tallgeese

5/8 Spider Guard Omoplata attack. 40 min free roll. 5/9 Review and open mat. 45 min. 5/11 1 mile run. .5 for time.

Given that last week we dealt with pressure passing of the open guard, I thought that this week we should actually talk about the open guard. One of the most movement based offenses in BJJ, it is a radically individualized component of the game. Because of that, similar motions can take on a really different flavor from player to player. Here, a friend of mine who runs a sister gym and I break down some sweeping tactics: So, what similarities do you see? Significant differences?

Bob, that's a really good analysis. Pressure cannot be applied without restraint. That leads to being off base. That said,pressure will often make an opponent make mistakes. For me, that's the sort of thing that is best about it. By application pf pressure you can really make people WANT you to pass due to the discomfort. I'm not talking about cheap jiu jitsu (grinding jaws, driving elbows into soft tissue, etc.) I'm talking about the clean application of pressure that is so dominating on the limbs and core that breathing is difficult and the position is uncomfortable from the bottom. Great look at it!

5/2 Week in review 40 min free roll 5/4 1 mile run. Drilled open guard. Push/ Pull sweep. Reverse Push Pull. 30 min free roll. PTK: Started working thru the Abecidario series. 5/5 1.5 mile run Body weight work out. 5/6 Drilled De La Rive Guard position. Back take and takedown. 40 min free roll. PTK: Partner drills with the Abeciadario. Had to deal with a straight up, old fashion dojo challenge by an intoxicated passer by. I didn't even know those were still a thing.

Welcome aboard!

Hey all, this week we spent all of our time passing the guard. Specifically, we worked on applying pressure to the open guard to elicit the pass rather than rely on speed and movement. Here's the video: That said, how does everyone here work the open guard? Movement around base? Pressure? What pros and cons of each do you see?

Hello and welcome to KF!

Congrats!

5/1 Drilled passing the guard from standing with pressure. 40 min free roll.

chiliphil, first up congrats on getting to a spot where you are ready to go. There's a lot of experience on this board that can talk about a lot of different aspects. For me, having just opened my own school, I'll speak from that stand point. There are a couple of things to think about. First, start looking at what kind of incorporation structure that you want. This will effect how you deal with everything from taxes to dividends. There are quire a few ways to go and they vary from state to state in application fee and structure. Do some research. Budget around $1,000 if you're going to go thru a web site, more if you run in past a lawyer. I've seen success both ways. In both business I'm part of, we did them ourselves with no problem. Each, for that matter, is incorporated differently. Again, delve into the differences in LLC, S-Corp, sole proprietors, etc. Whatever works best for for you is great,but DO THIS STEP. I've seen the hassles that come when you don't. Next, don't skimp on insurance. Get it. Budget based on what you're going to be offering and the research. The dollar amount will vary based on what you're doing at the gym. Don't skimp. We have a pretty comprehensive policy that cover way more than injuries. It cost more, but ask yourself how much you like your house and cars before buying budget. For the love of all that is holy, don't buy cheap and then work outside your insurance just so you can get a lower buy in. I know a gym owner that had bare bones liability for sport karate only. It was pretty cost effective. HE RAN AN MMA GYM! Once a law suit kicks off that piece of paper is worthless. Depending on what you're doing, figure 5-800 per year will likely be reasonable. Next, talk to the city in which you're opening. I felt like we did a nice job on the first two points I made at the outset. Where we dropped the ball was on this one. It might not be a big deal if you're just slapping a sign on the perfect building (industrial space comes to mind) but if your'e doing anything like building a bathroom, running wires, putting in a better floor...TALK TO THE CITY. This jammed us up on our projected opening and cost us an unexpected set back of coin. Didn't end us, but we weren't happy. And it was our fault. City code and ADA laws can be a hassle, but they are mandatory. Get ahead of the game early. At least confirm that you don't need to do anything. Get aggressive with marking early, utilize FB and other social media to their full potential. We talked about this a bit on another thread here: http://www.karateforums.com/how-do-you-advertise-your-dojo-etc-vt48047.html You have to leverage an many people an you can thru those doors once they open. You'll have bills rolling in AND your investment to cover. You'll need bodies Not everyone who checks you out will sign up, you need to cover this spread. Then, and most importantly, you'll have to build a good frame work of content to keep them Attrition is high in the martial arts, by building good content you help to minimize it. A good ciricullum is key as is dynamic presentation. On that, don't stress too much about paying higher ranked people. You are a BB with 20 years of experience. That puts you ahead of most of the other people teaching. Keep advancing and rank appropriately. If, as in may karate based system, you need a year to second dan, and 3 to 3rd, you'll be there before your first new student is ready to test for Dan grade. Teach class yourself, run your program, rank students as you can till then. I'd pass on bringing in a higher rank to teach. New students don't need a 3rd dan to teach them. Take my situation. I'm a black belt in BJJ. I run a BJJ school. I can rank up to stripes on brown belt but not make BB's until I get my first stripe on the BB. That's 3 years in BJJ. I've inherited people who will need to get BB rank before I get the stripe. That's okay, I'll have my coach come in and do it. New people coming in now won't even be close to ready before I get my stripe. Heck, anyone below a 2 stripe purple will be fine. We as MAist put a lot of emphasis on these sorts of things. The general public cares very little. It's the instruction that sells. If that last sentence sounds pretty "business-y" then your right. It is. And I'd point out this might be the biggest hurdle to realize. As soon as you put ink to paper on this, you are running a business. It is no longer just your hobby. You will NEED to make profit if you want the doors open. You will need to do a bit better to show your spouse, significant other, etc. why it's important you sink all this time into it. Treat it as such. That's not to say you can't be friends with the students, have a laid back vibe, whatever. But you must be collecting and tracking dues and memberships. I trained at a gym full of fighters once, great guys all, great fighters all, no one could pay. The owner liked having a bunch of hungry fighters there. Guess what happened? Yup, major effort to make the doors stay open. It's a reality you have to be ready for. Now, that said, opening a gym (and my other side gig) has been about the coolest thing I've ever done. I love doing it, love having a program. I tolerate the rest because of that. Heck, you even learn to enjoy the challenge of it. Yes, you should defiantly do it. Just look deep at all the aspects of it. There are more than most people would think. Good luck in your endeavor. Keep us posted and keep asking questions! If you need anything specific just ask.

