butterfly sweep but you do it from half butterfly. Half Butterfly is simple when you take the outside leg from half guard and hook it inside his leg like a butterfly hook. I found that I could do it easy with my right leg then my left. I think this has to do with my left knee still being weak from the injury. Finally, Adam showed the Electric Chair sweep, or as he calls it the hog tie. Why the Hog tie? Apparently, he was witness to an argument between Marc Laimon and Eddie Bravo as to who invented it. He chose a side and it wasn't Eddie's. In my opinion none of them invented it. The lockdown is old school judo, Eddie himself says he learned it from Judo Gene Lebell. Other than the lockdown it is simply a half guard rollover sweep into a groin stretch or banana split. To prevent confusion I am going to simply call it varredura da separação de banana which is Portuguese for Banana Split Sweep (at least according to Babelfish). Or whatever I feel like calling it an that particular moment.

During free roll, I worked my sitting guard and my turtle guard a lot. My background is wrestling and judo. When I scramble I tend to turn to my stomach and get to my knees. Unlike most pure BJJ guys, I haven't developed that natural roll to guard. I am not sure I want to. In the gym or a tournament pulling guard is fine but my main focus is outside the gym. Ideally, I want to be able to secure that leg and transition to a takedown. I working at hit those faster. Since, I turtle anyway and feel comfortable there, I figured why fight it. I have been watch some video of Eduardo Telles who is a turtle guard master (he is also the Octopus Guard guy) as well as a lot of wrestling videos from that position. I am going to really work it for awhile.

The first time I transitioned to turtle, I did it when he started to pass my guard. I let him and just turned into him and came to my knees. I had a deep cross grip on his lapel and as I rolled I ended up throwing him over my shoulder like a seoi nage. I use a lot of judo like throws from turtle. I also hit my armspin about 4 times in a row. It was nice to work it against a guy who knew it was coming. I gained some confidence to continue with the sit out even if it feels like it isn't there. I have also been finishing better lately. A lot of it has come down to just smoother transistions and little things like a tighter squeeze with my knees.

Afflication- Holy Crap

Fedor is the baddest man on the planet, plain and simple. He destroyed Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds. I did not see that coming at all. Tim Sylvia is a top 5 HW and Fedor made him look like a punk. Also Arlovski and Barnett looked awesome. The Pitbull's striking was great, working Freddy Roach seems to have payed off. The rumor is that he will make his pro boxing debut soon. I predict he will be successful. Barnett scored a awesome Knockout over Pedro Rizzo. Barnett was having trouble early on but as he usually does he managed to pull out the decisive win.

Now on to the things that sucked. Megadeath. I was not a fan in the 80's and they haven't been relevant in almost 20 years. Why bring them out now? I guess they were really aiming at the 34 in the 18-34 demographic. And what was with Micheal Buffer stopping to annouce all the "celebrities"? Who cares if the deal or no deal girls are at the event?


But with Fedor, Barnett, Arlovski, even Rizzo, Rothwell and Sylvia Affliction has all but a couple of the top HW in the game. If Randy Couture can sort out his legal problems with Zuffa it just adds to the great HW division in MMA.

Daily submission

Yesterday, we went back to the basics a bit. We worked on re guarding from side control, the mount and turtled. With the exception of the re guard from the mount, they all involved some sort of roll. I am not so good with the rolls. I can roll forward back or even on an angle but alot of these involved a roll with a spin, while spreading the legs to catch the guy in your guard. I still need a lot of work on this type of thing. If I roll or otherwise scramble, I tend to square up to the guy and go for the single or double. I turtle a lot as well. That is the wrestling and judo background, I feel comfortable there. Unfortunately, against really good jiu jitsu players, it is a bad place to spend much time. However, I do have a couple of go to moves from here. I use an armspin, peterson roll, granby rolls and a few others. I will try to find some video to post or maybe make it up myself if I have to.

Daily Submission

I played with octopus guard for the first time yesterday. I liked it. We just touched on it but I saw some real potential to compliment my present game. We used it to take the back and as a set up to a hip bump. It is still new to me but I will definitely have to explore it more. Here is a video of Eduardo Telles (who coined the term Octopus Guard) explaining the concept.

Submission Series results

So I competed in my first BJJ tournament today. Submission Series was a submission only event meaning that no points were given for position only advantages for sub attempts. I competed in both the Gi and no-gi events. I had some weight issues though. Because of how I understood the tournament to be run, I chose weights I knew I would have no problem making. I fought 194 gi and 200 no-gi. They ran the no-gi event first and I weighed in at 187, 13 pounds below the limit. I fought a guy considerablly larger then me. I stepped on the mat and prepared to work my wrestling to my advantage. I did get a chance though because the dude sat down on his ass and refused to stand up. I made my disgust of his buttscoot strategy known by stepping back, shaking my head and then jump right into a cartwheel guard pass. It didn't really work. I worked in his guard for a bit then he attacked with a triangle which I defended. He switched to a omaplata and I spun out of it to side control. We wrestled around abit, with me trying to pass his guard and sometimes ending up standing with him sliding around on his butt. He locked in another triangle, which was tighter. I picked him up until he let it go. Shortly after that I passed to half guard then took mount. I worked a few ezikal choke attempts which were unsuccessful then tried to set up a kimura variant from the mount I like but time ran out. Here is where it is weird. In a regular match I would have score 3 points for side mount x 2 and 5 points for mount giving me 11 points and a win but due to the nature of the tounament he scored 2 submission advantages for the trianlges to my nothing. He won on those advantages. As I said before, I lost due to the nature of the event because of my style, so be it. Because there were only 2 of us, I got a silver out of the deal. I don't really care but it worked for team points.

I had a bit of a wait for the gi event which was nice because I was tired. I fought 194 for gi so I was still light but not as much. The first guy I fought, bent over and pushed hard so I threw him with a tomoe nage and rolled to mount. I played around in mount for a bit but got rolled. The rest of the fight, I attempted collar chokes (and came close to finishing a couple of times) as well as attempting a few armbars which didn't come close at all. He kept trying a sliding choke from inside my guard so his arm was there a lot just not enough for me to get it. I won't lie by the end I was tired and my grip was shot so I sneeked a peek at the clock and rode out the last 20 seconds. I won 3 advantages to none. My grip was so shot by the end I could barely hold my water bottle.

The next guy I fought was way bigger. I think he was one of the guys that came in a few pounds over (they were pretty lenient). I attempted a few foot sweeps but nothing came of them. He was bent over alot as well but since I had just thrown his team mate with tomoe nage, I didn't want to chance it again. He was stiff arming me, so I figured flying armbar? Why not, I have never practiced it before but who cares. I didn't catch it but I did turn it in to a sweep as we came down. I got mount for a bit but got rolled again ( I got to work on that). He used that same choke from inside my guard that his teammate used but this guy was bigger so it was a little more effective and I had to open my guard. We scrambled and I ended up turtling. He grabbed a a body lock and I used a sit out into an omaplata/kimura type lock. He rolled, we scrambled and I ended up turtled again. He attempted an anaconda but nothing came of it. We stayed there for a while because I was gassed to be honest and he got back mount for a while before I regained guard. I attempted an armbar and that pretty much finished it. I lost 0-0 with a ref decision. I had a shot at fighting for 3rd but I forfeited to a teammate for reasons I will get into later.

The major problem I had with this type of tournament was that some of the score seemed very arbitrary. Even worse was the "decision" if it finished 0-0. For example in my first match, he had two triangles and one could argue an omaplata but scored 2 not three points. I had 2 ezkial chokes but scored 0. Another example is why I forfeit my 3rd place match. The fight before mine, a teammate of mine dominated this guy from start to finish. The only offense the other guy offered was a weak attempt at a triangle that just got his guard passed. The match ended 0-0 and the other guy was awarded the win. My coaches were pretty furious. The ref came over and explained that position meant nothing only submission attempts. So up comes my fight where I had 3 attempts to his 1 but he wins. Why? I think position. Now, I don't feel I won my fight so that is cool but according to the instruction the ref gave I should have. So either I or my teammate got screwed. Because I felt it was him (and I was really tired to boot) I forfeited the match to him. This is actually pretty common in BJJ.

Daily Submission

So I am heading to my first BJJ tournament tomorrow. I will be competing in the -194 White belt division and the under 200 intermediate no-gi division. I weigh about 190 so I will be fighting a little overweight. One thing that bugs me is the lack of parity between the two divisions. If I cut down to the next closed no-gi division (-184) I would still be 3 pounds over the next lowest GI division. Combine that with the fact that weigh-ins will happen immediately prior to stepping on the mat, I decided against trying to cut weight. Testing myself against bigger guys will be better for my jiu-jitsu anyway.

