June 30, 2009
Here's a half guard sweep I can personally vouch for. I use it all the time when I'm training with the gi.
I've even used this technique in competition when my opponent stood up to pass my half guard. Passing the belt through his legs stopped the guard pass and gave me the sweep.
Obviously this particular variation relies on you getting a good grip on your opponent's belt. But I think you should study this sweep even if you train mostly without the gi!
That's because this technique is similar to the transition from the half guard to the single leg takedown, which is a bread and butter half guard technique both in 'regular' BJJ and also in no-gi grappling.
Anyway, check out this BJJ Half Guard Sweeping technique, demonstrated on me by Oscar Daniotti, a BJJ Black Belt under Ricardo de la Riva.
Labels: gi, half guard, sweeps
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June 20, 2009
Straight From Brazil - a Deep Half Guard Sweep
For the past 2 days I had the pleasure of training with Oscar Daniotti, a black belt under Ricardo de la Riva in Brazil.
Oscar came to North America to cover the 2009 Mundials for Faixa Preta, a Brazilian magazine dedicated to covering the art of BJJ.
While we were shooting the breeze about the deep half guard position Oscar smiled and showed me a really cool variation. I already knew the basic sweep, but the way that he used the gi to entangle my leg made it 10 times more difficult to counter the sweep.
So I got my camera out, handed it to my friend, and asked him to taking pictures. So here - straight from Brazil - is that technique!
Click here to see pictures and get step by step instructions for the new Deep Half Guard Sweep.
Note: of course this sweep is dependent on the gi. There's been a lot of debate about training gi vs. no gi, but I think that most grapplers should should train at least a little bit of both.
If nothing else, learning innovative ways to attack with the gi in BJJ exercises your grappling imagination and keeps your brain active.
Labels: gi, half guard, sweeps
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May 17, 2009
Gi? No-Gi? Self Defense? MMA? No Problem!
There's a long-standing debate in the grappling community whether training with the gi helps your no-gi skills.
My personal preference is to train both with and without the gi.
And for what it's worth, MMA super-coach Ricardo Liborio believes that anyone just starting out should train with the gi, even if their ultimate goal is to fight in MMA. (This is discussed further in BJJ Secrets for MMA, a resource available to Grappling Tips newsletter subscribers).
But today I actually want to focus on something slightly different...
Let's assume that you're interested in BOTH gi and no-gi. Or that you're planning on doing some MMA sparring at some point. Or that you'd like your BJJ skills transfer well in a self defense situation
In this case you should be aware that some styles of BJJ translate much better to no-gi than others.
For example, the traditional sleeve and collar grip from closed guard works great in gi-based BJJ, but translates very poorly to no-gi. You just don't have the same handles available to you when you're wearing a rashguard and board shorts.
A good set of grips, but only WITH the gi...
A lot of great BJJ players have gotten pounded in MMA, because they were so reliant on the gi. Without their familiar handles were unable to control their opponent's posture in guard, and if you can't control posture and distance in the guard then you're to get smoked in the head for sure!
Now there's nothing wrong with gi-dependent moves, so long as
1. You're focussing on gi grappling or gi-based competition, or
2. you have enough time to develop a no-gi game that looks entirely different from your gi game
If you don't have the time to develop two entirely different games then what you want is a game that works both in gi and no-gi contexts. For example, maybe specializing in a double-sleeve grip spider guard might not be the best idea...
Instead using grips like the underhook, the overhook and head control would much better. That's because these grips work great both with AND without the gi.
The point is to make most of your game as transferable as possible!
So here's your homework.
If you train with the gi more than 50% of the time, then go through your best offensive and defensive moves for each of the fundamental BJJ positions. Now ask yourself whether those moves are gi-dependent or gi-independent.
If more than half of your moves are reliant on the gi then I predict that making the jump to no-gi grappling could be a rough and difficult process.
In the end, of course, it's entirely YOUR decision how reliant you want to be on the gi. Just be conscious about the consequences of your decision, that's all...
bookmark this! del.icio.us | Digg it | reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | Google | StumbleUpon
My personal preference is to train both with and without the gi.
And for what it's worth, MMA super-coach Ricardo Liborio believes that anyone just starting out should train with the gi, even if their ultimate goal is to fight in MMA. (This is discussed further in BJJ Secrets for MMA, a resource available to Grappling Tips newsletter subscribers).
But today I actually want to focus on something slightly different...
Let's assume that you're interested in BOTH gi and no-gi. Or that you're planning on doing some MMA sparring at some point. Or that you'd like your BJJ skills transfer well in a self defense situation
In this case you should be aware that some styles of BJJ translate much better to no-gi than others.
For example, the traditional sleeve and collar grip from closed guard works great in gi-based BJJ, but translates very poorly to no-gi. You just don't have the same handles available to you when you're wearing a rashguard and board shorts.
A good set of grips, but only WITH the gi...A lot of great BJJ players have gotten pounded in MMA, because they were so reliant on the gi. Without their familiar handles were unable to control their opponent's posture in guard, and if you can't control posture and distance in the guard then you're to get smoked in the head for sure!
Now there's nothing wrong with gi-dependent moves, so long as
1. You're focussing on gi grappling or gi-based competition, or
2. you have enough time to develop a no-gi game that looks entirely different from your gi game
If you don't have the time to develop two entirely different games then what you want is a game that works both in gi and no-gi contexts. For example, maybe specializing in a double-sleeve grip spider guard might not be the best idea...
Instead using grips like the underhook, the overhook and head control would much better. That's because these grips work great both with AND without the gi.
The point is to make most of your game as transferable as possible!
So here's your homework.
If you train with the gi more than 50% of the time, then go through your best offensive and defensive moves for each of the fundamental BJJ positions. Now ask yourself whether those moves are gi-dependent or gi-independent.
If more than half of your moves are reliant on the gi then I predict that making the jump to no-gi grappling could be a rough and difficult process.
In the end, of course, it's entirely YOUR decision how reliant you want to be on the gi. Just be conscious about the consequences of your decision, that's all...
bookmark this! del.icio.us | Digg it | reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | Google | StumbleUpon