History Of MMA: Fred Ettish

History Of MMA: Fred Ettish from Bobby Razak on Vimeo.

Getting to grips with grip fighting

Although position is the master key to submission and victory in grappling, grip control is certainly another important key on your jiu-jitsu key ring. The grip can negate position and the grants control over the body, be it yours or your opponents. Today I did a brief clinic on some methods for grip breaking.

Two-on-one
In general two handed control is stronger than one handed control. Thus when we want to break the grip using two hands against their single grip should provide the greater strength needed to detach them from your kimono. In combination with the proper mechanics your ability to free yourself should increase. By optimizing your hand position you will also be able to move their arm, i.e. drag or wrap them, to improve your position and ability to attack.

Figure four to contralateral wrap

Your partner is controlling both lapels. Pistol grip their same side sleeve and bring your opposite hand underneath their wrist and grab our wrist, leaving your wrist beneath theirs. Now lift over your head, try to kink their wrist as you pull their hand perpendicularly away from the lapel, against where the fingers of their grip meet. Pull across your body and wrap their arm under your opposite axilla. From here you can:

• Take their back
  
• Arm bar (carefully) if they try to block you taking the back
  
• Hip bump sweep if they pull their arm out

Figure four to ipsilateral wrap

Again in this scenario your partner is controlling both lapels. Pistol grip their opposite sleeve and reach underneath their arm with your same side to grab your wrist, again placing wrist to wrist. Pull up and over your head, again try to kink the wrist as you lift their hand perpendicularly from your lapel. Wrap the arm and release the pistol grip once it is securely wrapped. Grab their cross collar with the wrapped side. From here you can:

• Cross collar choke
  
• Same side arm bar
  
• Same side bent arm bar (if they try to underhook deep)
  
• Oma plata (if they reverse the arm)

Provoked response
Although generally reactively obtaining grips after your opponent has already gotten a hold of you yields to suboptimal leverage. That is, he who grabs first has the control, even if he who grabs second also gets grips. However, even if you have grips you are still vulnerable to submission attempts. For example, if your opponent has control of both lapels in your guard, look for the cross collar choke. Either

1. this choke will work
   
2. your opponent will create space, by straightening their arms, and you can go for the straight arm bar, or
   
3. they block the choke and you can detach their grip by putting the same side hand under their wrist, get the cross sleeve pistol grip and lift their grip hand of the lapel

Using the legs
By using your legs to not only open the guard but to place leverage on the arms you can break grips.

Knee over

Slide your shin over their arm, placing the shin in the crook of their elbow and push, breaking the grip. Look for the triangle.

Knee inside

Slide your knee medially and then bring it laterally against the crook of the elbow, simultaneously push away. Either they let go or they become extended and more easy to control.

Scope. Broaden it.

People often "specialize" as to what they think they are good at. They described themselves as strikers or grapplers. Strikers further sub-specialize their skills into being a puncher or kicker or even more finely segregated than that. We want to be good at something, so we train our strengths, downplay our weaknesses, and develop a "specialization" not developed by choice but by necessity. While this may make you hard to beat, it doesn't allow you to grow as much as you could, and makes you unable to teach different but equal approaches to combat. It also makes you an easier problem to solve, as your "syllabus" of mayhem is smaller and more easily understood.

I'm an ambulatory combat platform, or at least I strive to be. I can punch, kick, knee, elbow, bite, head butt, slap, tear, grip, wrestle, throw, takedown, submit, ad nauseum. I may not do everything equally well but I strive to have the optimal technique for each skill and then attempt seamlessly weave them into a horrific and painful net of offense and defense. Yes I have an "A-game" that I use when the chips are down and I need to deliver, but that game has an underlying expansive evolution, taken from a pool of developing technique, tactics and strategies that are trained when immediate victory can be sacrificed for longterm development.

If we simply break down "punching" and "kicking" into attributes, I believe that each has an edge on the other depending on how we are evaluating it:

Attribute	Punching	Kicking
Speed, v	X
Energy, 1/2 mv2		X
Accuracy	X
Range		X
Levels		X
Mobility	X

We know that upper extremity striking is faster and more accurate than lower extremity striking, the upper limbs are lighter and designed for faster and more precise movement than our legs. However the speed difference is made up by more muscle and bone in our legs, which allows us to deliver kicks with more energy than punches (but also costs more energy to deliver). Kicks can be delivered from further away, but sacrifice mobility as we must stand on one foot transiently to deliver them. Kicks can deliver to more levels than punches, although theoretically either one of them can hit any level of target.