As I have written before, this concept of submissions being the only thing that counts will be difficult for me but I have made my decision not to alter my style at all and let the chips fall where they may. I am comfortable with that decision.

To help make sure I am focused for the event I caught the lunch and evening BJJ classes on Wednesday. We focused on a number of variations of the baseball choke. Adam taught three variations with the gi and I think I found a way to make it work no-gi as well. During the evening class, I finally tapped someone with an omaplata. I typically use it as a sweep but mainly because it is hard to finish. My omaplata is really coming along. I even "swept" Adam with it. Yes, I know he was going easy on me and yes I ended up in a worse spot then before after I swept him but I will take anything I can get against Adam. Any time I manage to take advantage of the openings he leaves for me, I take it as improvement.

So hopefully everything goes well at this tournament. As long as I don't get hurt and I perform up to my personal best, I will be happy. I am bringing the video camera so I hope to post some video of the event.

Daily Submission

I love omaplatas. I use it mainly as a sweep but I have been starting to hit it a lot in training. One thing that really helped me was a video I saw on Aesopian's site that showed Leo Kirby talking about how he gets into the omaplata. Prior to watching this, I tried to get into omaplatas the flexible way. I would try to lever my foot over his shoulder and in front of his head. Leo shows a way that makes it a lot easier for guys that aren't as flexible. The key point is gripping his elbow and rolling it up so it kind of points towards your face. This makes the transition to the omaplata so much easier. Leo shows it from butterfly or sitting guard but I have used the same principle from closed or a number of basic open guards. Here is the video:

Daily Submission

Signed up for me first BJJ tournament today. It is part of the "Submission series" which are a group of tournaments which do not give points for position like a regular BJJ competition. I am a little leary of this format. The idea is to win by submission but we all know that not every fight can end in a sub so there has to be a manner of deciding a winner in the even it goes the distance. In this event they will award "Advantages" for submission attempts. I am not a guy who throws out a lot of sub attempts. I am a position before submission type of guy. I secure position and work from there. I am worried that I will dominate position and lose to a bunch of subs that were never any real danger.

The other thing is that I will be fighting at my heaviest weight ever. I will fight at 194 in gi and 200 no gi. I am sitting about 190-193 and the next lowest weight classes are 181/gi and 184 no-gi. There are two reason's I am not cutting. The first is that they are weighing in just prior to your first match. That means standard dehydration methods are out and I am still nursing a knee injury that hasn't allowed me to do much cardio so cutting that way over the last few weeks was out as well.

There was another aspect to this tourney that was an issue for me. I am going to fight in the white belt division for gi because I am a bjj white belt but the no-gi is a little different. The beginner division states no previous grappling experience. I have wrestled, done judo and fought MMA so I have previous grappling experience but I have trained in about 4 years and never in a BJJ type event. I was thinking of fighting in that division but I think it would have been unfair of me. The only reason I would have entered would have been to make it easier on myself and to stroke my ego if I won. So I entered the immediate division. The point is to get better not to win a medal. If I win, great but I don't need to win to be successful. I will get to see how my BJJ hold up in competition. I am not even going to change my game to suit the rules of the event. If I dominate positionally and lose on bullshit advantages, so be it. I will pissed at the time because I am a competitive person but over the long run I will be better for it.

Daily Submission

Well I got the crap kicked out of my last night. Adam wasn't feeling very good so he went over a couple of open guard sweeps quickly and then we rolled. I rolled with one of the Blue belts, Ryan, who I haven't rolled with before. Ryan is bigger than me, better than me and if he hadn't hurt his elbows he was going to go to the worlds. I did Ok to start with, I managed to regain guard a few times, prevent some passes and even reversed him a time or two but he slowly started to take over. His constant pressure wore me down and he started to dominate. I got caught in a triangle, an arm bar and triangle from the mount.

Some good things I took out of that roll was the I managed to regain guard from side control, which is something I have more of a problem with then I should. I also held my own against a better fighter for at least 5 minutes before he began to wear me down. We have some pretty good blues (Marcus doesn't promote fast) so hang with them even for 5 minutes is a sign that I am improving, both technically and in my cardio.

Open your guard

Normally, I just post my thoughts on my training. I mainly use this as a training log. Once in a while I will post breakdowns of MMA fights. Today, I feel the need to rant about a trend I see a lot in MMA and in BJJ/sub grappling. I was watching the Ultimate fighter reality show on Thursday which featured the fight between Jesse Taylor and Tim Credeur. During the fight, Credeur lost the fight mainly because he refused to open his guard. Through out the fight, the BJJ coach for Team Forrest, Cameron Diffley, yelled for him to open his guard and move to butterfly guard. Despite these requests, Credeur rarely opened his guard. When ever he did, he had success and when he closed his guard he ate punches, elbows and hammerfists. While it was frustrating to watch someone, who otherwise showed very good jiu-jitsu, lose a fight like that, I can completely understand it.

While a lot about grappling (and fighting in general)is very natural, sometimes we need to do counter intuitive things to be successful. Opening your guard is like that. We think that by closing our guard and trying to tie up our opponent we are protecting ourselves. The problem is that against anyone who any good at all, a tight closed guard is very easy to defeat. The days of Royce Gracie confusing opponents by being happy on his back are long gone. Every MMA fighter works from inside someones gaurd. Whether the goal is to pass, stand up or just ground and pound from inside the guard, they all practice it. In Jiu-jitsu, you start learning how to pass a closed guard within the first week.

The closed guard has its uses. It works best as a neutral position, where you can take stock of the situation and begin to work your game. If you prefer a methodical jiu-jitsu game, like I do, then closed guard can be a good place to start rather than trying to work off scrambles (although that has to be part of your game as well). The problem with the closed guard is that there are relatively few moves you can do from there. There are a couple of sweeps and if you are doing gi jiu-jitsu, there are some chokes. But that is it, everything else needs you to open up.

The problem I find is that people are afraid of having their guard passed. Being able to work off scrambles (as I mentioned above) helps, as does confidence in your ability to regain guard which means working on your escapes. I had the same problem. The way that I got over it was to start working the feet on the hips guard. I liked it because having the feet there provided me with a barrier that I felt help prevent a guard pass. If you are one of those people who is afraid of having your guard passed, try putting your feet on their hips and working that guard.

A more important question is why are you afraid of having your guard passed? In a fight or competition, the answer is obvious. You don't want to lose. However, you can not win against a reasonably skilled opponent, if you don't open your guard. That is just a fact. Now since you can't open your guard because it will be passed and you will lose, but not opening it means you lose as well, we are at a bit of an impasse. My solution is that you need to open it up in training. I see it all the time and have heard many, many accounts of the same thing. Guys start rolling in the gym and all of a sudden it is the Mundials or the UFC. How many people talk about winning their rolls at practice? Did you get a medal or a belt?

Practice is to learn knew things. To provide a personal example, I am concentrating on Butterfly guard this month. Butterfly guard is very hard to master. It is very easy to pass if you suck at it, which I certainly did when I started. To some extant I still do suck at it but I am better than I used to be. Organisms learn, in part, by experiencing new situations and developing ways to adapt to them. Jiu-jitsu is no different. In the beginning, my guard was passed like a bad case of herpes, easily and frequently. As such, I got lots of work with scrambles and escapes. I also started to learn how to prevent them from passing, I started to hit some sweeps and I started to add an effective guard to my game.

Depending on the night and who I roll with, I may end up winning the roll, losing the roll or just rolling until one of us needs a break. Unless I wrote it here, I couldn't tell you how many taps I got 3 weeks ago. I do know that about 3 weeks ago, I managed to far enough into the half guard sweep I was working on, that my instructor, Adam, decided to go with it. That was a huge cry from where it was when I started. I do know that about a week ago, I sweep my 240 pound training partner, Devon, with a hook sweep for the first time. These are the wins I am concerned with. I am not saying that getting a tap isn't a win. It can be especially if you do it with a technique you have been trying to master. In training, take risks and make mistakes. You have to take risks in fights to do it in the gym and when it comes fight time, you will make less mistakes.

Daily Submission

Learned a really cool half guard sweep from the long distance Half guard (LDHG). Below is a video of Jorge Vidal doing a very similar sweep. The main differences were that this was an attack rather than a response to a situation as it appears in the video and that Adam keeps the knee in the guys stomach during the roll. I stole this from Aesopian's totally awesome journal which in my link section. He also has a nice series on LDHG.

