That’s me in the photo lifting a weight. Something I have never ever done before. Not seriously anyway. A long time ago I did try to do a dead lift, once. But, at age 48, I’ve only now started to give lifting weights a serious consideration. I can't believe I've left it until now to do it! In this article, I report on how I found my first session...
Summary
In depth look at the knee slice guard pass and a neat round up of the Spider Guard by active competitor and top ten ranked brown belt Erin Herle. This set excels in its level of depth and detail of the knee pass and offers a good set of spider guard attacks. The techniques are ideal for those who, like Erin, require a reliable gameplan that suits the smaller grappler.
Details
Available through Digitsu On Demand only here.
Price: $29.99
Every so often I give my students a mini-lecture on the best practice when rolling. I feel it is important to remind everyone of the reasons why we roll and how best to do it.
In short, I think you get the best out of your limited time sparring by aiming for a specific goal. It could be a mini goal like say wanting to hit an armbar from the closed guard. Or it could be a wider aim, for example, trying to play a pressure style passing game or other more concept focused goal. Whatever the aim, having some sort of focus will be a much more effective use of your time.
A lot of rolls have a fair amount of wasted time however. Tying your belt, tucking your gi together, re-tying your hair, chatting, stalling, refusing to engage, running away, wiping away your sweat etc etc. All these things happen and easily avoided or ignored. One could easily waste 2 or 3 minutes of a five minute rolling bout not actually rolling. That's poor time management.
For me, the most important part of any roll is the very first hand slap and fist bump. This gesture is not merely a greeting or old tradition. I view it as an agreement, an understanding...that I and my partner will roll with the aim of trying our very best but without hurting each other.
Often you'll see more experienced, equally matched grapplers engaged in a to and fro sparring match, each smoothly countering and defending and attacking one another with great fluency. This isn't actually hard to do, it just takes a little practice and mat time. Sparring is a skill one cultivates over time, much like any other part of jiu jitsu training. In the video above, I narrate as I go along. The aim is to reveal my thinking and plans of action to observer so they can see how I deal with problems and opportunities mid roll.
Anyway, these are my own personal thoughts. Another instructor may feel differently. That's perfectly fine, jiu jitsu is a huge entity and can happily accomodate all sorts of methodology when it comes to training and teaching.
My name is Seymour Yang and I am an artist and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fanatic. I write and draw content under the name Meerkatsu. You can buy my art prints, BJJ fightwear and clothing over at www.meerkatsu.com or click on the Store links on the navigation bar.
