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.

The Newaza of Tsunetane Oda

The following videos feature Tsunetane Oda who is attributed to have created Sankaku-jime (Triangle choke).

Enjoy!

Follow up to Takedowns from the Knees

I want to share a very interesting post that appeared on Judo Forum by the poster, Happiness Is A Warm Gun on entries to newaza.

“One of the senseis I trained excessively with was a newaza specialist, who frequently would remind me that the best way to enter newaza was rarely with a sacrifice throw, which makes you start newaza on your back, but instead with sasae tsurikomi ashi, de ashi barai, and other attacks that frequently leave the opponent kneeling if they aren't successful. He would even just pull guys down onto their knees by both lapels, and because there are so many dangerous submissions available from sprawl, the threat of being pulled to one's knees made most people plant their feet and straighten up as soon as he would yank down on their lapels, which invariably rooted in place and left them vulnerable to a variety of different followup attacks.”

This is interesting since lately the throw type takedowns have not been too successful lately for me but getting the opponent on all fours and using Obi Tori Gaeshi and various turnovers has worked extremely as well as jumping into sweeps.

Nathan (my instructor) has suggested using the get to the feet position as one method to move quicker on my entries and I will try this and report the results in the future.

Below I would like to share some videos from newaza genius Katsuhiko Kashiwazaki

Another version of Obi Tori Gaeshi

Takedowns from the Knees

One of the things that comes up often in grappling message boards is the topic of takedowns from the knees. A lot of times training partners spend must of the time grunting, pulling and pushing or one just jumps to guard.

Starting from the knees is an opportune time to work on basic sweeps, throws, and exploring kuzushi.

A few weeks ago in class we worked on Tai otoshi, Push-pull, Scissor and Butterfly sweeps from the knees.

Tai otoshi from the knees

1. Get a sleeve grip and lapel grip.
2. Bring your knee up (lapel side) between theirs.
3. Kick your back leg strongly to the rear.
4. Step to the outside of their knee (from the middle knee up) and rotate keeping your arms in front of you.
5. Establish side control.

Push-pull

1. Get a sleeve and high lapel grip.
2. Strongly pull the sleeve while pushing the lapel side.
3. Establish side control.

In the video below (at 1:44) this techniqueis shown except it is demonstrated with a large step to the rear and fall into Kesa gatame. For me as funny as it may sound it require too much flexibility and just doing the above three steps worked well too.

Stephen Kesting does a beautiful job explaining the Scissor sweep (at 0:35) and Butterfly sweep (at 1:35) from the knees in the video below.

Obi Tori Gaeshi

This one I picked up from the book, Attacking Judo. The video below clearly shows in detail the mechanics.

You can modify it as a sweep by doing the following:

1. When in guard and your opponent is posturing up sit up and get an underhook.
2. Pull and then push and get a foot in.
3. Push hard again and the opponent will resist by straightening up or pushing back.
4. Fall backwards and kick to the rear and if done correctly they will fly.

I did this the other day in class and I bounced my training partner against the wall and landed on him in side control. The first time you pull this one off correctly it can be bewildering because it is very easy to throw someone with almost no effort.

Flowchart from Roy Harris' Open Guard Seminar from Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Seminars: Year One

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Seminars: Year One (Roy Dean) Extended Review

First up before beginning the review I would like to thank Roy Dean for his superior customer service and a very top notch BJJ instruction compilation.

It takes me a bit of time to digest things I see on video, so I will review this DVD section by section.

I will start with Roy Harris Seminar on the open guard. First I think a little background is in order: I had purchased other BJJ instructionals and found many of them lacking in the detail that I require to learn. Most of these tend to be “When he does this you do this..” and this approach does not work well for me since I pay attention to the details and the concept and once I master it then I implement and improvise. I discovered Roy Harris’ on Youtube and really liked the way he showed all the details of the techniques. So I purchased Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Over 40 and have really started to get really good results with it (Review will be coming soon).

When I saw the Roy Dean DVD and saw that Roy Harris teaches the open guard then I decided to buy it since my weakness is with the open guard and I wanted to shore that up. Also I saw his open guard seminar in Poland and that sealed the deal so I bought it and boy am I glad I did!

The following is an outline of the topics covered by Roy Harris in this Open Guard seminar at the Roy Dean Academy:

I. Pushes to defend against the pass
1. Hand on the jaw and neck
2. Hand cupping the bicep/tricep and pushing the elbow
3. Forearm in the arm pit (if you lose the hand on the jaw)

II. Pushes with the feet
1. Push bicep at the crook of the elbow
2. Push hip
3. Push the outside or inside of the knee (sweep)

III. Put the defensive pushes of hands and feet together

IV. Pushes with Knee/foreleg
1. Push the shoulder
2. Top of the chest
3. The hip

V. Grips- Offense
1. Sleeve (or wrist if no gi)
2. Sleeve and elbow (or tricep if no gi)
3. Grip the lapel at the clavicle

VI. Put the offensive pulls with the grips and pushes with the feet and knees together.

VII. Hooks
1. Inside the knee
2. Outside the knee
3. The hip

He then goes on to say that this is the extreme basics of his open guard game and make up 90% of his game in various combinations.