The drills from practice last night including, kicking shoulder tag (keep your hands up!), kicking knee tag (tap lightly to avoid knee tragedy!), and anything to the belly (lightly!).

For our first round we fed: lead kick - rear oblique kick to the shin pad - lead hook - cross AND cover - rear oblique kick to the shin pad - lead hook - cross - lead hook. Next we looked at head kick variations, including the tiip, of some traditional combinations. We worked the levels, while attempting to make the entrance movements look identical, for low, middle, and high thai kicks. Lastly we worked body hook/body cross - lead/rear uppercut - rear oblique kick - lead head kick - rear head kick.

Next we worked on throwing, specifically hip toss variations. The traditional hip toss (o-goshi) you must displace your opponents hips with your hip, either by rotating in front of your uke or by side clinching and then stepping in front to displace their hips. They fall forward and over your hip because you wrap their waist (a low underhook), classic undertook, or wrap their head (overhook variation) while grabbing their opposite arm, pulling them and lighten them as your hips displace theirs.

The variations we covered were the inside leg reap (uchimata) and outside leg reap (haraigoshi). The key to both these is to remember that they are still hip tosses. Thus for uchimata the hip strikes medial to their near hip but just lateral to their midline and the leg reaps straight back, lifting their leg not backwards but laterally. You are literally sweeping their stabilizing leg by lifting their other leg so high that the angle created with the ground is greater than the angle that they can split their legs. If they can lift their leg higher than you can reap, ankle pick with your free hand.

Haraigoshi your hip fulcrum will be medial to their far hip but lateral to their midline. As your hip strikes and you pull forward with your grip, you lighten them enough to sweep their leg by placing your thigh "high on the thigh for harai" (courtesy of Shonie Carter).

Lastly we discussed escaping bad position, particularly the side mount. I've covered this before, but I'll reiterate the keys: Baby steps and make small corrections, if your "incorrect" it is lot easier to fix a small mistake. Second, move where they are not, thus if you push into them, push in the direction that they do not have a base. If you move away from them, move where they cannot stop you.

Reactive Agility

Some combo drills for refining footwork, defense reactions, and counters:

Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Slip - lead leg counter kick
Partner A: Cross
Partner B: High cover

Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Slip - lead leg counter kick
Partner A: Lead hook
Partner B: Side cover

Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Bob - body jab
Partner A: Overhand
Partner B: Weave

Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Bob - body jab
Partner A: Lead hook
Partner B: Side cover

Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Intercepting tiip
Partner A: Rear hand scoop - lead leg kick
Partner B: Leg evasion - rear leg kick

Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Evade
Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Parry
Partner A: Jab
Partner B: Through step - upper cut

Some drills for improved kicking footwork, both sides with thai pads and shin pads. Use the thighs or pads to simulate targets on the legs, body, or head using round or straight kicks.

Two kicks back and forth
Two kicks, evade counter kick, return counter(counter) kick
Partner A attempts to leg kick partner B, who evades and then holds a kick for partner A. Then partner B attempts the leg kick and the drill switches.

Jiu-jitsu is not science, not chess, but like sex in the dark

Today I attended a Brazilian jiu-jitsu seminar by Wellington "Megaton" Dias. I'm used to the ridiculous ability of my coach, Jack McVicker, but Megaton has yet another level of amazing technique and talent.

General comments:

Don't be too smart

Megaton pointed out that the more he sees students analyze technique and overthink it, rather than just trying it, the more problems they have. He's not advocating not using your brain, just don't let your learning be bogged down with analysis and micro-details. Details come with time and practice.

All positions work and are easy, if done at the right time

You can only do a position if your partner feeds the right energy and is in the right spot. If it is not working you either need to adjust yourself or do something to adjust them.

Picking sides

Position needs to work on both sides, but you will find a side that works better. Use it but don't rely on it.

Foot-in-the-hip guard
Place one foot in the hip, provide enough tension to be able to bend them at the waist when you grab their sleeve but enough bend in your leg that it is not locked out. Use the opposite hand to control the sleeve at the wrist and the same hand to control the sleeve at the triceps. The free leg can engage your partner's free arm at the elbow or simply move in the air.

Hook sweep

Free foot hooks behind the same side knee, and the hand controlling the triceps grabs the same side ankle. Pull the foot as you push at the hip, while pulling with your hook. Sweep them and come up in control but inside the guard.

Oma plata

If your partner grips your lapel, lift at the elbow and transition to oma plata. If your partner's hand is free, lift elbow and push the wrist down, prior to kicking the leg up for the oma plata. As your partner is standing you will have to go higher than your "normal" oma plata, thus you will have to lift your posterior and legs higher to catch the arm.

