Pit Stop/Climbing Guard

Ok, here's a great position with lots of options. I've heard it called the pitstop and I've heard it called the climbing guard. I have seen Jean Jacques Machado demonstrate it before and if I remember right, my instructor had Rey Diogo work with him on this position. Good stuff, here we go:

Entry: I am showing a really generic entry. The main thing to focus on is he becoming off balanced. I'm walking my shoulders back and pulling his head forward, ahead of his hips. From there, I get to the side a little and climb my legs up his back. I cross them over his shoulder and squeeze them in tight. If he has his head over his hips, I lose a lot of my effectiveness.

Armbar: This is almost exactly like your basic armbar, except my leg is not over his face. His elbow is in line with my hip, so I can lift my hips and lock the arm.

Americana: If he begins to bend his arm, avoiding the straight armbar, you can catch the americana. Control the wrist (think of attaching it to your chest) and use your hips to press his elbow in one direction while you pull the wrist the other. This can happen quick, so be careful with your partner.

Reverse Armbar: If he is able to pull the first arm out, you can focus on the second. You still have a lot of control of his body. Pinch his wrist between your ear and shoulder and use your arm to rotate his elbow straight up. Pinch down for the finish. You can have your legs in the triangle position or throw one over so they are on the same side of his body.

Omoplata: If you push his head away and are able to get both legs on one side of his body, you can try the omoplata. This is becoming a bigger part of my game the more I train. As soon as I can get his arm bent, I check the elbow and press him down with my leg. I like to control his belt to either pull myself up or pull him sideways. You can control his leg as well. Sit up, turn your legs to the side and keep your hips low for the finish.

Triangle: I like to train the triangle any time I try and omoplata and vice versa. If he raises up, I let him carry my hips up so I can get a better bite with my leg across his neck. I can also grab his leg and transition into the armbar.

This is only a few of the options you have from this position. I will go into the omoplata and triangle later because the more I work on these, the more they are becoming their own position and not just a single attack. You have stuff to work on, so go roll.

Arm Trapped Series

Here is a basic series from guard. You begin by overhooking the arm you want to attack and moving to that side. That enforces a few of the principles for effective guard work: angles and isolation. By working an angle, you weaken his posture allowing for better attacks. Think of boxing: If I'm in front of you, you and I are equal. If I'm off to the side, I have limited your attacks. By isolating his arm, you are using your entire body to effect a single limb/joint. The video will show the techniques and I'll follow up with more details.




Entry: The entry is a little fancy. You can just wrap the arm but I like this entry because you really get a deep grip. My right hand grabs the sleeve near the wrist, my left goes under his arm and grabs by own. Use your legs and pull him forward, using your arms to break his grip. Roll slightly on your right shoulder and let your left elbow come through. Keep the grip on the sleeve and let your left arm wrap around. Feed the collar to your left hand. Check his bicep and hip out so you're on the side. I like to pinch him between my knees, keeping pressure on his shoulder and keeping his far arm away from me.

Lapel Choke: From this position, the side of his neck is exposed. I have a grip on his far collar already. I place my right forearm on his neck first. If I place first, and then grip, I know I'm in the right spot instead of gripping and trying to get my forearm in place. I grab a wrinkle in the gi (if you can get inside the lapel, you can do that too). I drop my right elbow towards his left armpit and I get the choke. I can keep pinching my knees or I can bring him back into my closed guard.

Straight Arm Bar: Usually, if the opponent isn't familiar with this position, he'll just try to yank his arm straight out. If this happens, he's giving you a straight arm bar. Its important to keep his arm pinched tight to your body for this to be effective. I place my right hand on his shoulder, and use my left knee to press down on his shoulder. By blocking his shoulder from coming forward, this will make sure that that as I lock the elbow, his shoulder won't compensate by moving forward. From there, my body is against his forearm and my arm is wrapped close to his elbow. I use my elbow and leg to press against his elbow to get the lock.

Americana: Sometimes, he'll try to hug my shoulder with his arm that is trapped and bend his arm up. Depending on how his arm is positioned you may have to adjust his elbow so its in front of your body. Keep your overhook but you can let go of the collar. Lock both hands and position your hooking arm so its about 90 degrees to his bicep. His hand should be right about where your shoulder is. Use your body and bend your shoulder back toward his hand and lift his elbow. This can be very tight, very quick. Be careful with your partner's shoulder. You can also lock your guard if you choose.