From Crackle: Jorge's half guard #2

Marcus Soares Seminar notes

Marcus Soares Seminar – After action report

Seminar started a bout 45 minutes late because Marcus got lost on the way to the gym. When he arrived, he started off the seminar with a hellish warm up. It was tough. I was damn near shot by the end.

The seminar was very casual. Marcus began by asking for questions. He wanted to know what we were having problems with. He answered some quick questions and moved into a standing guard pass, followed by 3 mount defenses, a side control escape, 2 back control escapes and 2 escapes from the turtle.

I was struck by a few things regarding Professor Soares. The first was he reliance on the basics of jiu jitsu. He just has those basics down to a science and does need fancy new techniques. Second was just how little power he uses. In all the escapes, his bridges were simple little rolls, rather than a big explosion, he maneuvers his hips to the perfect angle and just rolls. His use of leverage is amazing. The third was his pressure was intense. My instructor Adam has awesome pressure, and a lot of wrestlers that I have rolled with over the years have great pressure but Marcus is on another level. He just uses leverage, angles, and every ounce body weight.

We ended up with a belt test. This was different type of test then I have ever been involved in. Basically, they matched up pairs by weight and we rolled tournament style. I don't really know how this could really show your entire skill set.

Technical notes

Guard pass:

Secure lapel and sleeve. Tuck elbows in tight and cross his hand to his opposite hip. Push down on hip and stand up with the leg on the side of the arm that is controlled. Stand with the other leg. Switch grip on the sleeve and grab the pants with the free hand. Push down on the hip with pants hand. Break the legs open, Finish as per regular under hook guard pass.

Mount escape one. (hooks in)

Grab lapel and opposite pant leg at the knee. Push against knee, free hook on that leg. Use foot to lift ankle and maneuver leg out to get to half guard. Roll towards your free leg and push away with hand on lapel, Secure side control.

Mount escape 2. triple attack position

Opponent has mount and has secured arm and is half way to spiderweb (cross arm bar) position. Use free hand to grab own wrist, Take trapped arm and put it behind head. Use chin and arm pressure to keep his arm trapped. Shift hips into him and swim free arm under his leg. Shift hips back the other way and roll/bridge into him. His arm will be levered against his leg in an arm bar. If not pass to side control.

Mount escape 3. High mount

Clasp hands together over face, Push up a little to create space. Grab belt. Push all the way up and over your had as you move your hips over his leg, keep moving your hips over and rolling in that direct, try to create enough space that you can pass to side control.

Turtle escape

You are turtled with opponent on your side. Use opposite hand to defend collar choke. Assuming he is on your right side, grab his right sleeve as he tries to get the choke. Secure it tight to you. Reach between his legs with your right hand and wrap it over and around his ankle. Suck that back in and grab his right sleeve with your right hand. Secure his left elbow with your left elbow. Flatten out you legs (or at least you left leg) and roll him over you. Secure side control.

Turtle escape 2 hook in

Grab right sleeve with left hand and with the right hand as High as you can on the shoulder, Push it way and to the left until it is the left side of your head. Secure it tight. Bridge up on you head and feet and he will slide down your back, Kick leg out to remove the hook and then start to rotate around as you suck his arm in and move to side control.

Back control, opponent shifted to side.

Assuming he is choking with the right hand and is off to the left. Grab right sleeve with left hand, grab right shoulder with right hand. Push up on his elbow to pop you head out. As you pop your head out, do not release his wrist, continue to push his elbow up and away from you and pull his wrist in. Swim your left arm under his wrist and over his triceps in to a chicken wing (reverse kimura) and drive it forward, Make sure his left leg stays over top of yours so he can not roll out.

Daily Submission

Friday was my first day back after a week and a bit lay off from a sore knee. It was also the first time I rolled no gi since I got back. I rolled with two guys, Chris one of the blue belts, and Andrew who I have known for a long time and actually used to help teach grappling to sometimes. If I haven't mentioned before, blue belts are the highest belts we have next to Adam, who is a black. But they are also Marcus Soares blue belts. Marcus does like giving out belts, he only has like 7 black belts and he is Carlson Gracie's highest ranking student. They are pretty good. I was hoping to do better than the last time I rolled with one of the blue belts because this was no-gi and I am normally harder to finish without a gi.

I did do better but not much. For one, he triangle me and got me in a rear naked choke. Those don't happen often. Because of my wide shoulder, general lack of a neck and strong posture, even if some one locks a triangle on, I can defend it just by posturing up until he loosens up trying to re-adjust. This time he locked it on fast and tight and broke my posture. It was a losing battle. He showed really good arm drags. Adam's advanced students have really good wrestling for BJJ guys.

I had a really good roll with andrew. I outweigh him by a fair amount but he is in awesome shape and used to fighting bigger guys. One of the things, I forgot about no-gi, is just how hard it can be to finish someone. I played a good positional game, had a couple sweeps, took mount a few times but I couldn't finish. We rolled back and forth for like 20 minutes which was a huge step for me because I am finally in grappling shape. I still have to get better but at least I can go for a while.

I also got some help from one of the blue belts with my triangle choke. I don't have the kind of build that allows for easy triangle chokes. I have short, thick legs so I have a hard time. I am determined to get them down, even if it will never be one of my go to moves. One little tip that made all the difference, it seems was putting the opposite foot on the hip. It allowed me to push off to get my hips up and spin to the side to help get my leg across his neck. The other thing was grabbing the shin before you lock the other leg on. Apparently, I have been doing it the old school way ( it did learn more than 10 years ago) which is much harder. I will have to give it some more reps over the next little while.

I have a new goal for the next 4 weeks. Last month was half guard. I have worked almost exclusively on my half guard game and I have seen exponential returns because of it. So I am going to apply that same focus to another part of my game that needs work, my butterfly game. I am going to try to pull butterfly guard almost exclusively and try to become as comfortable as I can in that area. I started friday and I managed 3 sweeps from butterfly guard. Hopefully I can pick it up better over the coming weeks.

UFC 84 Breakdown Sokoudjou vs Nakamura

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura.

This is a fight between two of the better Judo stylist in MMA. Nakamura is a Japanese national medalist, and Sokoudjou is a US Open judo gold medal winner. Here is how I see the breakdown.

Striking:

Both are actually pretty good strikers despite being judo fighters. Sokou is athletic, fast and has very good power. Nak has improved his striking considerably over his career and has developed some pretty strong boxing. I would have to give the edge to Sokoudjou based on his proven power and quickness.

Wrestling:

In this case, it would be judo. Both are accomplished judo players. Sokoudjou probably has the better pedigree, and training at team quest with Dan Henderson should help him learn to apply judo with out a gi. However, we just haven't seen it in his MMA fights. Machida was able to take him down and finish him. Nakamura has been much more consistent using his Judo in MMA so I would give the edge to him.

Jiu Jitsu

This is another area where Nak has the proven edge mainly because we haven't seen much of anything from Sokoudjou. Nakamura hasn't shown an amazing ground game but his only submission loses come against Lil Nog and Josh Barnett which has more to do with those guys being pretty amazing grapplers. Sokoudjou was submitted by Machida, but Machida is a BJJ black belt.

Cardio

Nakamura doesn't have the best cardio in the world but Sokoudjou hasn't been to a decision since his first fight. Kaz has gone the distance 10 times in his career and while he is no Sean sherk or Tito Ortiz cardio wise. He will be able to keep his work rate up at a reasonable level for all three rounds. Sokodjou looks like he is in good shape and training with Dan henderson has got to be good on the cardio but who knows. Edge Nakamura

Level of Competition.

Normally someone with wins over Arona and lil Nog and a fight with Machida, will be the favorite in this category but not in this case, For Kaz, like many japanese fighters in PRIDE, his skill or experience level had less to do with his matchups then his nationality. Accordingly his record is a who's-who's of PRIDE superstars. After fighting Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira (lil Nog) in his first fight, he went on to fight: a rematch with Lil Nog, Bustamante, Henderson, Randleman, Vovchanchyn, Silva, Kondo, Barnett, Rua and Machida. He went 5-7 in those matches. Although he has a losing record against "name" opponents, he is quite used to fighting in big fights. Edge Nak.

Conclusion

In theory, Nakamura has most of the advantages here. He has fought tougher competition, shown better use of his judo and proven his ability to fight for 3 rounds. But Sokoudjou demolished two of the better LHW is the world, one of who holds two wins over Nakamura. He hasn't really shown his ability, or lack of ability, in so many areas. That makes him somewhat of an unknown still. Nak is going to want to take this to the ground because he has shown a tendency to eat punches rather than block them. I predict that Sokodjou will be able to keep this on the feet and use his striking to batter Nakamura. Nak is tough as they come so I don't expect an early stoppage but I think Sokoudjou overwhelms him late in the fight for the stoppage.

