Parting Words from my Jiu-Jitsu Instructor

So last week my BJJ coach, Nic Gregoriades, left London to travel the world indefinitely. Nic has had a very positive influence on my training, been a great teacher, and is definitely the best grappler I’ve ever sparred.

He’s a bit of a hippie, but his students enjoy it. His final words to the class were about happiness, specifically the three things which have given him the most happiness in his life:

1. Meditation
2. Yoga
3. Keeping a record of things for which he is grateful

That might not sound like everyone’s bag, but I must say that since Nic started to introduce yoga movements into our warm ups about six months ago, I’ve really been enjoying them. He actually wrote an excellent post on how yoga benefits your jiu-jitsu here.

Starting tomorrow I will be trying meditation for 30 days to see what I make of it.

It can be sad to see mentors come and go, but Nic is going off to improve himself, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from a great coach. I am grateful for what he has taught me, and excited at the prospect of getting a totally new take on BJJ with the new coaches I will now seek out.

55 BJJ Guard Attacks

As I prepare for the British Open, I’ve found some useful techniques in this video. It’s also handy to know what some of my team mates are going for with things like the shoulder clamp, which I rarely use.

Quick History of BJJ

This youtube video is probably the best history of BJJ highlight I’ve seen.

Of course there have been other influences on grappling in modern MMA (catch wrestling, Sambo, Judo etc.) but come on, the video is top shelf:

 

Anaconda Choke Tips

This video is a brilliant break down of the finer points of the anaconda choke. Two bits really jumped out at me:

1. Wrapping the opponent’s leg with yours to compress the opponent for the  finish (I find guys often need extra squeeze with this choke).
2. The second variation (which is almost like a toss!) as a way to deal with the opponent posting their leg – very cool!

Check it out…

BJJ Half-Guard: The Lockdown

I was revisiting Eddie Bravo’s “Rubber Guard” book the other day and really liked the section on the half guard. Bravo writes:

“In my opinion, the half guard is the most important position in jiu-jitsu because that is where the majority of battles are waged.”

This is certainly true for the type of game Bravo preaches, though I’m sure other players might have a different emphasis. Regardless, it got me thinking about what a “Hail Mary” half guard game I have. I basically just aggressively shrimp and bridge until I get my guard back (against a weak opponent maybe I’ll get an ugly power sweep, or take the back). This is a pretty lame state of affairs, so I read the half-guard sequences with interest.

Bravo posits that “regular” half-guard (i.e. triangling your legs into a figure four) limits your options, and is more easily passed than his alternative…The Lockdown. I have to admit, I often find it tough to get the lockdown on people, but when I do, I notice that a lot of them find it pretty uncomfortable. For those who don’t know, this is the lockdown:

The Lockdown

Once you’ve got the lockdown, the next task is to get double-underhooks and then whip up onto your side. At that point, a number of possibilities open up. Now that’s easier said than done! Good guys are not going to let you get the underhooks, and they’re definitely not going to let you whip up to your side…but hey, like most useful things, it takes practice.

Once you’re in position, a cool array of sweeps and options open up: old school, electric chair, and stoner control, to name a few.

I’ve mapped some of the basic and entry phase options in the following tree diagram – follow from left to right (click on the image to improve the quality):

 

 

I think it’s time to revisit the lockdown at training. At the very least it should stop my half guard getting smashed all the time.

Here’s a video of the old school sweep for inspiration:

Old School Sweep

Taking the Back from an Arm Drag: Useful Tips and Flow Diagram

I had another great class last week which has prompted another tree diagram. This one starts from butterfly guard (where you’re sat up, but with no over or underhooks). It then charts a few possibilities when you go for the arm drag and hunt for the back.

Before I get to the diagram, I learned two really awesome details to the arm drag – take the back sequence:

1. Don’t go for the second hook (early on) Once you’ve got your opponent in turtle, and you’ve got one hook in and the seat belt (arms wrapped around them, one under the armpit, one over) then the temptation is often to attempt to get the other hook.

My coach pointed out how getting the second hook can often lead to you getting shaken off over the top. This is because of the way you end up after the arm drag and with the seatbelt: you tend to be high on your opponent’s hips, and shimmying down when they are defending is awkward at that point.

Instead, roll your opponent over (by rolling over your own shoulder). The key detail to getting your opponent to roll is the seesaw principle which I will explain in another post soon (it’s so damn useful). Once they’re over, then cool detail number two comes in.

