Catching up - Tuesday

TUESDAY

Today Russ and I have a private scheduled with Glenio in the afternoon.

We needed to review the techniques Russ has learned. At this point, Russ has done more classes with Glenio than he has any other teacher, so hopefully some of it is starting to stick.

Here are the techniques he knows:

- Basic breakfalls.

- Scissor sweep and two variations; the knee push and the hook flip.

- X choke from mount and guard.

- Basic standing guard pass.

- North/South kimura.

Glenio has a few more techniques for Russ today: transition to mount and arm bar from guard. I know Russ has done the arm bar from guard before with Penao, but he doesn’t remember much of it. It’s been interesting to watch Glenio work with someone who has almost no experience and to see what techniques he thinks are important to learn first. I think Penao also did the scissor sweep with Russ his first class. It’s also one of the very first techniques on Draculino’s new website. So there is at least some agreement that this is a cornerstone technique of BJJ. I also personally love the scissor sweep.

Russ also wants to learn the scissor-leg choke Glenio showed me from North/South. I think this is putting the cart way before the horse, but Glenio obliges. I’m not 100 per cent certain Russ understands the technique, but it is a good lesson for him. This technique begins to show Russ the complexity of the attack-defend-attack dynamic that can happen in a real roll.

Glenio asks to see my arm bar from guard. No problem. I always grip the collar to break the posture. This is because I always work the scissor sweep to one side and the arm bar to the other. The grip stays the same. Glenio thinks it can be a bit tricky to get the collar grip and prefers to take the grip on the loose material on the shoulder of the kimono.

But what he really wants to show me is a choke setup against an opponent who defends by holding his bicep. Glenio’s preferred arm bar set up is to open the bottom of the lapel and use it to trap the elbow and draw it across. Once you have the leg over and the opponent defends, you can reach around his head and grab the tail to draw the lapel across his throat. It’s a nice technique since the your opponent is so busy defending the arm bar he’s not even considering the choke. He also cannot free a hand to defend without giving up the armbar.

Glenio shows a few ways to finish it. You can try to finish the choke right there with your leg over. Alternately, you can open the guard, and sweep your opponent. The technique for the sweep is like the butterfly sweep, but you must resist the temptation to go to mount. Instead, flatten your outside leg so you come to a sitting position. From there, you have three or four options for finishing with a choke or armbar.

Next we went over a few more grip breaks when an opponent is blocking the armbar in the spider web position. In addition to the ol’ heel in the armpit, we wnet over two more options. First, when an opponent uses the double grip, you can grip his collar and use his own grip to choke him out. The second is tricky to describe: thread your outside arm through his arm. Reach your inside arm across and put the elbow on the outside. Lean towards his hips so you can connect your hands. Pry towards his head to break the grip.

I rolled with Russ for a bit and tried to give him a realistic look at what a roll is like. I tried to keep it fluid and not let my ego force me to tap him over and over. Russ is beginning to catch on. He’s herky-jerky like any beginner, but he is at least thinking about the techniques and not spazzing out.

Next I rolled with Glenio. Glenio is a little monster on top. I’ve been working on my side control escapes, but I could not get Glenio off me. Glenio finished me twice with a one-armed choke from half guard. I made him promise to show it to me next time.

Tomorrow my plan is to find the main Ataque Duplo Academy in Florianopolis. That’s the academy where Glenio received his BB and the home academy to UFC fighter Thiago Tavares. I have not had any experiences here with a big academy (though I do have a visit to Gracie Floripa planned for Thursday,) so it is something I’m really looking forward to.