UFC 84 Breakdown - Ortiz vs Machida

Machida vs Ortiz

By far the hardest bout to call because there are so many questions surrounding both fighters. Is Machida for real or just untested? Is Tito done as a top fighter?

Striking;

Edge Machida. Machida has a very unorthodox striking game as he is one of the few fighters who uses a Karate based style in MMA. He has used it to his advantage as most fighters have had a hard time figuring it out. Tito has never been a particularly great striker. He lacks power and a natural striking rhythm. He does have a very good cage and throw very tight technical punches. Against Griffin, he managed to throw tight hooks inside of Forrest’s wide swinging punches (a fact that is often over looked) and even hurt him at one point. Remember he has basically spent most of the last 3 years training to beat Chuck Liddell. However, Machida is a natural striker who will be more comfortable on his feet.

Wrestling

Edge Ortiz. Ortiz has very good wrestling and has used it to good effect through out his MMA career. He appears to have slowed down a step due to a nagging knee injury. The question is can he take Machida down? I think he can, even he has to crush him against the fence. Tito is a very strong LHW and will have to use that to his advantage. Machida is not without wrestling skills of his own. He has a sumo background and it will be interesting to see how he uses it against Ortiz.

Jiu Jitsu

Edge Machida. Machida is a BJJ black belt although he does not use his BJJ as often. Much like Anderson or Wandalei Silva, he prefers to stand rather than use his BJJ to submit and opponent. Against Sokoudjou he showed a decent top game prior to winning by arm triangle. Tito how ever hasn’t been caught in a submission since his second fight at UFC 13! That is more than 10 years ago. He has a great base and is hard to sweep. He has not shown much on the ground other that his solid top control game.

Cardio:

Edge Ortiz. Tito has legendary Cardio although it may be beginning to fail him. Tito has always concentrated on his conditioning, training at altitude, and more than once simple out lasted his opponents. Tito has gone 5 round 3 times in his career, something Machida has never done. Tito may be able to push the pace late in the fight although I doubt either fighter will gas in this 3 round fight.

Level of Competition:

Edge Ortiz. Tito has faced Liddel (twice), Couture, Belfort (early Belfort, also known as good Belfort), Frank Shamrock, Ken Shamrock (3 X although only one was a challenge), Evan Tanner, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans. Machida only has two really proven fighters on his resume. A BJ Penn (puffed up to 205) and Rich Franklin prior to Frnaklin dropping down to 185 and winning the UFC Middleweight title.

Conclusion:

This is Tito’s fight to lose. He should be able to take Machida down, pin him against the fence and elbow him towards a stoppage or decision. He needs a big win for the last fight of his UFC contract or he will see his stock fade as he joins a new organization. If he can’t take down Machida, expect a boring decision win for Lyoto.

UFC 84 Breakdown- Silva vs. Jardine

Silva vs. Jardine

I’m sorry, I have never been sold on Jardine. He lost to Rashad Evans on TUF, lost to Stephan Bonnar and lost to Houston Alexander. His win against Forrest was legit but it didn’t really show anything other than he has some power. It did more to show that Forrest needs to stay out of the pocket rather than drop his head and brawl. His win against Chuck, was a matter of Chuck expecting him to drop from a right hand. In the third when Chuck finally turned it on, he did not look as good. Lets quickly break this down.

Striking:

Edge Silva. Jardine is a decent kickboxer but so is Silva and Silva has more power and more tools. Silva’s clinch is a deadly weapon and he throws every punch with bad intentions. He is also more than capable of dealing with Jardine’s leg kicks which is his best weapon.

Wrestling;

Edge Silva. Silva’s wrestling isn’t amazing but it is solid. Jardine has not shown any wrestling ability at all. Also Silva has a create Muay Thai Clinch and while it is mainly a striking weapon, it means that he can control the action against the fence. He is also working full time with Randy Couture which can’t hurt.

Jiu jitsu

Edge Silva. Silva is a BJJ black belt and the few times we have seen him use his BJJ it has been very effective. He has shown a very active guard that allows him to prevent damage and scramble to his feet. Jardine has not shown any real skill on the ground.

Cardio:

Edge Silva. Unlike a lot of former Pride stars, Silva has not shown a tendency to gas. His 3 round war with Liddell was at as fast of a pace as you could hope for and he was throwing as hard, and as much, in the third as he was in the first. Jardine’s cardio isn’t bad either but Silva has shown time and time again that he will bring the intensity for the entire fight.

Level of competition:

Edge, Silva by a landslide. Sliva has faced Lidell, Jackson (twice), Arona (twice), Hendo (twice), Hunt, CroCop(twice), Sakuraba (3X) Ortiz, Belfort and more. He has faced 4 UFC belt holders and was PRIDE champ for a long time. Liddell and Griffen are the only two top fighters on his record and he does hold wins over them but he has also lost recently to prospect Alexander and Bonnar.

Conclusion:

Silva owns every advantage on paper. He is as good or better the Jardine in every aspect. However, Silva has lost 3 straight. Those loses are to Henderson, Liddel and CroCop (at HW) so he didn’t lose to second tier fighter like Jardine but questions remain as to his ability to continue as a top fighter. Silva has been through numerous wars in his career and they look as though they may have taken there toll on the Axe Murderer. Jardine could win this by virtue of being less abused. He also has a great game planner in Greg Jackson, who could plan a strategy of picking apart silva’s somewhat reckless style. Another question is how much of an effect is Randy Couture going to have on silva’s game plan. If there is one guy in MMA who can out game plan Jackson, it is the Natural. I predict Silva by destructive KO, in a fight that re-establishes him as a top fighter.

UFC 84 Breakdown- Penn Vs Sherk

UFC 84 breakdown

Penn vs. Sherk
This fight has generated a ton of hype and wildly differing opinions. The Penn fanboys claim that BJ will win by “whatever he wants” while Sherk’s fan claim that BJ has no gas tank and no heart. Lets break this down by skill set and see how they match up.

Striking:
This one is actually fairly even although most people don’t like to admit it. Sherk has a very tight, technical “small man’s” striking game. He punches in flurries and keeps his punches nice, short and always brings his hands right back to a tight cage. Penn’s punching is more fluid and natural but no less effective. His boxing is good enough that no one faults him for relying on it rather than his jiu-jitsu, unlike a Andy Wang or Jorge Gurgel (who I am told are pretty good on the ground but I have never seen it).

The difference is more in the style, BJ fights from a distance while Sherk is an infighter. The advantage will go to who can impose their style on the other. Due to the size of the octagon and his reach advantage, I think that will be Penn.

Wrestling:
This one is pretty clearly in the favour of Sherk. His wrestling is very good and 3 of Penn’s 4 losses have come to strong wrestlers. Penn’s supporter’s claim that it was his gas tank that lost him those fights (or a rib injury in the case of Hughes II). But the fact remains that he has lost to wrestlers in the past. Sherk bases his style around his takedowns and ground and pound. He will likely attempt to take Penn down early and often. BJ has shown some very good takedown defence in the past and Sherk will be hard pressed to take him down early but over time, Sherk’s aggressiveness and persistence will be rewarded with takedowns.

Jiu-Jitsu:
As clearly as the wrestling goes to Sherk, the BJJ has to go to Penn. He is easily one of the most talent BJJ fighters in MMA. A lot of people think he could be competitive in Abu Dhabi right now. He is that good. But Sherk has fought some very good BJJ fighters in the past and he has never been submitted in 35 fights. All three of his last opponents are BJJ black belts, (Diaz was a brown at the time) and well known for having good “BJJ for MMA” which is not always the case with BJJ black belts. Neither Florian or Franca, could use that BJJ at all against Sherk; in fact, Sherk passed Franca’s guard like Franca was a white belt. Diaz was more of a challenge and also the most similar in his BJJ to Penn. Diaz is a slick, natural grappler somewhat like Penn and was competitive but ultimately overwhelmed by Sherk’s non-stop pace. The question is not so much who is better, it is clearly Penn, but how BJ handles Sherk’s pace.

Cardio:
By far the easiest aspect to call, both fighters are legendary in respect to cardio. Sherk is known for ability to compete at top speed for 25 minutes. Penn is legendary for is ability to gas after 10 minutes. Questions still remain though. Was Sherk’s cardio a result of steroids? Does Penn have a new found respect for conditioning? I got go with the historical precedent and give the advantage to Sherk by a landslide.