2) Don’t just try and put the second hook in – set it up. With your current lone hook, cross your ankles (so you’ve locked your ankles round their thigh) then you arch your back and stretch your opponent out and then you can go for the second hook. You’ll find it so much easier this way.

So here’s the tree diagram I put together for this sequence (click to make it clearer):

 

 

I’ve also found a video for the calf slicer finish in the diagram (the video doesn’t start from the arm drag, but apart from that the positions are the same):

Scarf Hold for BJJ

This week I’ve been shown some cool stuff which has made me re-evaluate the “scarf hold” position. A few years ago, when I used to train in MMA, my coach always trashed the traditional Judo scarf hold (kesa getame) as a poor position. He would talk about the dangers of having your back taken, and the relative lack of offense you could launch from that spot. Instead of the traditional position:

I was taught to underhook the far arm to ensure my back was safe:

That was until this week, when one of the senior grades in the class showed us some really cool scarf hold stuff.

The first thing to say is that done properly, scarf hold brutally crushes your opponents, hence tiring them out. Like oh-god-this-is-nearly-a-sub tiring. If you grab inside your own knee and then apply your body weight and force into your opponent, you will sap them of strength. The correct technique is like so:

This is one of those great positions where the counters your opponent has are fairly limited, so you can more easily stay one step ahead of them. Such was the predictable nature of the moves you could apply from here, it reminded me of an awesome post my coach wrote on Flow Diagrams which talks about mapping different jiu-jitsu position flows/possibilities. I decided to take this concept and modify it into more of a tree diagram format (I find this easier to process), exploring the possibilities of scarf hold. If you click on the image below it should clear it up a little bit (sorry it’s blurred):

I managed to find a decent instructional on the figure-four/Americana sub, which is one of the possibilities in the flow chart above:

Another awesome week of training where I’ve had my preconceptions challenged. I’m looking forward to bringing more scarf hold into my game.

In the coming posts, I will also be exploring tree diagrams for other positions.

North-South Choke: Jeff Monson Style

Just stumbled across this North-South choke tutorial from Jeff Monson. It’s quite an interesting variation with the forearms sliding over each other rather than looking to catch the bicep or gable grip. Also very noteworthy in that it works regardless of whether the opponent’s arm is in or out. Can’t say I’ve been able to pull it off in training, but definitely one to keep trying!

Applying Rapid Learning to Jiu-Jitsu Training

My coach recently interviewed Tim Ferriss, a man whose work has influenced me greatly. Check out the full interview here (highly recommended).

In his latest book, The Four Hour Chef, Ferriss talks about his system for rapid learning. In this fascinating guide he uses cooking a vehicle to explain his method for accelerating progress from average to “world-class” (top 5% of the relevant population) in six months. This approach led him to set a world record in Tango dancing, him winning the San Shou world championships, and deadlifting some 500 lbs (about 260kg). Key fundamentals are leveraging what you are already good at – Tim has a background in wrestling and break dancing, so for his Tango world record, he focused on moves which allowed him to capitalise on his ability to spin fast. For San Shou, he won by pushing his opponents out of the ring, using wrestling control techniques, and also rapid weight-loss (now a regular fixture among competitors, but 10 years ago very cutting edge).

So, what is this system? It’s DiSSS:

Deconstruction: Figure out the “components” of the skill you are trying to learn. Cooking is made up of a number of components: shopping (actually very important for finding the right ingredients), preparation, a range of cooking techniques (sautéing, baking, grilling etc.) and clean-up. It is important to be clear what the main components of a skill are, so that you are able to complete selection.

Selection: Apply the Pareto principle to the deconstructed components of the skill. Briefly, the Pareto principle states that 80% of your success will come from 20% of your techniques/customers/efforts. You must identify what this 20% is, and then focus on it so you do not waste time on the low-yield 80%.

Sequencing: Once you have identified which “components” will result in the greatest skill increase, you must then figure out the correct order in which to learn these components. Many times people learn great techniques, but are not able to execute them because their sequencing is off.

Stakes: As SS discussed in this article, without stakes, you are setting yourself up to quit. Create a bitter pill to swallow if you quit. Make it humiliating for yourself, make it painful, make it something that makes you shake your head when you imagine it. The stick is mightier than the carrot.

So…how do we apply this to Jiu-Jitsu?

I am going to go through this process for myself, step-by-step. You can do the same, simply replace my strengths/weaknesses with your own!