Triangle choke

Pull their arm cross body as the free leg hooks over the neck. Release the foot from the hip and use this leg to cinch off the triangle.

Star sweep

Release the triceps grip and inside under hook the same side leg. Now use the free leg to pendulum 180° and elevate the hips to catch your partner's gripped side bicep at your groin and roll over the near shoulder. This should pull them backward with their gripped sleeve between your legs. Switch grips, and base with the now free hand. Spin 180° over your partner's face to the mounted position.

Feet in the hips
In this scenario, your partner stands to pass. They place their feet at your hips, i.e. they stand close to you. You are controlling their sleeves laterally at the elbows.

Sweep to mount

Rapidly open your guard and place both feet in their hips. Flare their elbows as you lift them, at the hips, in the air. Pull them forward and over one shoulder, flipping them on their back. After they land, roll backward and mount.

Lift to armbar

Again lift your partner at the hips, but now drop one leg wide. The removal of the support will cause them to drop and rotate, off the lifting foot. Control the arm and bring the "dropped" leg back and over their head into the arm bar.

Inside leg underhook sequence
Start by controlling both sleeves from the closed guard. Your opponent stands.

Bump to mount

Pass one sleeve to the cross grip. The free arm inside under hooks the same side leg. You can walk on your shoulders to get close enough to the leg. Pass the gripped sleeve to the under hook, freeing this hand. Place the free hand, palm on the floor behind your shoulder. Push up and back against the inside thigh of the trapped leg. After they fall, open your legs and mount. You will release the grip on the leg in order to obtain your mount.

Straight arm bar

Try to bump to mount as above. They resist by grabbing the lapel with the ungripped hand. Switch to arm bar by kicking the leg opposite the underhook side over the head.

Lateral sweep

Try to bump as above. Again they defend but the arm bar is not available, e.g, they step rather than locking out their arm. Place the knee inside the arm opposite the underhook side. Drive the knee laterally as you kick in the same direction against their latissimus dorsi.

Oma plata

You have been unsuccessful in armbarring or laterally sweeping. Use your opposite leg to pendulum 180°. Lift your hips to oma plata the under hook arm side.

Star sweep

You attempt oma plata but your partner defends by grabbing your belt/skirt and pulling up. This should provide you with momentum to roll backward next to their leg and star sweep as above.

Taking the back

If your opponent is your size or larger you can take the back. Again you have attempted to bump to mount. Open the close guard, and rotate sideways, with your head nearest the underhook side. Your legs should be pulled to your chest to decrease the chance of kneebar. Pull your free hand through their legs, place this arm next to the underhook and push the leg, pulling your head through. Your shins need to be in the back of their knees. Grab their belt and kick forward, placing them on their posterior, in front of you. Seatbelt grip and then place your hooks.

Koala guard sweeps

Outside leg underhook, cross sleeve grip sweep

Your partner can be standing or kneeling. Control the near heel with the same side hand, place your foot next to their leg or as a De La Riva hook. Control the sleeve at the wrist on the opposite side. Push the thigh backwards on this side and sit up. Pass the gripped sleeve to your opposite hand, under their leg (but not under yours). Grip their same side lapel with your newly freed hand (if they are standing) or the back of the kimono (if they are kneeling). Pull toward you with this hand and lift on the underhook side to sweep them.

Outside leg underhook, cross lapel sweep

Your opponent stands up and frees the sleeve grip. Free their kimono on this side and pass this lapel under their near leg to the crosshand. Pull it to their knee and pass it to the same hand, so that the kimono wraps behind the knee. Base your free hand and the leg opposite the trapped leg to the floor. Using the same side leg hook the trapped leg. Pull the hook and gi backward to sweep them to their back.

Take the back

Negative half-guard variation #1

Your partner is attempting to pass the koala guard and has landed in the negative half-guard. That is, they are in half-guard with their back to you, you have both arms behind their back. Free the kimono on the superior side and grip this lapel with the hand nearest their head. Your elbow should be perpendicular to their spine. Grab the top pant leg with your other hand. Bring your leg nearest their head over their bottom leg and unhook your other leg. Now pull them laterally across your body, toward their head. Pull the unhooked leg out and rehook in the rear mount.

Negative half-guard variation #2

In this variation you again control the lapel and leg hook as above but this time post to your elbow on the other side. Shift up and away, giving enough room to pull the unhooked leg through to take the back.