Level of Competition:
I have to call this a draw. Both guys are champions. Both have been in big fights. BJ has fought: GSP, Hughes, Gomi, Machida, Renzo Gracie, Pulver and Serra. Sherk has fought GSP, Hughes, Diaz and Parisyan. Both have had mixed success against top competition but most of it was outside their natural weight class of 155.

Conclusion:
Very even bout on paper. In each area that one person has an advantage; the other has a proven track record of nullifying that advantage. Penn does not want to let this get into the later rounds. Even if he has concentrated on his cardio to a level he never has before, Sherk is a monster in that department and will push the pace for 25 minutes. BJ has to use his reach and takedown defence to punish Sherk early make his hesitant to shoot for a takedown (no easy task as Hermes Franca can attest to). I picture BJ winning the early rounds but Sherk will come on strong late and grind out a hotly disputed decision.

Daily Submission

Wednesday nights class was pretty solid. Adam like to show some fairly advanced moves in class. Considering his highest ranking students are a couple of blue belts, I kind of wonder at that approach. I think it hurts a lot of the less experienced guys because they are being taught basics, like how to properly pass guard. However, maybe he cycles through basics and some harder stuff and I just have happened to be there for the harder stuff. Who knows? Only time will tell I guess. The long and the short of it is that some of the techniques are ones that I am merely filing away for later after I get back up to speed in my grappling. I drill them when he shows them, file them away and then work on the things I know I need to work on. Like my half guard.

Half guard is really becoming one of my favorite places to be. I nailed another guy with the electric chair sweep but I didn't tap him this time with it this time. This guy was new to me but I think he has been going during the day mostly since I have been there. Probably the closest match to my skill level, and weight, I have rolled with since I have been with. It was nice to roll with a guy that I didn't dominate yet didn't dominate me. I did fairly well, with the sweep and I manged to take his back. I screwed up the swim move armbar again and ended up in guard. I went back to half guard and used my lockdown to control his leg. He could not escape my halfguard no matter what. eventually he grabbed a kimura and while he wasn't able to isolate it, I didn't want to give him the time. I manged to sweep him but he held on to the kimura and secured guard. I tapped pretty soon after that. He had me, no need to risk my shoulder.

I also worked with my powerlifting buddy, Damien. Damien tapped me for the first time since we started rolling. He managed an americana from inside my half guard. Last time he tried it, he couldn't lock it up, so I showed him how to bring the elbow down to ribs in order to secure the lock. This time he did it right and with his power, there was nothing I could do. While the competitive part of my likes to win these rolls, the teacher in my likes it when I can help some one progress. I did manage to armbar him once though :). Working with Damien has been great because I have been forced to really tighten up my technique. I just can't over power him and if I am a little sloppy he makes me pay. I tried 3 armbars from the guard against him and each time I was too slow extending. He stacked me and I had to release the technique.

I did manage to hurt my knee some time during the practice, so I am laid up a bit right now. I think I am going to give the knee an extra days rest and roll no gi on tuesday. We will see how that goes. Oh and I will be posting breakdowns of some of the fights for the upcoming UFC 84.

Daily Submission

Last night, we worked on some options from "S Mount". I have mentioned before the love of naming things in the BJJ community, S mount is no exception. To me it was just part of your top control game and typically I just used it as a transition position. But I guess guys are using it offensively. We worked an armbar, a choke and and other transition to an armbar. To be honest, I didn't quite grasp it.

I rolled with a new guy last night. He is about my size and has been there longer than I have. As usual, I went with my half guard game. I swept him pretty quickly with Old School, but we had to pause after I cleared to side control as I had accidentally hit him in the eye. We restarted and I pulled half guard again. We wrestled around for a bit and then I managed to get the Electric chair sweep. I actually subbed him with the Electric Chair which was pretty cool. It was a first for me. We stopped for awhile because he wanted to learn how to do it, so I showed him.

Next I rolled with my 240 pound power lifter friend. I worked my half guard game again but having seen it last week he was a lot more prepared for it. I still managed to take his back from it once. I tried to do the armbar from the back, a move Eddie Bravo calls the swim move. Essentially, you hook his arm and then take your far side shin, put it on his neck and roll. He should roll over and you armbar him just as you would normally. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the weight to roll him. I ended up scrambling to half guard again. We stayed there awhile because I just couldn't get under hooks or on my side. He really used his weight well to control me. He tried an americana a few times which I defended. Eventually, I regained full guard, moved to Z guard and swept him. I finished with an armbar. It was a hell of a work out.

Next I rolled with Adam, my instructor. I hadn't rolled with him before. He pretty much beat me like a rented mule. I don't know how "good" I am but I know some tricks. It didn't matter besides being a BB under Marcus Soares, he is a Combat Submission wrestling and Shooto Instructor. Did I mention he is a Muay Thai Kru and a JKD/Kali instructor? Bottom line, he has been around the block and seen it all. At one point, he tried to take my back from half guard, I managed to sit out (rather nicely I thought) and he just flowed with me and took it anyway. At another point, I had passed to half guard but was to high to consolidate my position. Normally, I would spin to a knee bar but there was no way he was going to fall for that. While I was trying to think of something else, he swept me. We rolled for 5 maybe 10 minutes and he tapped my 4 times. It would have been more but he was toying with me.

Gavin Neil Won

Gavin won Saturday night at MFC 16. This puts him at 3-0. Congrats Gavin.

Good Luck Gavin

One of the blue belts from my gym, Gavin Neil, is fighting tonight on HDnet at MFC 16: Anger Management. Good luck Gavin.

Daily Submission

Last nights class was run by one of the blue belts while Adam is away in Edmonton, cornering one of the guys at HCF on Friday. We worked three options off of an over hook while grabbing the opposite side lapel. The first was hiza gatame, and two gi chokes. My partner today was massive. He outweighed me by 45 pounds. I couldn't even get a true closed guard on him. I think I could cross my big toes, HA! He was just come back off a layoff after surgery. He tore up both his shoulders practicing for strongman competitions.

Because he was pretty out of shape, we didn't go all out. That suited me fine, it was hard enough work just moving the weight. As has been my pattern lately, I pulled half guard and worked from there. I secured lockdown and used my legs to push him up to get double under hooks and whip up to my side. I was very surprised just how easy that was. When you try to use your arms alone it is next to impossible but with the legs it was very easy. I managed a few sweeps and to take is back a couple of times. Even going at a fairly low intensity, I was tired as hell. Just moving the weight was a good work out. Towards the end of the roll, I ended up turtling. He reach over my back and under my arm to grab my collar and start working for a choke. A lot of the time people do this, they over commit and I can wrap their elbow, then I can sweep. The sweep I use looks a lot like Soto makikomi, just from the turtle. I wrapped his elbow and I think I could have said out loud, "This could hurt" and went for the sweep. This particular sweep has all his weight over your back for awhile. It took a lot of energy. You know how sometimes you will give a yell to get the last little bit of power? Well, not only did I do that, it was loud enough that every one in the gym pause to look over at us. Good thing I don't embarrass easy. We had to call it quits shortly after that because he cramped up. Couldn't blame him because a few weeks ago I felt the same way.

My half guard game seems to be revolving around a few options at this point: Old School, a driving sweep, plan B, the electric chair sweep and taking the back. I think I will stay with those options for awhile and just drill the hell out of them until I get nail them all high percentage.

Daily Submission

Last nights class was focus around Spider guard. We learned a sweep, a spin into a triangle and a spin into an omaplata. The spins are going to take some work. I was not very good at them. I rolled with a buddy of mine, that I actually taught beginning grappling to almost 10 years ago. I out weighed him by a fair amount so I tried not to over power him and just roll. We had a good time. Same story for me, I am having trouble finishing. I got to take more risks maybe. I can get positions pretty easy but I am kind of slow on the subs. I am sure it will come eventually. I decided to work on "twister side control" a little last night. I didn't do a whole lot with it but it makes getting the mount a breeze. Definitely something I need to explore. I am starting to nail the old school sweep from half guard at a reasonable percentage. The focus is paying off.

I bought an Ouano kimono from www.fullcontactsports.ca and I wore it for the first time last night. Pretty nice, I will do a full gear review in a few days.

De La Riva is coming to my gym in June. 2 days for like 100 bucks. That is insane. I can't wait.