He also goes into some really interesting yet efficient defenses for common guard passes.

After watching this part of the DVD twice I was able to noticeably improve my reactions when I was playing open guard and I am sure that with more study and practice I will put it all together.

If this review sold you on buying Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Seminars: Year One you can purchase it direct from Roy Dean at http://www.roydeanacademy.com/dvds or at Budo Videos. If not yet then stay tuned since I will review the rest of this DVD as I go along.

Below is Roy Harris’ Open Guard Seminar in Poland


Links:

www.roydeanacademy.com

www.royharris.com

E-Journal of Jujutsu from Roy Dean
www.jujutsujournal.com

EVOLUTIONARY FITNESS

When you hear the terms Paleodiet and Evolutionary Fitness you may think, “Hey eat and workout like a caveman, right?” “I do Jiu-jitsu, so I already do that.” However if you are like most when you guzzle down that post-workout protein shake to insure optimal recovery and muscle mass you may be doing more harm than good according to Art DeVany, scientist/athlete and one of the leading proponents of Paleodiets and Evolutionary Fitness. Art believes that this post-workout ritual interferes with the release of growth hormone caused by intense exercise by creating a large spike of insulin which as many of you know, shuts off the release of GH. So you can be short-circuiting your attempts to recover but that is only the tip of the iceberg. You also can be setting yourself up for Type II diabetes from insulin receptor burnout.

Evolutionary Fitness coined by Art DeVany is a lifestyle that includes eating according to the tenets of the Paleodiet as well as specific exercise advice. This philosophy is based on the premises that we are genetically indistinguishable from humans from our distant past, however the difference is that the lifestyle and diet runs counter to the conditions our genes have adapted to. This modern lifestyle is a major contributing factor for disease conditions such as Syndrome X, heart disease, cancer and other “diseases of affluence.” By restoring the diet and exercise patterns of our hunter gatherer ancestors we can reclaim our health and lead fuller lives.

So what specifically is this Paleodiet thing anyway? According to Ray Audette, author of the classic, Neanderthin it is a natural diet in which you eat what is edible when you are naked with only a sharp stick. Very simply do not eat grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar and starches. Do eat meat, fish, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. The aim of this diet is to consume what our bodies have evolved to eat as well as control blood sugar. A lot of people on this diet report a reversal in auto-immune issues as well as weight-loss and increased energy levels.

The Do’s:
• Workout intensely not much more than 3 times a week
• Lift weights for not much more than 25:00
• Workout hungry so you start with high GH levels
• Anaerobic work in the form of sprints or on a bike
• Wait 60-90 minutes between your workout and first meal to insure high GH levels
• Have fun and have variety
• Eat the Paleo way

The Don’t’s:
• Aerobic exercise
• Train to failure
• Eat right before or after your workout since the insulin spike curtails GH levels
• Avoid sugar, starches, and empty calories in your diet

My take is that this approach is a very valid one and I was following it many years ago. As you guessed I fell off the wagon and went back to the usual same ole same ole due to some personal problems. I ended up about 30lbs heavier and just recently I decided to revisit this approach. I have been doing it for over 2wks and have noticed that my waist has dropped a couple of inches and I have lost 10lbs.

I must say I differ slightly with some of the recommendations of the Evo. Fitness folks as well as some of the other online fitness gurus since I think aerobic exercise has value. They tout strawman arguments such as using marathoners as examples for oxidative stress and the difference in fat burning etc. for the reasons of doing anaerobic training (interval training and equivalents) vs. aerobic.

I argue that anaerobic (read glycolytic = sugar burning) creates even more oxidative stress and is more catabolic due to the cortisol produced. I can speak of this from experience from my days as a collegiate runner (1500-5,000M) in that at the beginning of the season after doing all aerobic (> 60% VO2 Max) with some strides for turnover and weight lifting I was physically stronger than at the end of the season when I was “fitter (faster)” however I was also physically weaker and on the verge of being sick. A majority of my training during this point of the season was at 80-110% VO2Max. Mark Sisson of the Evo. Fitness crowd stated that “Humans were just not designed to work for extended periods of time at 80-90% VO2max.” I wholeheartedly agree with him.

I think the 3 areas us Jiu-jitsu practitioners should focus on if following this approach in the order of importance would be of course practice, strength/explosive training (CP/ATP system not anaerobic), and aerobic running (relaxed varied paced). These strength/explosive training sessions should be done with full recovery (1:3-1:4) and build on the specific skills and fitness for Jiu-jitsu. Examples include but not limited to plyomentrics, heavy lifts, calisthenics, and short sprints can be employed.

