Firstly, today was Troy Flugge's birthday and in memory of him, we got hammered at class tonight, constant push ups and squats until we were ready to collapse in our warm up. Troy Flugge was one of the founders of the Submission Factory, was a BJJ black belt and passed away suddenly last year. The advanced class (which is after the beginners class that I take) was going through a deck of cards, with the corresponding number and colour that came up being the number of squats or push ups...insanity. Apparently that was one of his trademark exercises...
Tonight was one of those nights where I just got smashed by everybody.
There are so many skilled and strong people that I take my BJJ class with I sometimes feel like I'm not moving forward or improving at all. But I'll persevere. I think about when I started and how much I've improved and changed since then and there's a world of difference. I'm just at the beginning of my BJJ journey and there's so much to learn. If it was that easy to master, everyone would be a black belt by now!
I think the worst thing that I've done and is screwing with me a bit mentally is that I watched a bunch of videos about some of the more advanced techniques (Rubber Guard, Hurricane Sweep etc) when really what I need to be focusing on improving is the basics and building solid foundations. Otherwise I'm putting the cart before the horse! This includes things like:
Escapes from Mount and side control
Holding and maintaining a good side mount and mount
Transitioning between positions
Passing Guard
Controlling and managing other guards like butterfly and spider guard
Defence against submissions
This surely isn't an exhaustive list and it isn't in any particular order, but these are the main goals that I want to work towards. I also note that none of them are actually submission based, rather positional based which I think is actually more important at this time. If your position is weak, going for your submission will also be weak and allow an easier sweep and change around. That being said, a lot of stuff I read indicates that attacking is the best form of defence. So a bit of a balance is required then.
Tonight after our warm up, we worked on the arm bar from guard (see my previous post), transition to a triangle and if that doesn't work, an oma plata. Oma plata is new and I'll make a separate post about that later! (perhaps tomorrow!)
So yesterday I went along for the no gi BJJ class. Man, no gi wrestling is hard! You lose alot of the easier to get anchor points (collar, sleeve, pants) and end up being alot more limited in the submissions you can go for (alot more slip, hard to find holds). Well, it feels like that anyways, I sure had to tap out alot!
I did get to try a few new different moves and was successful in executing a scissor sweep, side control sweep and learnt a few different submissions (gogoplata and omaplata from rubber guard). It was fun just experimenting as we couldn't go full bore sparring for an hour so we worked techniques and taught each other new things.
Anyways, after BJJ, I also did the Kenpo class which always makes me think a bit more about my technique. The Kenpo feels much more technical (though BJJ isn't exactly easy) and makes you reconsider concepts that you thought you had down pat.
One thing that we worked on yesterday was a technique called Gripping Talon. The video below shows a quick breakdown of the technique.
One of the first moves in the technique is a step forward with the right foot and trap the grabbing hand (with potential finger break). The elbow sinks in the first move so that the elbow point is below the point of the grab and allows you to break the grip very easily. And this is where I started thinking a bit more about the elbow position. Though it doesn't even get a mention in the video, I think the elbow position is a key aspect in alot of ways.
Whether you're a ground specialist, grappler or striker, the position of your elbows in your guard and in each position can dictate what happens next. Generally speaking, it would seem that close to your body tends to work well in most circumstances and gives you the additional grounding/defence/power that you need.
For example, in BJJ, if your arms and elbows are away from your body (usually across your centre line), people are able to capitalise upon this and you usually end up in any number of submissions. Similarly, if you are grappling and in a clinch, the person with their elbows closer generally has a stronger base to pull you close and is much more difficult to break away from. In stand up striking, elbow position close to our body allows us to protect our body from kicks and punches as well as dynamically fire punches. I've been to a few wing chun classes in which they showed me the folly of shifting my elbows even a couple of centimetres out of place. They were able to capitalise on this and could essentially control my arms from the elbow.
Quite often the first reaction that we have to a wrist grab is to pull away from the attacker. However, at this point, our elbow is too far away from our body and we are unlikely to break away. By stepping into the attacker, sinking our elbow below the grab, we are able to weaken the grip, obtain a better angle to break the grab and stabilise our base, all in one motion. The further away the elbow is from the body, the more effort is required to break the grab, we start to utilise our shoulder, triceps and chest muscles to compensate. Its a much more stable scenario than trying to establish our base from where we started off.