Daily Submission

So Monday was a pretty informal class. A lot of guys were nursing injuries from the competition on the weekend. One guy wanted to go over defenses to collar chokes and sleeve chokes so we did that for about 15 minutes. The defenses are very simple. The defense of a sleeve choke is simply to over hook the arm that is not under your head. One of the defenses to collar chokes, I like a lot. It is incredibly simple and effective. Your opponent has you in his guard and applies a collar choke with his left arm over his right arm. You take your right hand, bring it under his left arm and up trough the middle of his two arms. Then you simply "run your fingers through your hair" on the right side of your head and grab the back of your neck. The choke is defeated and you can start to work your regular guard passing game.

We rolled for about 45 minutes, which was great as it allowed me some time to work on my personal list of thing that need work. I rolled with a really new guy, I so I give him good positions and forced myself to work out of them. I also continued to improve my half guard, rubber guard and butterfly guard games. In one of the video clips I saw of Eddie Bravo, he talks about incrementally working your game up to a high level. Rather than trying something new against a guy that is your level (or better), failing and the giving up. Start by trying to run a clinic on a 3 week white belt and work from there.

Here is an article that talks about training to improve rather than using the same old game over and over which I really liked and ties in with Monday's practicce:
Zhoozhitzu do Graugardo: A-game Camping vs. making a decision to improve.

Daily Submission

I had dental surgery yesterday, so I didn't get up to much. I spent most of the day sleeping of the anesthetic. One thing I should note, is just how much pain my hips were in yesterday. I have been posting a lot about the rubber guard and I have been pretty aggressive with it. All I can say is, take it slow. I really over did it and I paid for it. Luckily I have a few days to rest up. If you are like me and coming off and extended break from training or training for the first time, take it slow.

Daily Submission

Went pretty light tonight at BJJ. I wanted to stay technical... and I am just tired. I haven't work this hard in years and the past couple of weeks have been rough. Adam taught the flower sweep and three methods of defending a guard pass tonight. One thing I have learned over the past little while is the Brazilian Jiu jitsu player love to name everything. We have rubber guard, z guard, x guard, de la riva guard, octopus, turtle and sea bass guard. Well I made the last one up (I think). The flower pass is not new. I learned it in Judo years ago but it wasn't a specific sweep. It was taught as a counter to someone defending an armbar from the guard. It went like this:
Control the wrist of the arm you are going to attack, hook the opposite side leg with your other arm (or grab the hem of the pants) and spin into an armbar. When the guy defends, throw the leg that is over his head to the side (away from the body) and lift the leg as you situp. Throw your leg back over is head and you are in the classic armbar position.
Adam also taught this as a setup to a triangle. I found that hard, which isn't surprising because I am not good with triangles. I tended to get to much space too easily transition to a triangle. I did however end up with a couple of omaplatas.

The guard pass defenses ranged from simple to slightly complex. The first one was in defense of the basic underhook pass. All you do is push under his arm pit as he circles around and use it to keep him out of side control as you sit up. The second was a little hard for me. It started in a shrimp position with your far knee on his chest, foot under the armpit. The idea was that you use the other leg to roll over and spin back into guard. I can't really explain it so I will try to find video and post that. The last one was pretty simple as well. It starts in the shrimp position again but this time the near knee is against his chest. All you simply do is take the far leg over his arm and place it on his opposite hip ( ie your left foot on his left hip). You push off to create space and shift your hips back to regain guard.

As I said earlier, I rolled pretty technical today. I really wanted to concentrate on technique rather than using my strength or scrambling a lot. Half guard is starting to come easier. I can normally get the underhook and whip up to my side pretty easily now. From there you can get up to your knees and just bull the other guy over or slip out and take his back, so that alone is a good milestone. However, the old school sweep needs some work. Tonight I couldn't quit get the foot so I let go and posted the knee. It worked and I will remember that for later but I need to get at that foot a little earlier. I still have some trouble going the other way. When I hook under his leg, I sometimes get stuck with him sitting on me. Normally, I just muscle him over and scoot out the back but today (at 50%) it wasn't working. I think I need to work rolling into him and sweeping him that way.
I managed a little rubber guard today. Still aways to go but I managed to get into mission control and new york a few times. Now I just need to go from there.
My scissor sweep is still one of my go to sweeps, I think I landed it twice tonight. I tried it a third time but that was one too many. And my guard passing is solid. I have been really focusing in on the basics: Control the biceps, staple hips to ground, posture, knee in butt, open guard, pass. It is working well. Thanks Cecil. My top positional game in general is come back nicely.

Things that are not going well? I am not finishing. Last class and tonight I let my partner out of too many subs. I missed like three armbars, two chokes, two knee bars and a heel hook tonight. Setup was nice on all of them but I just didn't finish. Granted I wasn't going full strength and I could have probably powered them in but that was not the goal tonight. I am bigger than my training partner and if that is the only reason I tap him then things are not going well. I am also giving my back up to much. That is the judoka in me. If I end up on bottom of side control, especially after a scramble, I tend to roll to my back and turtle. I get away with it most of the time but it is a bad habit to get into. I tapped once tonight because I gave my partner my back and he managed to neck crank me while attempting a rear naked choke.

Daily Technique

Two videos on the teepee, as promised. The first is a video of a MMA fight with a fighter using rubber guard to attempt a triangle transition to the teepee and back to a triangle. He explains what he is doing in a voice over. The second is the only clip I could find that attempts to teach the teepee. The instructor is actually an acquaintance of my Ari Bolden. He is a Black Belt in Japanese Jujutsu who has been training with Eddie Bravo.

Daily Technique

"No Gi BJJ 101" from BJ Penn. You could get pretty far if you master nothing but what he shows in the 10 minute video. Real solid info by one of the best grapplers in MMA.

Daily Submission

Last night's class was basically a carbon copy of the one I posted here. Butterfly guard has been the theme since I got there. It seems to be having an effect on me as I noticed myself using a few times while rolling last night. I still don't prefer it but I am becoming more comfortable with it. Adam seems to like taking the back from guard. This is a really hard game for me to play with my short legs. I am trying to adapt what he is showing us to my body type and I will post any solutions I come up with.

Last night was not my best night rolling. I was really tired, probably the front squats and back work I did earlier. I also wasn't very sharp in my techniques. My partner escaped a sleeve choke, 2 kneebars and a triangle. My partner managed to lock in 2 triangles and almost lock in rear naked choke. He didn't finish me but that was more because my build makes me hard to triangle and I managed to keep good wrist control even though he had my back with hooks in. I managed to tap him twice once with a sleeve choke and an arm bar if I remember correctly.

The high points would probably have to be my sweeps. They are really coming back and some of them are better then they were the last time I practiced regularly. The half guard sweeps are coming along particularly well. The focus I have putting there is paying off. The goals is to work that position to the point that it becomes a true offensive position.

I also tried out a new technique last night which may be the answer to my triangle troubles. I have a very hard time triangling people due to my thick, short legs. Eddie bravo shows a move called the Teepee in Mastering the Rubber Guard which works great when you can't quit get the foot under the knee. I will post a video of it later.

GSP,GSP, GSP

Awesome UFC tonight. Only one fight was a disappointment, the Quarry/Starnes fight. Starnes is a BC boy like me but the guy is just not a fighter. He is a talented athlete but doesn't like to fight. Give me a guy like Chris Leben with limited talent and a warrior's heart any day. Loved Quarry clowning him though.

GSP was dominant against Serra. He came in with a great game plan and executed it perfectly. He passed Serra's guard numerous times, which isn't easily done. Over the past week, it was pointed out to me that he passes guard the same way everytime. He presses down on the right leg, with his right hand, and he just pops the leg over. Very effective. The guys over at fightmetric.com have done the math and he improves his position 1.66 times for every takedown he scores. That is impressive. The only problem I had with the fight was the stoppage. It was just a matter of time until Serra was finished but in my opinion you should never stop a fight for knees to the body unless the fighter is in obvious distress. Matt Serra didn't complain so I think he accepted the fact that he lost but a lot of guys would.

Also respect to both those guys for the class they showed after the fight. There was no real animosity between those two. I have always wondered why people have to act like they hate each other to hype a fight. What is wrong with, "We get along fine but we are proffessionals and I would not disrespect my opponent by doing anything less then trying to kill him." Also respect to the Montreal crowd for cheering Serra after the fight.

The fight of the night for me was probably the Danzig/Bocek fight. Danzig showed very good BJJ against a tough BJJ black belt. Bocek showed he is no joke, great wrestling, great BJJ and pretty good hands too. He was just couldn't match Danzig's experience.

Workout Submission

This is kind of long.
From Josh Barnett's MYSPACE page:

Some work and then some.