4/30 2 mile run. .5 mile for time. body weight routine

4/29 Drilled breaking the guard from kneeling and using pressure to pass same side knee slide and opposed leg. 35 min free roll. Roll with blades. PTK- Reviewed seguedes forms. Moved into footwork with strikes out of the forms.

That is AWESOME! Nice work to both! Cool that they are doing freestyle and Greco as well. There is some major cross training applications there.

4/28 1.5 mile run

4/26 Drilled the Abecidario and Quatro Cantos form in PTK. Then application and Drill! 4/27 Drilled top guard fundamentals. Outside leg pass from triangle effort.

One of the more unique closed guard patterns used in jiu jitsu is the High Guard position. It's a pretty offensive position with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Here's a short segment where we break the use of the high guard position and some common beginning attacks from there: So, in the interest of discussion, does anyone use this particular guard? How about strengths and weaknesses that you see?

Sorry it took a bit to check in- Happy Birthday!

I'm a cop by trade. Recently started running a school on the side. Heck, I sill want to be an astronaut....

Welcome aboard KF! Looking forward to hearing your perspective!

Back from almost a week away due to training at work! Luckily, just because I didn't get a chance to pop in very often, I did get to train on my normal routine despite the hectic conference schedule: 4/20 .5 mile run for time with interval drills body weight routine Guard attacks, cross collar and arm bar 30 min free roll PTK 4/22 Guard attack via triangle 40 min free roll PTK 4/23 .5 mile for time, straight up. Body weight 4/24 High guard sequencing. Seminar with my PTK coach on mechanics and knife transition. Flow on ground with knife while postulating solutions to various worse case situations. 4/25 Weekly review. 40 min free roll.

Congrats! That's AWESOME!

4/17 1.5 mile run. Some interval training in there as well as a harder first half mile. Drilled Triangle from Mount in a couple of variations and arm bar back ups. 60 min free roll. 4/18 Weekly recap. 45 min free roll.

This is about as good as it gets. We have to have trained so much, so often, and to such a level of automatic response that things just happen. Applying it under stress is likewise a trained event. The more your training mirrors the stressors of reality, the more likely you'll be to reach this state. It is effected by confidents and calmness, but this is achieved thru constant practice under simulated stress. Now, note that the key is not just reps, it's reps under realistic stress. That's what allows us to reach maximal performance states. There's a lot of good psychological research that can be a valuable primer on the subject.

This week, our focus was on transitioning to, and attacking from, mount. There's lots of great attacks from mount and in our recap video we look at one of the more fun ones we did during the week- the Triangle Choke from Mount position. It's a great example of learning one attack (the triangle) and applying it across several positions (guard v. mount.) Here it is: So, who uses the mounted triangle? Pros and cons? How about other attacks that are typically associated with one position that you use from another? Is there a stand up correlation?

Welcome aboard!