tallgeese

5/23 Review of the week's material. 40 min free roll.

Congrats and welcome to KF!

Some good points there that bear discussion so that non-grapplers can get a sense of the mindset. As with all jiu jitsu, the roll to guard may or may not be there. It depends on his energy and the intricate angles that change with each match. I have landed precisely in this position with the roll. It's why I teach it. I've also had a million other things go on based on my choices, my partners choices, and just sheer probability. Conversely, I've stopped such movements and been caught in them. Again, it's the factors that go into each individual roll that effect the outcome of said tactics. Even with heavy opponents, you can really use a bottom based movement to change position. The problem is that we talk about it all the time, see it in rolls all the time, but very few people are actually practicing how to do it, when to do it, and how to make it happen mid roll. By drilling it as part of technique you really get to break the option down and make people understand proper application. As to having my own gi used against me, yes, it's always on my mind. As BJJ evolves, particularly the sport aspect, more and more options are becoming available thru innovation. The gi attacks, either with your partners or yours, are becoming more and more prevalent. This is a good thing. Think about it, by the time a person gets awarded a BB in BJJ they've been at this 7-10 years on average. How used to seeing some of the standard attacks are they used to seeing? So when we look at jiu jiitus vs. jiu jitsu matches innovation will always be driven to find the edge. So I'm all about seeing new things. That said, there's an order these things go in. You learn a RNC first. That will always be more all-encompassing. Then, as you go, you'll learn more specialized attacks. The foundation has to be there first or the concepts on the higher level tactics will be lost. There's a hefty amount of criticism in the BJJ community, and others, that this specialization has gone to far and pressed it into a competitive arena. That's certainly true, much of this is specific to jiu jitsu. But it's not a bad thing. It's another outlet for the art. If a practitioner is learning the art correctly, there should be no problem with learning these sorts of things because they've been adequately thru the fundamentals of the system.

Great point sensei8! The grip on the pants is point of control. With these grips you can effect change in a limb or by extension the body. They let you open or close doors, from the bottom or top. Rickson Gracie always talks about connection. It's important and overlook so much, even among great competitors. The grips are just another way to build this connection. This connection lets you feel motion and read intent if you build the sensitivity to it.

Here's a bit of an extended clip that deals with our subject material of the week: escaping side mount. For this clip, we deal with the less than ideal situation of being forced to turn away from the side pressure and follow up with a technical fluid transition and drive to attack: Keeping ahead of the opponents OODA loop is key and moving to an aggressive tactic can go a long ways to accomplishing that. This is a version of the lapel choke I like, but at the end of the day the importance of the transition is what is critical. Who accepts turning away as a viable option to escape side mount? How much time to you spend accurately dealing with those risks? Thoughts, comments, concerns?

5/22 Drilled side mount escapes via far side arm attacks. Moved into inverted guard, then to spider with Omo and Triangle attacks. 45 min free roll

Great call, CredoTe! My mainstay was DnD. 1e thru HS and most of college with some 2e input. Let's face it, Gygax had some non-sense in 1e I did a stint in 3e and it was pretty cool. The addition of power mongering splat books started to wear on me though. That said, the feat trees and skill customization was money. By the time 4e was getting popular I was a kid into it and a second close behind. The minimal exposure I had was enough to not really care for it. Defiantly a different flavor. I can't imagine I'll ever look at 5. Now, if someone breaks out an older version and I'm free that's a different story I played a few other role players in college but really none held on once the real world took over like DnD did. I am glad you mentioned Hero Quest because I burned a lot of time on that really simple, really really FUN game. I managed to find a copy for my kids and we enjoy it occasionally. I tabletop wargamed a bit when Lord of the Rings released their mini game thru GW. But never really deep.

Awesome!

Happy Birthday, KF! And congrats, Patrick! You've really built something great here and it's awesome to be part of it in any way!