The work in question here is not 9 to 5, clerical, labor, busy or normally classified as work in general. The work I'll ramble about today is work in the gym or lifting weights. Oh, so because you do BJJ, Kickboxing or some other "Martial Art" you have now put-off or even perhaps shunned weight lifting or strength training? What's that? Your Sensei/Professor/Sifu/Guro/Swami has you do ancient martial breathing and a few body weight exercises so you don't need to lift weights? Same "Amazing Kresskin" says, "Lifting weights will make you big and inflexible and less able to deflect chi attacks"? All of that is shit and when push comes to shove being bigger, stronger and faster always means something. Always.

I here so much talk about technique conquering all and to practically sacrifice athleticism for technique in sparring. While I can certainly agree that technique is a very crucial and vital aspect in martial arts, I always preach: "Technique within strength." This means that if you lack the strength or athletic ability to make said techniques work, then you are bound to fail. I have witnessed and been subject to countless times when the more skilled technically athlete is unable to execute simply because they were not strong enough or fast enough or both.

This is were strength training becomes vital and by strength training I don't just mean hopping into your local iron works, doing some bodybuilding and thinking you're building the foundation for success. I mean building raw, usable, explosive power that you can execute over and over again throughout a match without tiring. It also means gaining size in lean mass and dropping excess fat…well as much as some of our genetics allow sometimes. This kind of training is not the sort of thing you will find on the shelves in muscle mags or in books on bodybuilding; which is why I am here to throw some light on this.

First off I'd like to say that bodybuilding training is not useless to the combat athlete. Why? Because bodybuilding builds strength, size, looks (Don't kid yourself, it's important.) and most importantly because in our sport often we end up in positions where limbs become isolated and we are unable to recruit a lot of other muscle groups to help. Where bodybuilding training can help is in strengthening muscle groups in isolated exercises and certain small muscles that may be bypassed by larger, stronger movers in more power/explosive movements. For example, the rotator cuff muscles. Bodybuilders spend time working these muscles to give their shoulders the perfect symmetry and shape but because they are a small muscle group, exercises like overhead pressing will recruit more from the delts, triceps, pecs, and other big movers leaving the rotator cuff underdeveloped. When I trashed my shoulder, all the time I spent working my rotator cuff helped me from tearing them to and having even more surgery done.

As combat athletes thought the most beneficial work will be gained from explosive full body movements, heavy power work, endurance circuit training and above all: Always working with intensity. Without intensity you will not even come close to pushing your body to the limits and over. When you compete your opponent will do all they can to stop you from doing what you want to do and work as hard as they can to force their strategy on you. This is not a waltz or even lindy hop, this is muscle against muscle and at high intensity. Training should mimic this and with intensity you will be able to break through what you think are your limits. Intensity is "attacking" the weights, not just hoping to lift them. Intensity is using the same force to accelerate 40lb dumbbells as you would to move 80lbers. Intensity is going for one more rep then you think you can, one more set or more than your partner.

For combat athletes I can't stress enough that grip training is crucial in this. I don't let the people I train nor do I use straps 95% of the time. You want a grip that can crush and hold like a vice. Nothing says manhandled like having someone with a monster grip grab you and jerk you around the mat.

Another important aspect is speed. Get in and get out. Don't waste all day between sets as your opponents won't give you that much time to rest. Plus, the more work you do over a length of time the more work you will have accomplished. If you lift 400lbs once in 5 minutes you will have done less work than if you had lifted 200lbs 10 times in that same time span. I take about 20-45 seconds rest between sets usually. Rest between circuits is a different animal though. At Lou's, I will get 2 minutes to rest but I spend 11-14 minutes working…and that's going balls-to-the-wall, at the top of my anaerobic threshold. Didn't I say something about intensity?


Some of my favorite movements for this kind of training are:

-Deadlifting and squatting because nothing builds raw power like these two exercises.

-Olympic lifting such as cleaning, snatch, high pulls, clean and jerk push presses. These can be done with a barbell or with dumbbells which can add a lot of diversity to your training.

-Pull-ups and dips. I know when I am strong by how many pull-ups I can knock out. Dips are another great power builder and both can be done with weight by simply using a belt harness or even by crossing your ankles and having your partner put a dumbbell between your legs.

-Dumbbell pressing. Flat bench, incline, overhead you name it.

-Strongman (Thanks Tim) and unorthodox lifting. Log pressing, stones, sandbags, sleds, bands, tires, axels, ropes, Indian clubs, the Macebell, hammers. Moving weight in multiple planes, dead weight, and full body work. These are true tests of power and are a great way to make lifting fun.

Ok, so you have some exercises in mind now what do you do with them? Therein lies the fun and some of the most difficult part of the equation. How you put together your training is crucial. Opinions most certainly vary and even mine could take more pages than I am willing write. But we'll keep it simple, point you in the right directions and give you a place to start from.

-Variety. Not just in movements but in changing your routines on a regular basis. I usually won't do the same exercises from week to week and focus more on what muscle groups or concepts I want to work and just make it up when I get there. Variety can also be creating cycles of specific training, for example: Doing a power lifting program for 4 weeks, then an endurance/speed program for 2 weeks and then back to power lifting again.

-Supersetting. I love to superset. Not just like movements or exercises that hit the same areas but opposites as well. One of my absolute favorites is Westside Barbell Club's "Push and Pull" method (Nod to Tim Nagy for showing me this). I will do pull-ups with dips or push-ups. Or maybe bent-over rows with overhead presses. Of course your classic superset like barbell curls with preacher curls is still valid and can be great for building endurance and over taxing the muscle groups. I include drop sets in this kind of thinking although not something I do much of.

-Circuits. Non-stop movement from one exercise to the next is a great way to build endurance, power and increase your anaerobic capacity. You can design your circuits around specific groups or say to simulate rounds for competition. If you can blitz throw circuits of 5 minutes pushing towards your limits then when on the mat or in the ring fatigue should at least be something to not be concerned about.

-Splits. I like a 3 day a week split, my brother-in-law Pat who was a competitive power lifter used to have us do 4 day splits. I have some fighters doing only 2. The main thing is you need to have rest in between your training and there is still time to be put in on the mats. Sometimes you may dial back mat time to improve strength and therefore use some of the time you would have been at the dojo resting. Other times you need just the opposite. For some it's about time management but either way you can't not go at all or go everyday.

And to address stretching this is so simple: Just do it. Who said lift but don't stretch? I have heard so much ignorance from folks saying oh I can't lift weights because I will get stiff and lose flexiblility. Yeah, because your dumb ass stopped working on flexibility. Flexibility allows you to be stronger and faster, period. Extreme examples that counter that stupid notion of weight lifting decreasing flexibility is many of the pro bodybuilders who are way bigger than any of us will likely ever be who can do the splits and more. When Bob Sapp was 370lbs with abs he was more limber than I was. And on a side note (this mostly applies to women) I hear the "I don't want to get big". Guess what? You won't. Unless you have the genetics or are really putting in the effort to do so it won't be a real problem. Trust me.

Last thing to say is that in the end this training is designed to augment and help your combat training. Nothing can take the place of that. Your technique is key but with the added strength and power behind it now you have increased you success rate several fold. Also, when all things are equal whoever is stronger or gets it first wins. Now go throw some iron and rip an arm off or two!

Daily Submission

Spent last night working on guard passing again. Nothing revolutionary. In fact they were both fairly basic guard passes except we worked them from inside feet on hips/spider guard.

When it came to rolling I had a good night. My conditioning is really starting to get where I need it to be. A few more weeks and maybe my arms won't shake by the end of practice. My half guard is really starting to come along. Yesterday, I managed to secure lockdown fairly easily as well as get my underhooks and whip up. I also managed to flow into the roll over sweep from a Old School attempt. This flow is what is missing right now. All the moves are in my head but they are not coming out on there own like they should. It looks like it is starting to change.

Here is the sweep I landed last night.

PS. That is not me, just a video I found on youtube.com

Daily Technique

I have said before that I love the Arm Triangle. It has been my go to submission for more than a decade. I use it from a lot of positions but side control is a great place to get it. Here is a video that shows pretty much the method I use to secure the arm triangle from side control.

Daily Submission

Today we worked guard passes. This first one was an open guard pass. It is essentially the same pass Mario Sperry teaches here:
http://tonyssubmissions.blogspot.com/2008/04/daily-technique.html

The next pass was a butterfly guard pass. The technique starts with getting your opponents head off you chest, creating space then getting your head under his. From there you push him to his back, and scoot your hips up tight to him. Place your head to the side, maintain shoulder pressure and reach back as you grab his pants at the ankle and press down to staple his feet to the ground. This prevents him from using the hooks to sweep you. Next you jump over his legs, rolling on the shoulder that is in his chest. In other words, if your right shoulder is in his chest, you would roll over that shoulder to his left side. This leaves you in a bridge position with your back to his chest, bad place to stay. To gain cross side position, you reach with the hand that is by his head over your chest and grab his pants where your other hand is grabbing. Release the other hand and pull it under you as you spin into him. Remember to maintain pressure at all times.

