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

I’m lucky enough to know the “Larry” spoken of in this blog post. When I follow his advice, I benefit. When I don’t, I typically stall or backslide.

Find yourself a “Larry”, people. They’re worth their weight in gold.

http://blog.anti-fragile.net/2015/09/get-good-coach.html

Great stuff from a Chicago-area practitioner.

The biggest take away is to maintain 4 points of contact while you’re in guard. Feet and hands are generally the first line of defense, but shins, forearms, knees and elbows count, too. While we’ve been working De la Riva in class for the last 2 weeks I’ve attended, it still counts as an open guard and needs those 4 points of contact to function well.

When my guard got passed a number of times in the last class I had lost 1 or more of those points and probably should have just adjusted to something else that allowed me to bring another point of contact into play. That might not always be possible, depending on what’s going on, but at least it gives me a goal.

There are a lot of videos available online. While I’m not the raw beginner that these particular videos pertain to, they’re helpful reminders. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tends to be taught in a piecemeal fashion due to the nature of its student body – a variety of people showing up on any given night with different backgrounds and levels of ability, along with an instructor who’s often a good practitioner of the art but not necessarily a good instructor.

Here’s “Charlie from the Plaza” showing some basics for the guard.

His 3 tips:

Top guy – don’t get tipped. You get tipped, you get tapped or swept.
Bottom guy – tip him. Then sweep or tap him.
Bottom guy – pull him off base when he moves. See what happens from there.

I’m sure this seems simple, but its often not spelled out to noobs and they don’t know what they should do.

I’ll add this one from Charlie as well – how to start the roll from the knees. This is another place that most new guys get thrown into without any instruction and often, no clue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjLn087ph7Y

Charlie has an interesting web site as well. Check it out. http://www.charliefromtheplaza.com/

Please take a moment today to honor the fallen.