Agreed... Picking and choosing which "battles" ("spare time shenanigans", as you put it ) to engage in is the key. (And, D&D has become an "odd" thing, too, IMO... up to 5th Edition; our group sticks with a blend of the old 1st and 2nd Editions...) I played 2nd edition and a bit of 3rd edition under a great GM. If it just wasn't so damned time consuming... Hehehe... We call it the "Wayne's World Timewarp"... As soon as you break out the books, dice, and character sheets - doo-doo-doo-doo...doo-doo-doo-doo (space-time continuum blurring and waving)... It's 2 days later! Lol... I currently play Pathfinder once a week. I love table tops, they definitely make you forget about time (and how early you have to wake up the next morning). So true. Did my time in 3E but really still have a soft spot for 1/2

5/20 Drilled rolling guard recovery from bottom side to attack. 30 min free roll. PTK: Review of drilling the abecidario and quarto cantos form. Finished with a night of flow and technical sparring. Knocked out my annual PT test today. Flying colors. Yeah, no more burpies for 8 more months.

Thanks bushido man! He did do a really great job. I really think that by purple BJJers should understand with enough depth to teach. Mark's got a great style with it as well as the technical know how. It is kinda dependent on the leg up. Now, it's likely to happen when striking comes into play.. It's common for individuals to step up to try and apply more power to the strikes.

5/18 Drilled bottom side mount escape. Move to back, RNC. 30 min free roll. PTK: Abedcidario followed by quarto cantos form to answer. Drill.

Very good! Keep us posted as you get going and let us know how it's working out.

Last week, the club focused on the closed guard while I was away at training. One of our purple belts, Mark, was on deck to teach while I was out of town. It's at purple belt that I really think that the BJJ student should have a deep enough grasp of techniques and tactics to begin teaching. I like the closed guard to this day, despite my love of open play, because of the self defense utility. BJJ is the one and only art I've ever seen that has the answer for getting stuck on your back. That answer is the guard. The elevator sweep is critical to getting back off the bottom, particularly when punches are involved, and working fundamental hip movement you'll need later. So, here's a look at the elevator sweep: So, who here utilizes this sweep? From what situations? Any variations?

Thank you. As my game progresses, and it's been thru several cycles, I come back to this time and again. The ability dominate the fight with efficient movement while maintaining control is appealing the older I get. It relies less on athleticism on more on technical precision.

Here's some clips that I have that are pretty current. First up, here's a clip with my BJJ coach Mike Budnik and I going over some technical escapes. He's in the blue gi top: Next up, here's footage of my PTK coach, Paul Ingram who runs the RFA Academy in Addison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SkHsh_bY0A I'll have to try and hunt some footage of of my kempo instructor as well.

I've been at this awhile in one capacity or another for awhile There's been a significant amount of changes over time between the 16 year old I was when I started and the 42 year old that is looking back right now. As with everyone, a normal social life is a thing of the past. This was true early, it's even more true now owning my own place. Sheer volume mandates I don't go out as often as I used to. I've learned as I've gotten older to pick carefully. Spare time shenanigans is the safest bet (and the odd game of DnD ) In the past, relationships have fallen victim, family time, etc. Getting a handle on doing this in a healthy manner isn't always easy. Like anything, you can go thru phases where this sort of thing can dominate your life if you let it. That's okay in small doses, a fight, tournament, testing, etc. However, it can't go on all the time.

I'm so glad someone said this! Haven't played for years.

Welcome to KF!

I bounced around check things out a bit before landing here regularly. For me, KF offered the best, high quality discussions on the web. That said, for specific grappling info, Jiu Jitsu Forums has some interesting threads.

Brian, great point. We focus on the use of the gi because that's what we do. That said, pressure can be applied at any point and isn't dictated by grips. The key is playing with weight. One of the drills we do is creating pressure without the use of hands at all on the part of the top party. This starts to let you work weight without the impact of the hand. It really builds some sensitivity to this sort of thing. The grips factor to control, you'll apply pressure differently because of this, but you can really still pass with weight application this way.

Congratulations and thank you for the tone you set and expertise you bring here!

Agreed! Don't overlook the pull up of any variety! It's a great tool for so much, including grip. Gi pull ups are particularly advantageous for grappling artists.

Only got a couple of runs in last week while I was away at a firearms school. Seriously, couldn't be a worse time. Pt. 1 of my annual physical is this week. However, after opening a school, I can say a week away from the mats was kinda rejuvenating.