MMA Stuff » Grappling

3 Sweeps from Guard

Jimmy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:21:45 +0000

Sweeping is an easy way to score points in a MMA fight or in a grappling match. A personal preference for myself is sweeps starting from the closed guard. Believe it or not, a high percentage sweep for me is the basic scissor sweep. If done at the correct time and speed, it is devastating.

Here are 3 sweeps from guard. I’ve actually tried the elevator sweep the first time earlier tonight rolling, it’s a great sweep. Still getting the details down, but I suggest you try these out. Incorporate these sweeps in your game.

Scissor Sweep

Elevator Sweep

Mayflower Sweep

Demian Maia on Counter Attacks

Jimmy — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:07:57 +0000

My twitter buddy @eraad showed me this guy. If you look at the related videos, he has a series of videos. I really like how he teaches and the counters shows. He has a series of DVDs called Science of Jiu Jitsu, which is a 6 DVD set for 150 bucks. Quite pricey, don’t know if I see myself picking it up but if you’re interested get it here.

Background on Demian Maia

Demian Maia is well known and respected in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling world and is now quickly rising the ranks of mixed martial arts due to his incredible skill set and technique. A 2007 ADDC 77 – 87KG weight division Champion as well as holding numerous world and grappling titles, Demian Maia is now one of the UFC’s hottest new stars. Demian teaches an incredibly evolving Jiu-Jitsu that’s beyond anything you’ve ever seen.

9 Lessons I’ve Learned From Jiu Jitsu So Far

Jimmy — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:09:13 +0000

Lesson 1: Jiu Jitsu can be overwhelming at first. Things didn’t start to come together until 6 months in. One day all the moves I’ve learned started to click together in my head.

Lesson 2: You can learn from everybody, whether it be a white belt, blue belt, or black belt. Every little piece of advice given to me is valuable. I’ll appreciate any advice from anyone.

Lesson 3: The aggressor and stronger guy doesn’t always win. I’ll be rolling with new guys that have a huge weight and power advantage and beat them with pure technique. My instructor said it the best, “Use Jiu Jitsu, not strength”

Lesson 4: One of the best advice I’ve received. “Breathe and flow like water.” Simple as that, I’ve learned that remaining calm and breathing can really help me. The more tense you are, the more tired you’ll get. Flow between Jiu Jitsu combinations, can’t get the triangle? Turn it into an arm bar.

Lesson 5: BJJ is nothing more than a game of chess. Sometimes I’ll give my opponent my arm because I know the armbar is coming and I can escape. I try my best to think one if not two steps ahead.

Lesson 6: Repetition, repetition, repetition. I’ve learned that doing a move twice will not allow me to master the technique. Arm bar and triangle drills helped me “flow like water.” Rolling often improved my Jiu Jitsu ten fold.

Lesson 7: There is no shame in tapping out. It’s better than being injured. I’ve seen guys not tap because of their ego and get hurt. Even when I get tapped out, I’ve learned something.

Lesson 8: One small mistake can turn a good position into a really bad one.

Lesson 9: Seeing a move on youtube and then trying it will most likely not work.

Judo vs BJJ – The Answer is Judo AND BJJ

Jimmy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:03:45 +0000

Whether viewing websites or MMA, Judo, and BJJ forums, the subject of Judo vs. BJJ has become yet another classic debate, akin to that of the old “Gi vs. No Gi” debate. However, the question of Judo vs. BJJ is much simpler to answer because it is simply the wrong question in almost every applicable context. In short, an Olympic level Judoka would benefit from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as much as a world-class BJJ player would benefit from Judo. And at the top level, there are multiple examples of this beginning to happen. GB’s Winston Gordon trains with Gracie Barra and holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Ray Stevens, former Olympic silver medallist, has been known to train with Roger Gracie. Dave Camarillo, Rhadi Ferguson, and Lloyd Irvin have become vocal advocates of cross-training these arts and have all enjoyed considerable success in both sports. Therefore the answer is Judo AND BJJ. Most top level players are starting to know this fact and rarely ever involve themselves in the nonsense of the forums.

However, trawl the forums and you will frequently see this very discussion taking place. Comments range from the petty such as a “judoka” commenting about BJJ players wearing too many patches on their Gi’s to the erroneous “BJJ player” commenting that “judoka’s are easy to double leg”. I also recently read from one judoka that “either never seen anyone in BJJ show me a move that didn’t exist in Judo”.

Such comments are harmful because they slow our progression to be the best that we can be. It is a fact that within the “Gi sports” that the average Judo club will have a far higher degree of stand-up skill per person, and the average BJJ club (who out there thinks they are in an average club – Ha, that’s another story and I’ll be shot if I go there!!) will have a far higher degree of skill on the ground. Assuming that the respective coaching levels are held constant then anyone wishing to balance their skills would surely want to practise stand-up at the Judo club and BJJ at the BJJ club. And this is why comments such as “I’ve never seen anyone in BJJ show me a move that didn’t exist in Judo” are so unhelpful and completely miss the point. Neither art is really about knowing the greatest number of “moves” and anyone who has trained in the competitive environment knows this is the case. However, such comments promote ignorance and division rather than learning and integration.

There are a multitude of benefits to training both Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo, from greater all-round skills, to the cross-over benefits of learning different approaches to training (e.g. speed and power to slow and technical). There are simply too many to list here. However, anyone in doubt or uncertain should consider this: the learning curve in both arts is greatest at the beginning and therefore you stand the most to gain from the early days. When I first began Judo, I found that it was much easier to throw non-Judo players at BJJ. However, some months after, my BJJ friends began training Judo and learned to stiff-arm. All of sudden, I couldn’t throw them as often (until I overcame the stiff-arm).

Therefore, forget the ancient texts, the “who tapped who” in the 1920s, the lineage charts, and the other nonsense. To compete optimally in either sport, you need BOTH Judo and BJJ and some wrestling as well won’t harm. My website “JudoBJJ” is seeking to promote the integration of these sports for the benefit of Judo AND BJJ alike.

Glyn Powditch BJJ Brown Belt Judoka MMA Instructor

http://www.judobjj.com http://bjjblog.judobjj.com/blog

About the Author

Glyn Powditch is a BJJ Brown Belt under Karl Tanswell, an SBG MMA Instructor and an active Judoka. He runs the website JudoBJJ to promote the fusion of BJJ and Judo.