Today’s focus for rolling was “survive”, meaning tap out less often by attempting to keep on side, elbows in, recover guard if possible.

Takedown class – small group. Sprawl warmups, snatch double legs, snatch single legs, penetration step doubles, penetration step singles, pummeling drill with overhook/underhook, pummel exercise + bodylock takedown into mount( underhook and move to t position, bump the close knee, pull in, dump while maintaining grips, swing leg over into mount), 2 minute pummel drill seeking double underhooks and hold grip for 1 second.

Jits ground class – standard warmup plus some movement drills and cardio. Shrimping, penetration step (rear leg should be angled behind me, not straight. Thanks for the tip, Larry!), back rolls (made me dizzy. Still need work), forward rolls, shrimp toward feet (which I still can’t do worth a damn).

Technique – sweep series similar to last lesson. Started with the same sweep as the first in the series last time with a minor technique adjustment – I need to angle hips when I shove the arm out with the instep. Its a stronger movement and helps clear the way for the other foot to cross to the opposite hip of the top man. Kick through as if kicking the opponent in the lat to make the sweep more than an empty gesture.

2nd variant – opponent posts leg when rocking him back from the first kick sweep attempt. Slip same side leg under the posted leg, hook his thigh with the instep. Grab the same side ankle as the hooked leg. Pull forward, then push out. Roll to knee on belly or side control.

3rd variant – Kicking leg slips somehow but you still have grip on the sleeve. Roll up and elbow top in the chest while retaining sleeve grip. Hook elbow into armpit and trap top man’s arm against your torso. Very similar to fireman’s carry takedown from last week’s takedown class.

Rolling – First roll against white belt. He passed guard but I’m not sure he ever tapped me. I just kept trying to turn into him and keep my elbows in and at least one leg bent. He commented that my “defense was good”.

2nd roll vs. brown belt (Larry). Flopped and flailed and got my gi wrapped around my arm at least once. Having a hard time breaking grips against a cross collar grab.

3rd roll and 4th roll vs. advanced white belt. Slowed down and he gave me some tips. When I release closed guard I’m not trapping a leg or keeping good pressure up, for one. I did get him in a cross collar choke but didn’t have a deep enough grip to finish properly. The cross grip and same side sleeve seems to work fairly well.

Then we swapped so I got top position. Tried to keep posture but he kept pulling me down. Once I was out of posture, that was that. Got caught in half guard with my head on the wrong side a couple of times, too…I need a better answer for that, as, once I’m flattened, I can’t seem to get out or recover guard. My nonexistent cardio is more than a minor factor, too. After the 4th roll, I was done.

I’ve got a couple of pepper spray posts that I’m working on and a “Jits Notes” post from Thursday’s class that I’m overdue on as well. I’ll get at least one of those up by tomorrow.

Until then, check out this video from Aaron Little, a very talented instructor in Lexington, KY, on the usefulness of the humble flashlight. He’s an interdisciplinary instructor with a good grasp of the realities of self defense, both armed and unarmed.

I’m parking this video here to try to remind myself that basics mastered are what’s most important, and that I should work these drills more often. They can easily serve as a warm up or even light cardio if you keep the tempo up.

There are some other good ones in this video from Jason Scully.

There’s a whole series of videos entitled “Judo for Jiu Jitsu” available on BJJ Weekly, and I’ve picked up some good tips just by watching a few of them. I found a video on grip fundamentals by Dan Simmler that I posted in the last blog entry and found another good one this morning.

This is why gripping is so important – the first person who has solid grips on their opponent begins to dictate the flow of the contest. Check out how easy Dan Simmler makes this look!

I’m using this blog to collate and track my exploration of grappling, among other things. For those of you who came to this page looking for a Steampunk angle, please remember the “Baritsu” that Sherlock Holmes practiced is probably based upon Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu, an art comprised of judo, boxing, wrestling, fencing and savate, and there’s an interesting subchapter of the Suffragette movement that is also concerned with women’s self-defense so this grappling stuff just might be of interest!

One thing that is not really being taught in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes I’ve attended as yet is grip fighting, so I’ll add videos, articles, and any experiments I’ve undertaken and their results. I’ve had minimal training in no gi grappling, with or without weapons, and have some experience with basic wrestling wrist, bicep ties, 2-on-one grips, and arm drags, but the finer points of grip fighting are definitely foreign to me.

Jimmy Pedro’s DVD and workbook have come highly recommended, so I’ll likely be picking that up in the next few weeks. Until then, here’s a few videos to get everyone started:

A teaser from a Jimmy Pedro DVD

Judo for Jiu Jitsu

Grip Fighting and Throws

Another good tutorial from the Judo for Jiu Jitsu series

Many of these throws and grips are readily adaptable when the opponent doesn’t have the common decency to wear a gi, coat, or velvet smoking jacket. Note the underhook and wrist tie leading to the same result that a lapel and sleeve grip would provide: tai otoshi