Grappling Tips Newsletter

February 12, 2010

A Drill to Rescue the Armbar from Guard

At a seminar I attended, martial arts legend Dan Inosanto once distinguished between

the techniques used in a martial art, and
the training methods used to develop those techniques.

These are different things! For example, many of the same jointlocks and chokes occur in Brazilian Jiu-jitusu and classical Japanese Ju-jutsu, but the training methods used by those two schools of thought are obviously fairly different. One art uses choreographed drilling, the other uses contested sparring.

OK, OK, so there are techniques and teaching methods. How does this apply to you? Well recently I was able to guest teach a class at the school of my friend Ritchie Yip.

Here is part of that class

One of the techniques I wanted the group to work on was the armbar spin-out from guard. This is a very useful move when a bigger and stronger opponent tries to stack and crush you in an attempt to get out of your armbar attack.

But my secret hidden agenda that night was to field-test a different method of teaching and training this technique. I had just come up with a new solo drill. I wanted to see if it would make the spin-out, a fairly complicated technique, easier to learn.

So I made the class do the solo drill, and then we moved on to the technique itself. Within a few minutes everyone - even the new guy with only 3 classes under his whitebelt - was spinning out of the armbar like a seasoned pro.

Not bad for a move that considered by many to be 'advanced.' I've taught this technique before and adding the solo drill to the teaching progression really accelerated the success that everyone experienced. The students learned something that night, but so did I! A big 'thank you' to the boys and girls who were my guinea pigs!

Regardless of whether you're teaching or just training, sometimes the best way to learn a move is to isolate the crux of the move - the most difficult part - and drill it on it's own. A bad workman blames his tools, and a poor teacher blames his students. Finding, creating, and using the correct drills is part of good teaching. The right drill at the right time can work wonders.

If you have something against embedded video, here's a direct link to the solo drill and the actual armbar spin-out on Youtube.

Also, for more ideas about solo and partner drills check out my Grappling Drills DVD, available on this very site!

Labels: armbar from guard, drills, teaching, training

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 12:44 PM

September 16, 2009

A Video Tutorial on the X Guard

I'm just drowning in email right now, because my new Grappling Concepts course has just launched. I've never seen a response this intense (maybe it's because of the limited number of DVDs available).

But before I get back to taking orders and answering emails, here's a link to an online video X Guard tutorial that I'm using to promote the Grappling Concepts Course

Labels: Brazilian jiu-jitsu, butterfly guard, drills, sweeps, teaching, the guard, x guard

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 10:37 AM

June 08, 2009

Three Steps to Mastering Any Technique

Some people look at grappling as a giant grab-bag of techniques. They may learn hundreds of techniques, but there's no rhyme, reason or organizing framework to guide what they learn or work on next.

If you're very physically talented then maybe you can get away with this approach, but I find it much easier to learn, retain, and use techniques if they're coherently organized.

Here are the three things I focus on when I'm trying to learn a specific technique (and it doesn't matter if it's a guard sweep, a pin escape or a submission).

Body Mechanics and Control
Entries and Setups
Finishes, Followups, Counters and Recounters.

Let's take a quick look at each of those three areas

1 - Body Mechanics and Control

There are right ways and some wrong ways to do any technique.

For example, the triangle choke should be applied with your top leg crossing over your ankle and lower shin. If you apply it with your toes under your knee then it won't be as tight or effective (and you could even injure your foot).

Or let's consider the kneebar submission. If your body is in a straight line you'll have much less power than if you had used proper body positioning.

How you align and position your body has a LOT to do with whether the technique will work or not.

Solid body mechanics mean that you'll be more efficient, waste less energy and be more powerful in your movement.

Good body mechanics and positioning are also critical for controlling your opponent, giving him fewer opportunities to escape and counter your technique.

Do yourself a favor and spend the time learning proper body mechanics.

2 - Entries and Setups

When you know how to apply the technique correctly, the next piece of the puzzle is figuring out how get there in the first place.

That's where setups and entries and entries come in. These are ways to trick or force your opponent to give you the positioning and energy you need in order to apply the technique.

One example of a setup might be getting your opponent to commit to a certain guard pass so that you can nail him with your favorite guard sweep.

Or let's say that you want to attack with the straight armbar from guard. To do this you might want to get your opponent's elbow across your centerline. Once you've maneuvered him into that position then it's pretty easy to slap on the armbar!

In fact, someone who is skilled at the armbar from guard probably has 10 or more setups to move that arm into position. No matter how you try to establish posture, the armbar expert has a setup to suck you right back into his attack.

So instead of learning 100 different techniques, take 10 of your favorite techniques and learn 10 entries and setups for each of them. This will make you much more dangerous on the mat.

3 - Finishes, Followups, Counters and Recounters.