One book that outlines this explosive strength approach and gives sample exercises, drills, and a program for Judo/Wrestling is the book/dvd set, Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness.

Enjoy…


Suggested Reading




Art DeVany’s Blog

Essay on Evolutionary Fitness by Art DeVany

Art DeVany interview with Charles Staley (audio link)


Mark Sisson’s Daily Apple

Training is no guarantee of health by Mark Sisson (www.slowtwitch.com)

PaleoDiet.com - The Paleolithic Diet Page

Performance Enhancer: Robb Wolf Interview from E-Journal of Jujutsu, Spring 2007 pp. 8-12

Review: The Guard

The Guard

By Ed Beneville & Joe Moreira

All I got to say about The Guard is where the hell to start! And that is a good thing…

I like the flowchart format of this book which is reminiscent of Rubber Guard by Eddie Bravo. Personally I like this book better than the Rubber Guard since as it says in the beginning that you do not have to be excessively flexible to perform any of these movements and I am the walking embodiment of this so I feel it is speaking to me.

First thing covered are the basic movements of Jiu-jitsu such as the shrimp/snake movements etc. and shows the applications of these basic moves. Then it details different aspects of the guard game in a mind boggling array of pictures and alternate views while showing the flow between techniques. Of particular interest is the chapter on Basic Chokes in that it goes into great detail on the mechanics. Personally this chapter helped me a great deal with my gi chokes and now that is all I do. Once you get these basic mechanics down then you can really improvise which means you give your partner something to think about when passing your guard.

My only problems have to do with the quality of the paper and ink since the pages do not seem to be very sturdy and the pictures bleed a little bit. Also the sheer amount of information here can be a bit overwhelming. I think that is a nice problem to have for a book.

Introduction

Introduction

Newaza which roughly translates to ground technique has its roots in Judo and has been expanded upon in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Modern sport oriented Judo has reduced the role of newaza in competition in favor of greater emphasis in throwing techniques (tachiwaza) and athletism. Originally newaza and tachiwaza were taught in roughly a 50/50 ratio and in Japan, school children started their Judo journey with newaza and ukemi (falls) before practicing tachiwaza.

Kosen Judo which is a style of Kodokan Judo focuses on newaza and is still practiced in the seven ex-imperial universities of Japan as well as some independent dojos such as the one established by Kanae Hirata. Kosen judo also does tachiwaza despite their emphasis on newaza. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu like Kosen Judo emphasizes on newaza as opposed to takedowns (tachiwaza) in a roughly 90/10 ratio.

About Me

My name is Christian and I am presently taking BJJ at Ronin Academy. I started out in Judo at CCSF Judo Club and I really liked it. I found Sensei Mitchell Palacio to be a brilliant teacher and I wish that my body was a bit more durable so I could have gotten the most out of his teaching.

My path to BJJ started with a Judo injury. In my case I got 2 for one. My partner was trying to throw me with an uki-goshi (hip throw) but instead of using the technique he used all strength which rather than making me go over his shoulder and land, he threw me straight up and the only thing I could do was land on my feet. My body went this way and my leg went that way and ouch was the result. Any sane person at this point would have sat down, but I am not sane and not as smart I as I would like to be so I continued to practice with him (on one leg). Needless to say I injured the other side as well.

I found out that I had torn the groin muscles on both sides and I would have to sit out until it healed. About 3wks later I decide that since I have no pain it must be better, so I warmed up before class and started doing the warm up and ukemi and aggravated the right side again. After class Sensei Palacio told me to take care of this injury since it is very serious and can ruin any future Judo plans I may have. So started my exile from Judo and other physical activities for 7 months.

Of course the other options were not so great such as surgery pain killers. I decided I was going to try a different route. I remembered that the founder of the Feldenkrias method was a judoka, so I found a book he wrote called Higher Judo: Ground Work. In this book he talked about specific exercises to strengthen the core and how newaza can make one a better judoka. The problem was most Judo clubs focus on tachiwaza, so where am I going to get this training?

Enter Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, and as luck would have it there was a academy in my area and loving every minute of it.

So What is the Point of this Blog Anyway?

What this blog will be:

• A collection of my general observations about newaza and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu specifically.
  
• Reviews of books, videos, etc.
• Posting of relevant articles or videos
  

What this blog will not be:

• Ego tripping (who I beat today, gossip, etc.)
• Day by day mundane posts (what I ate for breakfast, the color of my underwear or socks)

Sometimes I will be prolific with my postings and there will be times in which I may be sporadic. I will only post when I have something to share since I do not want to bore the reader with mindless drivel.

If you see something that you agree with please comment and if you think I am full of it, tell me that too.

Input is good!