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Archive for the ‘judo’ Category

Judo for BJJ, An Olympian’s Perspective

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

One of the most neglected areas of BJJ training is takedowns. Which is a shame, for a couple of reasons…

First of all, even if your whole competition plan is to run out and pull guard, you should still have enough confidence on your feet so you can tie up, get the grips you want, and then pull guard on your own terms. And that confidence on your feet comes from knowledge of what to do, where to grip, what your opponent might do, etc. Once again, knowledge is power!

Plus having a tiny bit of standup might help you avoid the awkward spectacle that happens when two guys pull guard at the exact same time. Don’t laugh, I’ve seen it happen more than once!

Secondly, takedowns are just part of the art. BJJ came from Judo originally. Completely avoiding throws and takedowns, deliberately not learning anything about them, is like trying to learn to ski but only ever turning right, not left.

Doesn’t work so well…

Finally - and this is important – BJJ IS A MARTIAL ART. That means that you’ve GOT to have some idea of how to use this stuff ‘for real.’

Are you planning to pull guard in a streetlight? I hope not!

So you need AT LEAST one good throw, preferably two or three. And they should link together; this way, if your first throw doesn’t work, then it at least sets up the second one.

With all this in mind I recently interviewed Daniel McCormick. Daniel is a 2008 winner of the US National Judo Championships. He’s also a 2009 Judo Olympian. So I think it’s fair to say he’s pretty good at throwing people onto their heads… But he’s ALSO cross-trained extensively in BJJ, with some of the best guys in the business.

You can read, listen to, and/or download the entire interview right here, whatever you want:

It’s an in-depth talk. I got him to share exactly what he did to get ready for the Olympics, what Judo brings to BJJ, how BJJ has affected his Judo training, and what his favorite throws are for BJJ. (By the way, his favorite throw is one of my favorites too. And it works really well when your opponent is bent over with his arms straight, pushing you away and keeping his legs far out of reach)

Once again, the link to the interview is here: http://grapplearts.com/judo/

P.S. If you use iTunes make sure to subscribe to my podcast so that you get notified whenever I upload a new interview like this one!

Posted in bjj, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, competition, conditioning, gi vs no gi, judo, takedowns | No Comments »

A Super-Important Concept for Your Guard

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

I shot a new video about a super-important concept that was a major Aha! moment for me. And you should be using anytime you’ve got your opponent in your guard.

It applies for both the closed guard AND the open guard, both with the gi AND without the gi. Plus I show a cool little drill I haven’t seen anywhere else. So check it out:

Posted in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, butterfly guard, concepts, drills, gi, judo, sweeps, the guard | No Comments »

How To Escape the Headlock and Kesa-Gatame

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

Headlocks are often overlooked in BJJ – they’re not considered to be a very technical pinning position.

But not training your headlock escapes is a HUGE mistake!

First of all, when an untrained person ends up on the ground, then nine out of ten times he’ll wrap his arm around your head and hold on for dear life.

And because this is that untrained fighter’s ONLY strategy he’ll be ferociously single-minded about hanging onto the headlock. This determination in itself can make escaping the headlock quite difficult.

Just like everything else in BJJ, in order to get good at something you need to do it ‘for real’ in sparring.

Since you hardly ever encounter headlocks in BJJ class dealing with them can be awkward. You might not know what to do and won’t be used to dealing with that particular energy.

Also there are other grappling arts (like Judo, Sambo and wrestling) which DO have pinning positions that look a LOT like headlocks. These positions may have fancy names like ‘kesa-gatame’ or ‘head and arm pin,’ but they’re basically just headlock variations.

(What’s even worse is that there are lots of ways to choke, armlock and leglock somebody from kesa-gatame. In fact, if you know what to do from there and your opponent doesn’t then it’s like taking candy from a baby…)

You ABSOLUTELY NEED NEED TO HAVE some good headlock escapes you can rely on!!!

Here’s my very favorite headlock escape. It also works against kesa-gatame and most headlock variations. If you know all the details and do it correctly you can send a larger, heavier opponent flying!

Make sure to practice the technique in this video below!!

P.S. Check out my Unorthodox Positions and Attacks DVD to find out what your OFFENSIVE options are from the headlock and kesa gatame postions!

P.P.S. If you own an iPhone, iPad or iPpod Touch and haven’t downloaded the three Grapplearts apps yet then what are you waiting for??? Each app has a ton of top-notch video instruction, and at only $3.99 each they’re an incredible value!!!