Omoplata: In this case, he bends his arm the opposite direction in an effort to "un-wind". When this happens, I will post on his neck with my right arm and let me left leg come up over his shoulder. This is why I like to have my right foot on his hip with my knee blocking his arm. I can push with my right foot to better position myself. Once my left leg is over, I can work to change grips. I make sure to keep his arm bent in this position as I reach for his belt. I don't want to finish here, I want to break him down. Once his arm is in place and I'm on his side, I'll figure 4 my legs and sit up so I'm about 90 degrees to him. I can be on both hands because his arm is still trapped by my body being bent. I'll butt scoot backwards which will drag him down. From here, I lean my body over his back, my left hand at his hip and my right grabbing my own shin. Slide my body forward for the lock. Don't let your hips come up because you'll actually take pressure off the shoulder.

Hope this gives you a few more options.

Upcoming stuff

I am excited to say I'll be TEACHING my first seminar this weekend. I have a few friends in the GCPD who have expressed interest in BJJ and subwrestling. I've got a curriculm based on the bum rush so I hope everyone gets a lot from it. Unfortunately, with my current schedule and new house, I've had absolutely zero training time in the last 2 weeks.

back to life.

Essence of Judo

Here's another Judo video. Mifune doing what he does best. I've heard some people claim he was flashy, but I think what he's doing is awesome. I don't think everyone is going full bore but still, but he is not the youngest person in the world and he's making it look effortless.

Getting back in it

I'm taking a break from guard simply because I don't have any clips to add right now. Things have been a little slow lately but I'm still around. My shoulder is tweaked at the moment so I'm not able to train 100%. Pedro Sauer is coming into town this weekend and I'm looking forward to the seminar. I've got a few questions for him. For the meantime, here's a few interesting clips I've found on youtube:


Shinya Aoki - brabo choke as he passes butterfly guard. I worked this the other day at Creighton's MMA. A few things Paul pointed out that I didn't notice in the clip. Stay on my side, my head on his back/side. I can bring my top leg on top my elbow to increase pressure as well. you can bridge him over and get the Papa Serra choke from there. (head&arm from north/south).


Some Uchimata work 1



Uchimata work 2



Uchimata 3.

I realized that part of my shoulder problem right now is that I was doing a lot my judo techniques poorly. I would let my hand fall behind my shoulder as I would spin for tai otoshi, uchimata, etc. I need to work on this and here's a few clips for pointers. Wish I could understand it though....

Scissor series

I'm going to take a look at a position that most people learn the first week of class: the scissor sweep. I don't think of this as a single attack, but more of a position with multiple attacks. A lot of people consider the scissor sweep too basic or simple. I don't. Its great for countering aggressive fighters because they tend to lean into, making the first sweep happen easily. I do apologize for the clip, its a little grainy and the audio isn't the best. I kind of froze up towards the end but don't tell anyone.

Here's the breakdown of the clip:

Scissor Sweep: This is the basic sweep. I establish my grips on sleeve and collar first. Second, I straighten my legs and turn to the side with my grips. I keep my feet off the ground as I move my hips out enough to let my top knee slide through. I do this so he carries my weight. My top knee stops on his sternum. I like to have it there for a few reasons: 1st, it keeps my top foot at his hip. I don't think the camera has a good angle on it but I pull my toes up to make a hook and catch his hip. Your leg length will determine where you have to place your leg. The other reason is so I can push into him and make him uncomfortable. I'll pull with my collar hand and push with the knee and he's locked in tight (try it sometime and let me know how it works for you). I then pop up to my elbow. This will make sure I'm on my side and give me a little mobility if I need it. One of the points I was trying to make but I'm not sure if it came through on the clip too well is that I don't want to be square on him. I shade to the side away from the sweep (i.e. sweeping to the right, my body is more left of center). This will give him a "hole" to fall in. I keep my low leg foot on his hip to maintain space and mobility. If I need to stretch him out, I can use that as well. For the actual sweep, I drop my foot off his hip and use my whole body to rock him forward - that's arms and legs. I want his hips above his knees or in front of them. The top leg pushes and the bottom leg reaps backward. Once he's over, I'm not through yet. My top leg hooks onto his hip and I "catch a ride" to bring myself to mount. Practice sweeping him close so its easier to mount. If you throw him far away, you have a tougher time mounting.

Variation #1 - Push Knee: A common counter is for him to catch himself with his far leg. Usually he just widens it out. My foot drops from his hip and catches right at the knee, a little inside. From there, I'll push it straight back and then in somewhat. This J-shape will help turn his hips just a little. The push makes the sweep, the J shape helps. Once his leg is pushed back, I kick over with the top leg again and catch a ride to mount.

