My Latest Studies in Newaza

It has been a while since my last post.

Since my last post I have been exploring the Turtle Position and De La Riva Guard with a smattering of Butterfly and X-Guard.

Since my tendency has been to go to the turtle when things go awry and getting my lunch eaten there as a result I have been boning up on the basics from The Turtle Guard dvd by Josh Russell. I am becoming a little more effective here especially since I am transitioning a bit faster from here now by rolling rather the shell shocked sit and pray I had been playing at times. I have not gone beyond the basics as of yet but will at some point.

The other position I am using a lot is the De La Riva Guard as soon as I get paranoid about someone passing my guard. If anything my training partners usually react with a wtf and try to run away. Usually I go for a sweep or take the back. Nathan gave me some solid advice for this guard which was use the feet and minimize the hips and I have found this helps a great deal.

Nathan also suggested that I look up Marcio "Pe De Pano" Cruz on Youtube since we have similar builds (he is 6'4" 230lbs and I am 6'5" 215lbs). Man his guard is sick for a big man! A lot of what he does is reminiscent of Roleta in my mind.

Based on the following clips I had to go out and buy his instructional.

Faixa Azul

Today I have officially received my faixa azul - blue belt. At the end of class Nathan announced that it had come to his attention that someone has been talking shit and now he will have to back it up, so he removed the belt from inside his gi and presented it to me.

Everyone laughed and came up to congratulate me and then it was randori time. I had to run the gauntlet through a blue belt, 2 purple belts, and a brown belt but it was fun nonetheless.

I think back to when I started in October of last year and the physical challenges I faced due to still recovering from the severe groin tear and it is hard for me to believe that I got it. But I did and now I am focusing on growing and becoming the best blue belt I can be and eventually the focus will shift to faixa roxa – purple belt.

Enjoying the journey…

My study material for right now is the BJJ Blue Belt Requirements DVD by Roy Dean.

Morote-gari defense

Here is a gem from Leo White in which he shows how to defend against morote-gari and single leg takedowns.

I Would Love to be Like Him when I Am in My 80's

This gem comes from Cichorei Kano from Judo Forum:

"There are very few judo sensei still alive today who were active an participated in the Kosen era, and who specialized in newaza hence becoming through newaza wizards. Below, you find a rare clip featuring Matsumura-sensei, 8th dan Kodokan. Matsumura is a retired sensei in his 80s who still shows up in the evening at Kodokan sharing his newaza wizardry with a handful of enthusiast followers. His hands and feet are more like claws than hands of feet and his flexibility and efficacy in newaza are mindblowing. These sensei were the predecessors of later newaza greats like Kashiwazaki-sensei."


Shochugeiko newaza lesson from Matt on Vimeo.


Newaza lesson 1 from Matt on Vimeo.


newaza lesson 2 from Matt on Vimeo.


Newaza lesson 3 from Matt on Vimeo.

Reviews: Roy Harris

Minnesota and Vermont BJJ Seminars DVD by Roy Harris

This DVD is condensed to 2 hours from over 6 hours of BJJ seminars Roy conducted in Minnesota and Vermont during 2005.

What is covered are the basics for which Roy Harris is known including but not limited to side mount escapes, posture, and positions, collar chokes and much more. There are question and answer sessions that most white to blue belts would find very informative such as take downs from the knees as well as when to open your guard and why. Did I mention escapes?

Want it? Get it at Budo Videos

Takedowns from the Knees DVD by Roy Harris

When I started my takedowns from the knees consisted of the head tuck and pushing over the opponent and as you can guess this got very predictable. I found this little gem and it was expanded my toolbox of takedowns greatly.

Roy covers 2 on 1, elbow and collar, butterfly type takedowns to name a few in gi and no gi variations. This DVD has a nice menu so you can skip to where you want and there are easily over 20 techniques. At the end there are some sparring so you can see him in action.

My only minor gripe is that the music was a bit 70’s porn style, but the quality of instruction is typical Roy Harris, top notch.

This is a quality instructional that is long on knowledge and short on filler.

Want it? Get it at Budo Videos

Soon I will be posting a review of Roy Harris' Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Over 40.

Scissor Guard Update

This is an update on my progress with Scissor Guard.

I talked to my instructor on this and showed him the Scissor Sweep variations from this guard and he thought it was ok, however there were more options from the traditional scissor sweep and proceeded to show me a new sweep. I have looked online and I do not see this one anywhere so I will try to describe it.

Essentially you do the traditional scissor sweep and the opponent bases up to the opposite side, so you pull them on you and use your knee to push them over to that side. It is a very nifty move that takes very little effort.

I have to agree with my instructor that attempting the traditional scissor sweep does seem to offer bit more options which include but not limited to:

• Replace guard if it goes wrong.
• New sweep which I will refer to as knee sweep.
• Cross reversal
• Entry to butterfly guard
• Sit up for hip bump reversal

That being said I did get an chance to execute the Scissor Guard sweeps with good results however I will probably will only use it when I cannot get the traditional scissor sweep position. What really does intrigue me though is the Scissors Guard: Switching Sides to Gi Choke since I can use the switch to set up the Hip Bump (shown in the last post) and set up one of my favorites, the Flower Sweep (we refer to this as the Breakdance reversal).

More homework for next week, so stay tuned...

Scissor Guard

I stumbled upon these videos of the Scissor Guard on Youtube. The reason it is of interest is because I am finding myself in the Scissor Guard position but didn't really have too many clues of what to do but meet my knees and elbows together and put my feet on the hips and push and roll then go to closed guard.

Scissors Guard: The Basics


Scissors Guard: Switching Sides to Gi Choke

We had learned this technique in class however the setup definitely shed some light of other ways I could use it.



Scissors Sweep

The Scissor sweep it is one of the most basic sweeps in BJJ however this variation sets up from the chest rather than the waist and hip which seems to break the posture to the side more than the traditional technique.



Scissors Sweep: Wide Base Variation



Scissors Guard: Double Sleeve to Hip Bump Sweep



So for the next few weeks I will be playing with these techniques and mixing it up.