1: Grapplearts Submissions breaks down tons of chokes, armlocks and leglocks for you,
2: Grapplearts Sweeps teaches you how to do all sorts of closed, open and half guard sweeps,
3: Grapplearts Pin Escapes covers escapes from all the fundamental BJJ and submission grappling positions.

Posted in bjj, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, escapes, headlock, iphone, judo, kesa gatame, self defense, techniques | No Comments »

Toby Imada’s Amazing MMA Triangle Broken Down For You

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

A lot of people thought that Toby Imada’s triangle choke was the best MMA submission of 2009. And they may be right – it was a stunning display of quick thinking and ‘sticktoitness’ on Toby’s part. Here’s the clip of the match highlights including the spectacular submission:

Last week I uploaded posted an article and video called 5 Triangle Chokes You Need To Know, and shortly thereafter some people asked me to break down Toby’s famous triangle.

The thing is, that although Toby used a different entry and finished it in a standing position it’s still exactly the same choke as the Side Triangle (or ‘Yoko Sangaku’) that I show at 2 minutes and 41 seconds the 5 Triangles Video. All the same principles and adjustments apply.

But I’ll do you one better! Here’s a video I found of Toby breaking down how to get into the Side Triangle when your opponent is in the turtle position (don’t worry, you don’t have to get your training partner to stand up to train it):

Judo players successfully use this choke all the time, but the majority of BJJ players and no-gi grapplers don’t even know it exists. So add it to your repertoire, and then go forth and ambush your training partners with it!

Posted in chokes, judo, MMA, toby imada, triangle choke | No Comments »

Judo Books

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Long time readers won’t be surprised when I say that you can learn a lot by studying the techniques used by grapplers of the past (check out my post on old-time grappling). Rules change and sports evolve, but body mechanics stay the same. There are, after all, only a limited number of ways to twist someone’s arm to make them say ‘Uncle!’

Back before DVDs people wrote books. The problem is that many of the best old Judo books are now out of print. And those of us who have hard copies of these books would rather lose a kidney than lend out an impossible-to-find original copy!

A reader of this blog recently told me about that a generally great website – Judoinfo.com – has a page of links where you can download digital versions of rare old Judo books for free.

Some of these books are more than 100 years old, from the era where the boundaries between Judo and classical Japanese Ju-Jutsu were fairly blurry. (Imagine Judo with leglocks – it used to exist!)

Have fun browsing throught these books, seeing both how the art has evolved and also how things have stayed the same.

Posted in books, japanese ju-jutsu, judo | No Comments »

Old Time Grapplin’

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

I’m a big fan of old Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Catch Wrestling books. I have lots and lots of martial arts books, but some of the real jewels of my library are the Judo and wrestling books published in the 1920′s to the 1960′s. Not all are original – some are reprinted editions – but all offer very interesting historical perspectives on modern grappling.

There is just something special about seeing grapplers from long ago demonstrating techniques that are still used today on mats all over the world.

Fortunately the era of the internet means that we now have unprecedented access to the information of yesteryear.

For example, I just watched a super-cool video of what might be the earliest example of Japanese martial arts ever caught on film. Even though it’s more than 100 years old, the very same throws are still used today in both Judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. (Well, the throws that haven’t been banned, anyhow).

Once we move ahead from the early 1900′s into the 1920′s, 30′s and 40′s, it becomes a lot easier to find footage of the various forms of grappling.

For example, here’s Tsunetane Oda showing a lot of moves that are still 100% relevant today. Unlike many of his contemporaries (and most modern Judoka) for whom Judo was mostly a standup sport, Oda apparently believed that Judo consisted of 50% standing work and 50% groundwork.

Another interesting source for old grappling footage is from the early British Jiu-jitsu community (which seems rather obsessed by women who could beat up men).

The ‘Weaker Sex’ Teaches Jiu-Jitsu Self Defense Tips
A demonstration of Ju-Jitsu from the 20′s or 30′s
More woman’s ju-jitsu for self defense (I love the accent plus the bathing suit!)

Moving more into western grappling arts like wrestling, here’s what an old time wrestling practice might have looked like:

And here’s a catch wrestling match from 1903 (including the weirdest application of the guard I’ve ever seen):

Not all the internet resources are videos either. For example, an old and very-much-out-of-print book called “Higher Judo Groundwork” can be downloaded for free by clicking here.