Variation #2 - Shin Wrap: I couldn't think of another name for this one. This time, he slides his leg over my bottom leg. This usually happens if I get lazy or if his timing is really good. If he slides over my shin, below my knee, he's not really controlling the leg and I can just recompose my guard. If he slides over my thigh, I have this sweep. I pull my trapped leg to his butt. In the clip you can see how it binds his foot. For the sweep, pull at an angle perpendicular to his shin. I extend my hip to generate the power. I follow him up and end up in a weird 1/2 guard situation. The easiest way out is to check his leg and backstep out of it.

Variation #3 - Wing Sweep: In the case of him reaching over my leg to control my collar, I arm drag him so I'm on his side, reaching over his back with my knee still in. Its important to keep my body tight to him so he cannot pull his arm back. I prefer to grab his belt if I can reach it. I also need to make sure my leg isn't too flat. If I don't have a proper angle in there, his weight will collapse my frame. I rock back and start turning to my side as I rock. If I wait till I'm flat, then I'll never get him over. His weight is supported on my leg and he drops nicely to my side. I simply keep my grips and continue the roll to side control.

Wing Variation - Taking the back: This is the last of this series. This time, instead of sweeping, I straighten my leg so my knee is no longer between us. Keeping my grips, I climb to his back. I didn't do very good job in my example, but your bottom leg will slide out and form your first hook. You can make the harness grip and do whatever you need to do for your 2nd hook.

Happy training.

Choke Series from Guard

I'm starting the position with my hand in the collar, 4 fingers in. I don't have it in the picture, but I always use my left hand to open the collar so I can get a good grip with my right.










This is a close up of the grip. You can see my hand is far enough back that my knuckles are on his spine. I do this so my forearm will have the most contact possible on his neck. If you grab and your wrist isn't bending back, you're not deep enough.










I swing my body to the left. I use my legs to generate the movement. I angle off to the left so I'll get a better angle to get my second hand in. I'm going in with 4 fingers in, under my first hand. (Double in Choke)









Another option is to swing to the right. Again, I'm using my legs for the movement. In this case, I'm reaching palm down for either the lapel or just the gi material. The actual grip is immaterial. What matters is the forearm/wrist placement on the neck and the hand being anchored. (1 in, 1 out choke)







From either choke (1 in, 1 out or double in) I swing back to square up on him. The simple movement of this will tighten the choke tremendously. I pull him forward with my legs, straighten my wrist, lift my head and drop my elbows to the ground. I've had it described as tracing your ribcage with your elbows.







Or, you can sit up to finish the choke. Its like the saying, "If you can't bring the mountain to Muhammed, bring Muhammed to the mountain."


or something like that.







Here is a little more advanced, more practical situation.

I've got my hand in the collar and my left hand is grabbing his right sleeve. I've got my right foot on his hip, knee on his shoulder blocking his arm.








Since I'm blocking his left arm, he is going to have a harder time defending my left hand coming in. Again, I angle to the left and shoot my left hand in.










He gets wise and is posting off my hips so I can't pull him forward.












I counter this by shrimping just enough to get my foot on his knee. I'm going to push until his base is gone. Its important to keep at least one hand under his chin or I lose the choke.










Once his base is gone, I sit up and finish the choke.












In this case, he's blocking my attacking hand by posting on the bicep. My right leg is back to the normal position, around his waist.











I'm going to angle to the right but I need to keep tension on his arm. I press towards his neck with my left arm to make him continue his defense. My right leg is climbing up his back which helps me pivot. If he stops defending, I go for the 1 in, 1 out choke.








Once I am angled off enough and he continues to defend, I swing my left leg up for the arm bar. My left hand grabs the wrist. Its always important to pull your heels to your butt, pinch your knees and lift your hips for the finish.









In this situation, he counters my blocking my left hand with his left. This usually happens when you're going for the 1 in, 1 out choke.











My left hand grabs what ever I can get on his left arm. If I can get his elbow I'm in good shape but a sleeve with work as well. Notice I've worked my right arm under his left elbow.










I arm drag his left arm across my body. My arm slides deep into his armpit. My right shoulder is pressing into his left. If my right hand has a deep enough grip, I can straighten the wrist and finish the choke.









If its not tight enough yet, I wrap my arm over his head so my left elbow is at my right hand. You brabo lovers should somewhat recognize this position. My left hand is also grabbing the gi near his shoulder. Again, you can squeeze and get the finish.