Banana split variation

In variation #1, you cannot reach the pant leg. They attempt to slide across your body to their back. Hug the free leg and help your partner do the splits.

Deep half guard transition

Your partner has you in deep half guard. Step over their head and free up the trapped knee. Your partner will triangle their leg to avoid the knee bar. Grab their foot with the hand furthest from them, grab so that the palm of your hand is on top of their foot with your fingers nearest their pinky toe. Try to lock the forearm down to prevent them from releasing the triangle. Now sit-up and roll forward as if you were trying to "kiss their ass". You should use your foot to lift their leg over, ending up behind them. This leg is the first hook of the rear mount. Rotate your body so that you can place the free leg as a hook, obtain seatbelt grip first and then the hook.

Team McVicker Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Fall Camp Day #2: Bringing the pain

Today's session was started by Brad Peplow. He discussed the woes of both being the best looking jiu-jitsu practitioner in the Midwest and being in his 40s while having to compete with younger folks of greater athletic talent. Pep explained his strategy of stifling opponents to eliminate their athletic edge, in particular using the trap and jam guard pass.
The set-up comes from the closed guard, controlling the kimono and clamping down your elbows on the thighs. Post up one leg off to an angle to the rear, controlling strongly with the same side hand — the trap. The other leg positions forward roughly 90° from the rear leg, driving forward while pushing the guard leg down — the jam. The jam knee pushes forward and rolls to the floor, pinning the leg. The arm on this side controls your opponents head while your other arm shields the trap leg. The trap leg either steps out inverting the hips briefly before reestablishing the side mount, or the trap leg can pin the leg already pinned the by the jam foot, completing the pass in a more subtle fashion.
If they attempt to open the guard preemptively and place the foot in the hip, reach your hand back and scoop the foot up setting it in the trap position. Use the other leg to set-up the jam. Using this idea we covered a drill for the trap and jam. Your partner attempts to set the foot in the hip and you pull the leg up and trap. Then switch sides allowing your partner to post in the opposite hip which you again trap and jam on this side.
Another variation came from the standing pass, with your feet on either side of their hips, pushing forward so that your opponent knees are pushed towards their face. Control their lapels and ride each time they try to bump you back, your legs flexing and bending in response to their attempts to push you backward. Then obtain cross collar grab and same side pant leg control. Drive their foot down and make them spin, drop your knee across their thigh, sliding through to pass.

Next Ultimate Fighter 12 alumnus Kyle Watson covered passing from the same side underhook half guard. Kyle first showed an escape from the mount. Setting up an L-frame with a hip bump while switching out to the hip on that side. Use your top foot to drag the leg into the half guard while pushing down your partner's leg placing them in half guard. The bottom player posts up on their elbow to create pressure to attack from the half guard. This space allows the top player to feed their arm through and grip the gi pulling them flat to the mat while shooting the free leg out to stabilize. Thus setting up the same side underhook.
From here walk the trapped leg foot to your opponents rear, use the hand on this side to free your knee by controlling their pants. They may block your knee, so rather than trying to fight through it, roll your knee laterally and perpendicularly to their pressure, placing the knee on the mat. Under hook their blocking arm and walk your fingers superiorly in an arc to obtain high under hook control. There are now three ways to pass:

Free leg cross pass

Posting on your forearms and head, pike up and drive the knee of your free leg through to the opposite side. Bring this foot through the hole between your trapped leg and your opponent's body. Drive this leg all the way through, placing you in a hurdler stretch and creating a great deal of pressure on their chest. This pressure should allow you to free your trapped foot.

Trapped leg cross pass

In this case you again post as before, pike up and drive the knee of your trapped leg though to the opposite side. Post your free leg out, creating tripod, use this foot to free your trapped foot.

Straight to mount

Create a base with your under hooks and head, slide forward placing your chest on your opponent's face, creating space between their legs and your bottom. Your free foot loops inside, posting on their hip pulling them flat and freeing the trapped leg as you transition into mount.

Finally Jack McVicker showed some gi deviltry once again:

Rear ozeki

With your opponent in four points position and you hip-to-hip, shoot your cross hand under their arm to the far side of their neck. Step up and use this hand to grab inside of the sleeve of the opposite arm, which drapes across the back of their neck. Fall to your side to finish the choke.

Rear mount arm bar

From the same position as above, obtain the cross collar control under their arm. Step your same side leg next to their shoulder and step around their body placing the shin of your opposite leg next to their head. Sit and pull them into arm bar, allowing your knee to sag out and then pop over their head.