I find it important to enter each class with a goal. Last class it was work on Half Guard. This class it was work on controlling my opponents posture in the guard. Being a wrestler and have MMA experience, I like to create space, push off and scramble to my knees for a reversal. While that is good in one way, it is not BJJ. So today's goal was breaking posture. To do this I used a couple of methods. One was under hooks, I really fought for the under hook in the guard today and I had some succes with it. I think I will play that game more often because it fits so well into the Half Guard and Butterfly guard games I am playing right now. Another was something, I saw in Eddie Bravo's Mastering the Rubber Guard book. It involves an arm triangle but only around his head. I tried that a few times but I also used a true arm triangle. I like the latter better because it can lead right to a sweep or submission but I can see how it would be harder against a good player. I even tried a little bit of rubber guard to help keep his posture broken. It needs alot of work but I will say one thing: You don't need to be as flexible as Eddie Bravo to work a basic rubber guard. I am one of the least flexible guys on the planet and I was able to achieve Mission Control a few times and even New York once.

One of my favorite things about grappling is helping others learn and teaching. The guy I have been rolling with the last few days is a true white belt. Like most of Adam's students he is better that one would think a White Belt should be but clearly less experienced than me. Today when we rolled, since I really want to work on position and controlling posture in the guard, I needed him to reverse me a few times. I refuse to give someone a technique, I don't think it is helpful at all. However, I do believe in not countering the things I am telling him to do. I managed to coach him through a nice hip escape from mount to half guard and through a bow and arrow choke. It is really rewarding watching your training partner advance from working with you just as you advance from working with them.

I had posted earlier that Adam was a Brown Belt under Marcus Soares. It turns out I was wrong. I had seen him wearing a black belt but I thought maybe it was from one of the many instructor ranks in other arts he had. But it turns out he was awarded his Black Belt like 3 weeks ago. Congrats to Adam as Soares does not give out a lot of black belts. It is a very hard earned rank.

Daily Technique

Continuing with the half guard theme. Here is a really great Half guard video by Indrek Reiland and Jorgen Matsi at Straight Blast gym Estonia. It is an hour and a half long, so be prepared to sit for awhile.

Workout Submission

Today's workout: A rucksack march.

I have been in the military for the past 12 years. I spent 7 years in the Infantry followed by a 5 year experiment with the Navy and have recently been offered my Commission as an Artillery Officer. Since I haven't done a serious forced march since I joined the navy, I needed to get back into it. Today, I loaded a backpack with about 30-40 pounds and did a 6 km march in 1 hour. The standard is 13 KM in 2 hrs and 26 minutes, so that pace was well above the standard.

Daily Technique

Eddie Bravo showing a half guard sweep and a submission.

Daily Submission

Emailed Eddie Bravo last night. His books all concentrate on no gi and since the Jui Jitsu class I go to is a gi class, I had some questions regarding Eddie's half guard game. I knew from reading "Mastering the Rubber guard" that he developed it before he started to concentrate on No gi, so I was hoping for some tips on what would be different. He replied this morning. His answer: be careful of collar chokes and stay as tight as possible. I love it when big name instructors are not to cool to answer and email question. Respect.

Workout Submission

No Jui Jitsu today so it was off to the gym. Time was short so I had to skip the cardio. I did my exercises pretty fast paced in order to induce some anaerobic conditioning. Today's workout consisted of

Pulls ups (do them every time I enter a gym)
Snatch X 3
Military Press x 10
Cleans x 10
Around the worlds x 10 per side
5 min ab workout
5 min cool down and stretch

I am really big into Olympic lifts lately. The gain here is the explosiveness in my hips that really lends itself to grappling. I really started to explore this after I found out that O lifts are a big part of the conditioning at Xtreme Couture. www.danjohn.org is a great resource if you want to explore O lifting. His e-book is excellent for power development.

Here is a link that will explain and around the work for you if you have never seen it. It is a staple of the Miltech camp's Strength and Conditioning program.

Daily Technique

Mario Sperry on Passing the Open Guard

Daily Submission

Second day at ZUMA and more butterfly work. As I said in my previous post, my butterfly guard isn't that great so more work is a good thing. Adam seems to like transitioning to the back from the guard. This isn't a game that I think will suit me. I am 5'8" with about a 29" inseam. To say I have short legs is a bit of an understatement. But if I only worked on things that suited me, I would be doing myself a disservice. If nothing else I can prepare for those lanky bastards.

On aspect that I did like was a move that starts off the cross lapel grab with the feet on the hip and knee. Basically, from a stalemated position, you post the opposite arm, push off with that leg and bring the leg back until you transition to a knee. You then pull the lapel toward you until you get the opponents head under you arm. At this point you have a front headlock with a grip on his opposite side collar. The finish is essentially a reverse kata ha jime for those of you that know judo. Adam finished with a roll similar to an anaconda choke but a strong wrestler could also just power the opponent to his back.

When it came time to roll, I decided to work my half guard game. Previously, my half guard was a defensive gesture at best. In Judo, I would just stall and wait for the restart. In MMA, enough things are happening that I could normally get room and scramble to a single or back to guard. Lately, I have been looking at Eddie Bravo's half guard material as well as Saulo Riberio's. Both have very offensive Half guards. Eddie's especially calls to me because it is so wrestler friendly. To his end, I gave my rolling partner my half guard, secured lockdown and started to work. First, I managed Old School. Next, I managed an Electric chair sweep. The third time, I attempted to sweep him in a manner more like what Saulo shows on his Freestyle Revolution series. It was a little harder and although I managed to sweep him, it was a power move and all I did was throw him off me and we ended up in a neutral position with both of us on our knees. I plan to dedicate some serious time to my half guard game.

I also had the chance to roll with one of Adam's Blue belts. He was pretty solid. He passed my guard like a bad case of herpes. Now, my guard isn't amazing or anything but I have a fairly solid defensive guard. He just slowly took it apart using patience, control and solid positioning. I managed to scramble a bit and regain guard a few times but not for long. He tapped me about 4 times in the 10 minutes we rolled. I have heard that Marcus Soares' Blue Belts are very solid and I can say I agree.

On a positive note, I made it all the way through practice today although those last ten minutes were brutal. There were a few times when I was rolling with the blue that I felt that a good explosive bridge or turn would have saved me but I had nothing. Well it is a good time to concentrate of technique then.

More later.

Daily Submission

Last night, I went to a new gym to try out some BJJ. I have grappled for years and even did some informal BJJ with a Gracie JJ Blue belt back around 97. However, this would mark the first time I went to a dedicated, formal BJJ class. Having never formally trained in BJJ and not trained in it at all in about 10 years, I grabbed my trusty white belt and headed out.

The gym I went to is Zugec Ultimate Martial Art (www. zuma.tv) and the instructor was Adam Zugec, a Brown Belt under Marcus Soares as well as a Combat Submission Wrestling instructor under Erik Paulson. The gym was large but packed. He has a lot of students. I only noticed 2 blue belts and they were the highest belts I saw next to Adam's. Soares is notoriously stingy with his belts and his blues seem to be very advanced blues.

Class started quickly with hook sweeps from the butterfly guard. The theme for the day seemed to be Butterfly guard. This was good because it is probably one of my weakest guards. Next we moved on to transitioning from butterfly, to half guard and taking the back. After drilling that for awhile, we moved to a clock choke and a few variations.

The pace of the class is very fast. I had worked up a very good sweat. After this we went straight into rolling. I started rolling with a white belt (there were a lot of them). As usual my wrestling and judo background helped me. I was tired as hell but my ability to scramble and my control allowed me to remain competitive. I also tapped him with an arm triangle, which is my go to submission.

I would have loved to roll more, but over an hour of grappling without a break took it toll on me. As usual, I neglected my cardio over the winter so, I gassed.

Lessons learned:
Time to hit the treadmill.
Position, position, position. If I wasn't a position over submission grappler, I would have been tapped a lot.

Hopefully, I will get back this thursday and last a little longer this time.

First Submission

Well, here is the first submission. This Blog will mainly be a log of my training as I re-enter the world of submission grappling. I will post techniques that I learn, training lessons, personal successes and failures and generally just comment on my training. I will also use it as a general place to rant about MMA, Martial Arts and Combative training in general.

I will post the second submission later on tonight.