If you study these books and videos you come to realize that most of the time when someone discovers something new in grappling it isn’t really new, only new-to-them!

People have been rolling around on the ground for millenia, and there’s only so many ways to flip someone over or to twist a limb to make your opponent say ‘Uncle!’

Posted in books, grappling history, japanese ju-jutsu, judo | No Comments »

Choke Recovery in BJJ and Submission Grappling

Monday, July 27th, 2009

The first time I saw someone choked unconscious it scared the crap out of me. And it was made worse by the fact that it was a friend of mine…

It was many years ago at a local tournament. My friend was winning his match but got caught in a sneaky gi choke. He was (and still is) a stubborn bastard, so he refused to tap and passed out. He might have been out for about 10 seconds before anyone realized what was going on.

When the referee finally separated the two competitors, I could see my buddy lying flat on his back and he wasn’t moving. From my position in the stands I couldn’t even see if he was breathing.

But then it got even worse…

He started to snore REALLY loudly. We’re talking horrible-keep-you-awake-from-the-next-room-sleep-apnea kind of snoring. Everyone at the tournament could hear it. Then, just to make things even more dramatic, he started convulsing a little bit, like he was having a small epileptic seizure.

Finally – to my infinite relief – he woke up, sat up and looked around sheepishly. Objectively he’d probably only been out for a total of 15 to 20 seconds (including the snoring and convulsing) but it sure seemed a lot longer than that to me at the time!

In fact this is a fairly normal sequence for someone who has been choked out. The snoring is normal. The mini-convulsions are to be expected. And they’re going to be a bit light headed when they wake up.

Judo and BJJ coaches have different opions about what to do if someone gets choked out. The most common approach is to stand around and wait for the person to wake up. And this works just fine 99% of the time.

There are traditional judo resuscitation techniques (known as “kappo“). Kappo is an esoteric subject, and I don’t know much about it. But I’ll give you some guidance coming more from a western first aid point of view.

In first aid class I’ve been taught to roll unconscious people onto their side or into the 3/4 prone position (IMPORTANT: you only do this if you’re sure that there’s no neck or back injury). Being on the side helps drain fluids from the mouth and prevents the tongue from blocking the airway. And there are some Judo coaches who agree that this is a good idea.

I don’t want to scare you with all this talk about unconscious people. Most accounts of chokes gone bad involve cops trying to restrain someone high on PCP by squeezing their neck with a billy club. Hopefully that’s not happening at your club.

In fact, chokes and strangles are fairly safe.

The Kodokan, which is the central organizing body for Judo, has conducted studies on the safety of chokes (“shimewaza”). The results are encouraging: Judoka have been choking each other for more than 100 years without any reported fatalities.

Attacking the neck is part of submission grappling and BJJ. If you do this sport long enough then eventually someone will get choked out right in front of you. Now you know what to expect when that happens!

Posted in choke recovery, chokes, Injuries, judo | No Comments »

Offside Kesa Gatame has an Judo Name

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

OK, it’s official. The collective intelligence of the Grapplearts readership is awesome.

About 5,000 people receive these newsletters, and many more read it on the website, via RSS feeds, etc. If we all got together and combined our knowledge we’d make Rickson Gracie look like a three-stripe white belt.

A few days ago I talked about one of my favorite unorthodox positions: Offside Kesa Gatame. I also said that, to the best of my knowledge, there aren’t any formal names for this position

Well Chris Beaver from Canada and Pierre Henry from Belgium both wrote in to tell me that Judo DOES have a name for this position, namely: “Makura Kesa Gatame.”

The funny thing is that, before I wrote the article in question, I’d asked about 5 Judo black belts if they’d ever seen that position and they all said no.

After I got those two emails I did some additional research and found out that there are a couple of variations of Makura Kesa Gatame. One of those variations is very similar to what I call Offside Kesa Gatame.

It’s a bit of a digression, but one thing to keep in mind is that while some Judo players may use this as a PINNING position, knowledge of the submission potential of this position will be more rare. In Judo the pin itself can win the match, so why risk going for a position and losing the position.

(Back when I did Judo going for a submission from a good pinning position in competition would have been considered insane).

I’ve often said that we should look beyond the borders of our own specific martial arts for additional information. Chris and Pierre helped me do just that!

Thanks!

Posted in competition, judo, positions, unorthodox strategies | No Comments »

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