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:
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
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:
Monday, June 9, 2008
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.
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