Rear inverted cross collar choke

Your opponent starts in four points, start in north-south position obtaining cross collar neck and under arm control. Spin 90° away from the hand controlling the neck, then sit back putting your leg over their head and the opposite leg over the posterior to provide counter pressure.

Arm defense counter offense

You have obtained arm bar from mount but your opponent defends by arm triangleling the threatened arm and tucking your free hand behind the superior knee. Cross your ankles to obtain control, grab the wrist of the unthreatened arm and control sleeve with your free hand. Open your legs and pull to your hip, placing their unthreatened elbow over their sternum. Pull your attacking arm out and pin it to their chest. Switch to the S-mount attacking the opposite side. Wrap the top pinned arm and set-up the arm bar on the opposite side. Of course if they defend you can consider returning to the original side and reattacking the original arm.

Team McVicker Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Fall Camp Day #1: Atama-torisarimasu-jitsu

Atama-torisarimasu-jitsu is my bastardization of Japanese for "head removal technique". This refers both to the subject matter's content as well as its depth. Our session started with Jeff Serafin who demonstrated variations of the clock choke. The set-up starts hip-to-hip, your near knee posted while your far leg is sprawled out. Your control arm is draped over their belt and the hand attempts to control the lapel, reaching under your opponent's arm:

Digital Clock

Made famous by Andre Galvao the digital clock is set-up by your control hand grabbing cross collar and your choke hand reaching under their chin to again grab cross collar. The actual choke is performed by diving across the opposite shoulder of your opponent, forming a tripod between your head and feet. Try to get the knot of your belt on the back of the head . Then you transition your foot nearest their rear through to a new tripod position with the foot ahead of them. Begin pulling the gi collar up across the neck as you remove slack by pulling inferiorly with the other hand.

One Armed Clock

In the scenario when your opponent protects their far side, preventing the control hand from grasping the collar, instead place the elbow of this arm instead on your side of the opponent's face. Pull with the choke hand as you push your elbow backward, in other words abducting both arms.

Counter Clock

If your opponent blocks your choking hand, reverse your grips. Use your control hand to reach across their far side to achieve cross collar neck control. Your other hand achieves cross collar under arm control, not jump to the opposite side, setting up the position to go for Digital Clock.

Bench Clock

Obtain cross collar neck control, control their belt and step/jump both legs to the opposite side. Fall to your back, pull with your cross collar grip as you push with your leg.

I presented a philosophical approach to using combination or "flows" in jiu-jitsu training. I showed positional flows such as the segment which allows each person to perform part of a "match":

Kimura from guard, partner straightens arm

Inverted straight arm bar, partner drives arm across body

Arm bar from guard, partner pulls arm out

Triangle, partner bends arm backwards

Oma plata, partner rolls

Another variation is the infinite loop, where one side keeps repeating the same series:

Cross collar choke from mount, partner pushes up

Straight arm bar from mount, partner defends

Thread inferior leg between head and arm, partner sits up

Triangle, partner bends arm backwards

Oma plata, partner rolls into guard

Hip bump to mount, restart

We also discussed single position multi-submission flows such as from cross side position

Side mount Americana

Figure four cross body straight arm bar

Side mount kimura

Side mount cross collar choke

Inverted straight arm bar from side mount

I also covered the Octopus.

Our last presentation was by Jack McVicker who showed us how to use the gi wrap to set up a number of different chokes. The set-up started by framing from the guard and going to open guard. Your right foot goes inside the gi and kicks as you pull in. This should release the kimono so that you can grab it and wrap up your opponent by passing their left kimono to your left hand over their right shoulder, next to their neck. Set-up a cross collar grip with your right hand using the lapel wrap.

Cross wrap choke

Drop your left foot and your right leg across their body, placing you on the diagonal. Grab either their kimono fold, wrapped gi lapel, or the skirt from the wrapped gi.

Wrap drag

Your opponent defends by blocking the choke on the wrapped side. Use the wrap to drag your opponent forward, looking to take the back or dragging them to a supine rear mount, by grabbing the far lat or gi under the axilla.

Arm choke

Your opponent defends with their opposite hand, reach across and grab the elbow, pulling their arm across their neck. Now choke using the wrapped lapel and their crossed arm by hugging with the free hand or bring your leg over the shoulder.

Ozeki choke variation #1

Take the wrapped lapel in your left hand with that arm behind their head. Loop it under your right forearm and place the blade of your hand in their throat.

Ozeki choke variation #2

Your opponent pushes your hand over their head. Wrap the lapel around the front of their neck with your left hand, reach behind their neck with your right and grab the lapel. Cross gi grab with the left and choke.