Now you've learned how to perform a technique correctly and different ways to get into it. Does that mean that you're done and can now move onto the next technique?

Not exactly...

Things don't always go according to plan, and so you also need to know different ways to finish or modify your technique AFTER you've applied it.

Maybe you're applying the Omo Plata armlock but your opponent has super-flexible shoulders and you just can't finish him. If that's the case then you might want to switch to a different finish (a toehold, a wristlock or a sweep, for example).

Or maybe your opponent counters your omo plata attack by cartwheeling over top of you - what's your answer now?

Knowing how to counter the most common counters - what I call 'recountering' - is critically important. You won't master any technique until you learn how to circumvent your opponent's attempts to shut you down.

So to recap...

First learn the proper body mechanics for a technique...
Then learn a whole bunch of different ways to get into that technique...
Then learn different methods to continue on from that position if your initial attempt is countered or nullified.

It's true that this can be a lot of work, but it's also very rewarding. Just remember that you're not doing it all on your own - take full advantage of all the resources available to you, including your instructor, classmates, DVDs, the internet, books, etc.

You'll get there!

Labels: teaching, the mental aspect, training

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:03 AM

May 25, 2009

Why You MUST Sometimes Kick It Into High Gear

One of the best, and worst, things about grappling is that the feedback is quick, direct and brutally honest.

Take ANY technique - be it an armbar, a guard pass or a pin escape - it's easy to find out if you're doing it right: just go out and try it in sparring! If your new killer technique is a big flop and you get crushed, then you've got some additional work to do, don't you?

This process is a great motivator, but it can also be hard on the old ego sometimes. So, as we get more experienced as grapplers, we often start using little tricks to save our egos from the ravages of all this brutally honest feedback.

One of these tricks is to ALWAYS go easy when you're sparring. If you're never really trying your best then it gives you wiggle room to make excuses.

"Sure he passed my guard, but I was only going at 50%..."

Well what if you go 100% and your opponent STILL passes your guard. Wouldn't that tell you something about the state of your guard game?

Now I'm the last person to say that you should go full throttle every time you spar. In fact, if you go hard every time then you're going to overtrain and get injured. But the reverse is also bad: if you go easy every time then you're never exposing your skills to the harsh light of reality...

So, on some days you just have to grit your teeth and tell yourself that NO-ONE is going to pass your guard today, or that you WILL tap someone out with your new technique. Making this commitment ahead of time focuses the mind wonderfully.

Always going easy with your students is a common trap that coaches fall into. When someone is sparring in coaching mode then they usually give their student/opponent room to escape their pins and submissions, and maybe even feed them the opportunity to apply their own submissions.

This is very kind and considerate. I do this myself some of the time.

But...

Once in a while put the coaching to one side and concentrate on your own training.

I have a friend Ritchie who teaches BJJ and MMA. He has a tongue-in-cheek way of describing this mindset. On days when he's going to spar with intention he calls it being "Ritchie the a$$hole." Of course this doesn't mean that he uses full power heel hooks, or malicious techniques like driving his chin into his opponent's eye socket.

But still, on those days he's out to pin and submit everybody!

By never going into high gear you always have an excuse for your technique failing. That might make it easier on your ego, but it's also going to hold you back from making progress.

Labels: teaching, the mental aspect, training

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 4:41 PM

April 22, 2009

A Lifetime of Learning

At my recent seminar on Unorthodox Positions I thought that I would be doing all the teaching, and that the students would be doing all the learning. Well I was wrong...

One of the things I taught was a cool entry into the north-south choke from the offside kesa gatame position.

The north-south choke is something I've worked on a LOT over the last couple of years. After many mistakes and false leads I finally 'get it," and feel comfortable teaching it to others.

My demonstration partner for this technique was fellow Carlson Gracie black belt Adam Ryan.

After I taught the 'traditional' north-south choke Adam came up to me and discretely inquired if he could show me something. He then proceeded to demonstrate a killer variation that makes the choke come on INSTANTLY!

It would have been hypocritical of me to keep this technique to myself. So I asked Adam to also teach his variation to the group. I figured that if I hadn't seen it before then chances were pretty good that not too many other people knew about it either.

At the end of day I was very happy.

Not only had the students learned a ton of new material that I knew would work for them, but I had came away with something too! In fact I used it to submit a tough opponent on my very next training day.

Of course Adam is a formidable competitor, a great teacher and a BJJ black belt. Therefore it's not surprising that he has lots of tricks to show me. But in my experience, most blue belts also have a trick or two they can show me.

Most schools, after all, have only one instructor, but if you keep an open mind then you can have a whole army of people - your fellow students - teaching you stuff, all the time.

There is nothing sadder than an 'expert' who has closed his mind to learning. When I stop learning then please start shoveling the dirt down on top of my grave.

Labels: chokes, teaching, unorthodox strategies

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:57 PM