If he's not passed out yet, I keep the grip with my left hand and swing the arm to the near side of his neck to go back to the cross choke. This is an extremely tight choke.











I hope this gives you some stuff to work with.

Guard 101

I'm going to start an analysis of the basic closed guard position and sweeps, submissions and combinations. If you don't know, the guard is defined as having your opponent between your legs, with you on the bottom. When I'm attacking from the guard, I can never let my opponent get his posture. When I'm teaching someone about posture in the guard, I like to have them think of a pyramid. The top of the pyramid is the opponent's head. His knees and feet make the four points that make up the base. As long as his head is in the middle of those points, he has good posture and is balanced. If he is balanced, I am at a disadvantage. I have to make sure he is out of balance, much like standup work in Judo. I never want him to be comfortable.

I've made a short video showing 3 different ways I break his posture. The video quality is not that great and the sound is weak so you may have to turn the volume up.

1st Example: In the first example, he has both hands posting on my stomach. I cannot sit up to attack his neck or even try armbars from this position because I cannot get close to him. My solution is to grab at his elbows with both hands and open them outward. This makes it very difficult for him to continue pushing me down. The next important thing is that I am using my legs and core to pull him forward. I'm using my strongest muscles to do the work. Once he's down, I control the head and wrap the arm which I will use to attack.

2nd Example: The next example shows where he would have one hand forward. My preferred method is to do an armdrag from here. This can be done in a few ways, but I am showing a rather basic way. I grab his right sleeve near the wrist with my right and my left hand is at his right elbow. The next step is actually a few things happening at once. I bridge my hips up to weaken his grip, move my hips to the left and use both my hands to move his arm to my right. I keep my weight on my right hand which puts the weight on him as I come to my elbow and eventually sit up so I can reach over his back. My left hand can grab his belt, lat or whatever I need to anchor the position. I like to grab his lat for training purposes so the manuever transitions well to a no-gi situation. The main thing from here is to attach myself to his right shoulder. If he tries to pull that arm back, I should have my whole body blocking it. I also reach through with my right hand and grab his left pant leg. Again, you have a few variations but that's just one I've shown.

3rd Example: I'm using a slightly fancy entry for this but the basics are still there. I start just like the last example, right hand on his right sleeve. This time, I swim my left arm under his right and bridge to my right shoulder. As I pull on his right hand with my right hand, my left arm continues around until I can overhook his arm. I keep my elbow down and tight to my body. From there I can use my right hand to feed his lapel to my left. I can't stay in this position because I don't have the best mobility if he decides to stack me. I shrimp my hips out to the side and use my legs again to push him to the ground. I can re-lock my guard or I can keep my feet on his hips, monitoring his movements.

These are 3 basic posture breaking scenarios. There are more, of course, but these are the ones that popped into my head when I was filming. I'll try to get a little more organized for the next few posts.

Intro

The Reason I've chosen the title "Relentless Jiu Jitsu" is because of a quote I read from Jean Jacques Machado. To paraphrase, "I am always attacking. Instead of shooting with a revolver, I am shooting an uzi." Another quote from Marcelo Garcia stated that, "if you are ever defending, you are losing the match at that point. you must always attack". These 2 philosophies have become my attacking style and the way I train. I am always moving, always looking for the submission.


Purpose:
For starters, this will be a blog about BJJ and Judo. I will try to post pics and vids my techniques, techniques I've found on the web, and some tournament footage. This blog's purpose is to share the information I've learned so far and to get honest feedback about them.

Background:
I've been training in Martial arts since about 2001. I've studied BJJ that entire time and Muay Thai off and on for roughly the same period. I have just recently started judo. Prior to that, I wrestled in highschool for 4 years.

Instructors:
BJJ: My direct instructor is Steve Grantham at Phoenix Martial Arts. We are part of the Pedro Sauer association. I have also trained with Paul Creighton, Alan Baker, and Jorge Jimenez and I've attended seminars held by Renzo Gracie, Matt Serra, Helio Gracie, Ryron Gracie and Ralek Gracie. I will try to give credit to the appropriate instructor as I show a technique but since some techniques will be blended together, it may prove difficult.
Muay Thai: Steve Grantham and Angie Harvey are my direct instructors. We are part of the Thai Boxing Association of America which is Ajarn "Chai" Sirisute's association.
Judo: I've trained under Steve Grantham, Alan Baker and Sensei Bob Byrd.


Feel Free to post and I hope you this proves useful.