Anyways, just some thoughts. I think elbow position isn't given much thought, but is something critical that people take for granted.
In other news, a new video has been released of the last grading that we had in February for a Green belt and Brown belt in our Kenpo class. Just some highlights from the grading below (note, there is metal music playing in the background).
I'm one of the n00b yellow belts. So many problems with my form...need to think more about my guard and where my hands are when I'm sparring. And my posture...arrgghhhh >_<
The other night, we worked on tightening up and improving our arm bars from Guard position. Arm bars seem easy, but are difficult to master and there are many points to keep in mind when attempting one.
Arm bars utilise the simple concept of a lever and hyperextending the elbow in a way they aren't meant to bend. By placing the elbow joint over a fulcrum, in this case, your hips, you require very little force to break the arm. This embodies a key concept of martial arts, whether it's jiu jitsu, karate, kung fu etc. That any person, even if they are weak, should be able to execute this move effectively with the use of simple mechanics.
"Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world.” Archimedes
See the Submissions 101 video as they have some really good tips and points about the basics of an arm bar.
Some things I noted (Bold and underlined are the things I personally need to remember):
1. Arm control is integral. Whether it's with or without a gi, getting control of that arm can make or break this attempt. The method of grabbing the arm can vary, but you need to have that arm pinned to your chest. One to pin the wrist, one to pin the tricep to stop them pulling the arm away. I find that quite often when I fail to finish an arm bar, the biggest reason is that I haven't pinned that arm properly.
2. Once you have the arm pinned, put your leg on the same side of the pinned arm on their hip and push off and swivel. Theres several additional points to note about this:
- When you push off the hip, the pushing leg should be tight against their arm. Keeping your knee against their arm ensures this. In the video above, you can see that there's space when he starts to swivel. Space equals opportunity for escape.
- Cut your non pushing leg down across their shoulder. This stops them from sitting back and stopping them from moving away from you and the lock.
3. Bring your leg over their head whilst keeping the arm against your chest so your legs are parallel. Don't cross your feet or legs when they are over the head.
4. Raise your hips to get the lock. Their pinkie should be on your chest, their thumb (if they gave you the thumbs up) should be pointing to the ceiling.
Contingency:
Should they manage to slip their arm out, you can transition into a triangle choke. This can be achieved by pushing off the opposite hip, shifting the leg that went over the head to the other side of their head, bending that leg and bring your calf across the back of their neck and hooking that into a triangle (trapping the opposite arm). This video from TrainFightWin shows it in depth and another one of their videos shows that if the triangle fails, you can also transition to do an armbar the other way.
I'll cover the triangle choke in more depth later.
Credit and thanks to Submissions101 and TrainFightWin for the helpful videos. Wish I could take pictures etc myself, but without a training partner, it's kinda difficult :P
The blog is finally up!
I've been playing around with an idea in my head for the last few months or so about starting up a blog. Though the question was, what should it be about?
I decided with a lot of thought, that I should try and document my journey as a martial arts student. It forms an integral part of my life and isn't just exercise, but a mindset and philosophy on how to approach and handle life.
I aim to use this blog to keep track of the important things that I've learnt and constantly seek to improve myself (both mentally and physically). By documenting the things I learn, I feel that I will force myself to think alot more about mechanics, the spirit and the foundations of martial arts and not just go to my classes and bludgeon my way through (which I am often tempted to do). I will aim to analyse the teachings each day and put it down for future reference, cementing the concepts and lessons in my brain.
Now, to the picture. This picture was taken when my wife and I were at the Great Wall of China in 2011. When looking for photos to put in this blog, I realised that nearly 90% of them are of our cat (I'll upload some of those later). However, my wife suggested I post a photo of when we were in China. I found this picture which I think is a very appropriate visualisation of a martial arts student's journey. Every student starts somewhere and the journey is never a straight smooth linear curve, but rather full of ups and downs. We never truly know where our journey will take us and the goal isn't really that important. What's important is the journey itself, the constant striving to keep moving, improving and getting back up again when we are down.
I may not get any readers, but at the very least, I hope I get something out of it.
