WolverineGuy

Definitely. Can't ask for anyone to be a bigger inspiration.

Heh, yeah, good idea.

I'm from tropical Flint, Michigan, where the sun always shines and happiness abounds throughout the land... ...and then I woke up.

First off, thanks for the clarification JohnnyS. Second off, Wolverine, you had mentioned before that you dont get to train very often with BJJ guys, so would I be correct in assuming many of the guys you train with arent advanced guys? They are most likely doing the technique wrong, and you are probably a better grappler than they are. Its like a guys first class in BJJ and he says "hey, I learned an armbar today!" Suppose one of his friends says "that * dont work cause you just pull your arm out of it." A technique is only good if its applied correctly. Nope, I train with Judo grapplers...and believe me, they're good. The biggest difference that I saw between the two was in the way that the BJJ guys moved. It wasn't necessarily better, but it was different...different enough to throw me off of my game. That's one thing that is very hard to explain on a forum...or even with words for that matter. Those of you that have done groundfighting with both would know what I'm talking about. Like I said, I'm not going to downplay any good escape, but it's VERY hard on here to explain (especially to me, I'm a visual person) this escape in a good way. All I'm seeing is an arm going up, and either me going for an arm bar, or slipping off to the side of the raised arm, wrapping my arms around his head and arm and pulling a choke hold.

I'm not about to argue with a black belt in BJJ, but am I the only one in the MA community that thinks that extending your arm like that is asking for trouble? Like I said, if I see a picture, that will help a lot, but anyone that has ever tried to do that to me I have choked out.

If you use the other technique, you'll tap out before you know what hit you.

That's my solution. Class can be an hour of learning, or an hour of you challenging me to make you cry with pushups, your choice.

This is the most common escape from a rear naked in MMA: Assuming his right bicep is around your neck and the left arm is wrapped around your head. 1) What you want to do first is to relieve pressure by pulling his right forearm downward and getting your chin tucked in a bit. (As much as you can tuck your chin, the better as it will relieve pressure) 2) Roll on your back (your stomach should facing the sky/ceiling and your opponent is on his/her back. 3) Next once you have relieved pressure (or a lot of it and your chin is tucked in, with your right hand, try to pull his LEFT forearm (preferable the wrist) away from your head. (You dont want that arm wrapped around your head) While you tuck your chin in more to the point where its hard for him to choke you. 4) Now use TWO of your hands to pull that left arm away from your head (Pull it as it was a lever, as you will). It is impossible for him to choke you now with one arm and your chin tucked althoug it will be uncomfortable. While you are pulling his left arm away from your head, keep moving your head to the left side to the ground then your shoulders. 5) While you are moving your head/shoulders away from him, move your hips away too (towards the left side) and now put your hands on his hips and push him away from you. By moving your knees up and pushing him away will help too and will prevent him from doing a mount on you. There are certain techniques to counter that, like an armbar from the back mount but since i'm trying to focus a technique at a time I will post that up soon. Also, make sure you keep limited open space near your armpit. Extending your arm and creating space there will open you up for an armlock of some kind.

Strength matters just as much in Judo as it does in Jiu Jitsu. Good technique requires less strength, even in stand up grappling. This holds true for all grappling arts. A person who is both strong physically, and has great technique, is truly dangerous; but a weak guy with flawless technique is going to win. Judo is about breaking balance, not overpowering your opponent.

I'm not trying to get into a flame war here, but I've even searched for this defense all over the internet. The most common defense for a rear naked: tuck your chin into the crook of the elbow. Nowhere have I found anything that would justify that much space between the arm and the body.

Wow. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed for you. Good job man.

If you put your bicep on your ear, you have NO leverage. I've done it to people several times. Your shoulder is in one corotid artery, and all I have to do is swing my arm around the other side, and its a different choke. You can block the rear naked, but its only slightly delaying a different choke. Perhaps if you have some sort of picture of this defense, maybe there's something I'm missing and we're thinking of two different situations, but I fail to see how many different ways you can put your bicep on your ear.

Well, I've done it before on several occasions. You put your arm that far away from your body and you are begging someone to make you tap.

You stick your arm up there and you set your self up for an arm triangle choke or an arm bar. Not to mention, there are variations of the rear naked which hook the arm in case it is defended that way. My two cents.

Tests are nice for having something to shoot for. I believe its really the only good way to mark someones progress, as well. People like to have short term goals (myself included). Its nice to have a small ceremony where you officially go up a level.

Get mean. REALLY mean. You have to go after your opponent and be relentless. If you don't, he will.

You're going to have to expect to start out small. Look at what other tournaments do. Make sure that if you can't handle all the aspects of running the tournament, that you have an assistant that can. As for promoting, you need to get the addresses of all the local martial arts schools, and mail them not only the time/location info, but include a copy of the registration form and the rules you will be using. Make sure you have insurance as well. Hope this helps at all.

My shiny butt and my shiny butt on drugs. I can say I was disappointed in the destination of those links.

I can't say that I've heard it myself...I would imagine its a regional group of people that study the same cirriculum of the same art.

Nobody wants to see mine, trust me.

Let me specify: doing regular squats will not help your vertical leap. It will help your squats (and quad size). However, if you do JUMP squats, which involves JUMPING, then you can expect a reasonable improvement in your vertical. You have to lift with explosive movements in order to gain explosive power.

Like I said, go back to the link I posted earlier for any questions about creatine...or ask me, I can find it if i don't know.

You can still leverage the legs apart with that elbow. Don't rule it out, just keep in mind you have to use your weight in order to effectively pass the guard.

I agree with kenpo4life about the choke defense...you have to get it in your head that anytime you feel something coming near your neck, you tuck your chin down and to the side. As for guillotine...if he has one of your arms locked in there, as long as he doesn't put you in his guard, you should be able to use the trapped arm to leverage enough room to breathe, if not escape. If they do it standing, put both your hands on his hips and push off to keep him from being able to compress your neck. You can roll backwards from this position and flip him over your head as well from here.

I'm somewhat against jump squats and weighted jumps, due to the stress they put on the knees. But jumping on and off of things is about the only way to go with plyometrics. Sprinting up stairs can help somewhat, but you have to train to do whatever it isyou want to do. Lifting weights trains you to lift weights, not jump higher. You have to jump to train to jump.