Deconstruction: What are the main components of Jits? I contend the main components are: Guard passing, closed guard, butterfly guard, half guard, top control (could split between mount/side control), stand up (take downs and take down defence), taking the back, and back control. These are the parts which are also referred to as games, you’ll hear guys talk about their “top game” or “half guard game”. Of course, these components can be broken down much further into sub-components from each position: sweeps, escapes, submissions, as well as more exotic positions such as the Twister, X-Guard, de la River and 50-50. I think that this is something for more advanced players to do, however at my stage I feel I still need to focus on the basics. Also, on the more macro-scale, there are concepts like: posture, balance and leverage. However, since these elements are relevant to pretty much everything in Jiu-Jitsu, you cannot isolate them in the process of deconstruction, and anytime you work on anything, you will be working on these macro elements (worth remembering).

This year, I want to accelerate my progress in jiu-jitsu. Having deconstructed the components, I now need to select the components which I believe are going to offer me the greatest “return”. It strikes me that in order to do this I need to analyse my strengths and weaknesses. I will do this objectively, not just from the point of view of “for my weight category” as my long-term goal is to compete in the absolute weight division too.

Strengths:

–          Fast

–          Flexible

–          Disciplined

Weaknesses

–          Small and light (easy to crush, brute force subs)

–          Poor stand-up/takedowns

–          Ego

Average:

–          Cardio

–          Mental toughness

–          Balance/base

High-Percentage Submissions

–          Triangle

Low-Percentage Subs

–          Guillotine

Average:

–          Kimura

–          North-South

–          Arm Triangle

So what does this mean? As a smaller, lighter guy, I do not want to be underneath guys much heavier than me – even if my bottom game is good (it’s not), it still means I am constantly under pressure. It also means that if a sub attempt goes wrong then I’ll end up in a losing position. So it means that I should work on 2 things: getting to top/back control, and staying there. What components make up these things? Take-downs/stand up, guard passing, escapes/sweeps from the bottom, taking the back (which is easy to merge with escapes from the bottom) and top control. There, I’ve deconstructed the parts of jiu-jitsu I need to focus on. In terms of subs, I should be focusing on those that require less strength – i.e. avoiding subs where bigger guys can “muscle out” (see this video from Marcelo Garcia) OR subs where I’m using my strongest limbs (triangle).

I’m going to focus this into something tangible: 2-3 moves which play to my strengths (speed, flexibility) to really drill for every selected area. These will be my focus over the next 6 months.

Take downs + defence

1) Double-Leg w/ leg wrap

2) Single-Leg

3) Sprawl

Guard Passing

1) MatadorPass

2) “Leg Wrap” pass (love that one).

Sweeps from the bottom

1) Hip bump

2) Omoplata to sweep (can combine with hip bump – hand on mat – omo)

3) (optional) butterfly sweep

Escapes from the bottom/Taking the back

1) Arm drag to back

2) Guard replacement

Top Control – General Position (incl. knee-on-belly)

1) North-South Choke

2) Triangle from mount

3) Eziekiel (in gi)

There, I’ve established the moves I need to drill and drill over the next 6 months. These moves play to my strengths, and will help me develop a game which will stand me in better-stead against larger guys.

The next thing to consider is sequencing. Which order should I be learning these?

Well, I’m not going to be able to apply my top control submissions if I haven’t first got to top control. Also, things can go wrong from right off the bat, so escapes probably come first – as I can’t setup any sweeps if my opponent is dominating the position. Once I’ve pulled off a sweep, then I’m more likely in a position to be able to work a pass. So the logical sequencing is probably:

–          Escapes/Take Down Defence

–          Take Downs

–          Sweeps

–          Guard Passing

–          Top Control + subs

This basically tells you what every good jiu-jitsu fighter knows: Control the position first, then work the submission.

All that remains is the setup some stakes. In jiu-jitsu, this is actually quite easy: enter a big competition! You have to pay in advance to enter, so of course there is financial incentive, and you’re far less likely to just not show. Train hard for the comp, fuck that noise about “just getting some experience”, no, you want to win and win big. You should be aiming to submit your opponent, not win on points. My old MMA coach used to talk about wanting to be so good that he would “humiliate [his] opponent”, which is perhaps taking it a little far, but you see the point. Yes, it’s true that if you lose, you will be better for the next competition, but don’t use that as an excuse not to train your butt off for the competition – eating smart, training hard (roll for long rounds, drill your selected techniques thousands of times, including against resistance). In my case, I’m on the hunt from a big comp this spring – probably April/May.

And there we have it, DiSSS applied – I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Over to you.