Tiago Alves Seminar: They can beat you. They can cut you. They can hurt you. They can never take your knowledge.

Today I went to a seminar by Tiago Alves hosted by Max Burt of Muncie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  We started with a timed jog around the abundant mat space of the gym.  Then we did mat lengths of:

• Shrimping: Use your foot and the ipsilateral shoulder to elevate the ipsilateral hip, moving it laterally and superiorly, nearly turning over.  Use the walk between the hips and the foot/shoulder to move down the mat by alternating sides.
• Forward Shrimping: Using only one foot and the ipsilateral shoulder, lift the hip on this side and move it toward the foot by bending your knee and activating the leg muscles.  Move down the floor by switching sides, again walking by using foot/shoulder and the hip.
• Shoulder Roll:  Sitting on the mat with your legs extended in front of you, roll to your shoulder by tucking your hand underneath the space between the floor and your legs made by bending your knee.  Roll shoulder to shoulder, not over your back, your feet can touch the mat if you're flexible enough.  Position yourself at a 45° degree angle to the wall so that you can roll one way then pivot 90° to roll the other.  In this fashion you can work your way down the mat.

Next we moved to partner drilling from the four points position.  The hips and upper thighs are the contact and control surfaces for you as the top player.  When the bottom partner moves you can either switch hips or you can walk.  The entire time work on dropping the hips while you move, not raising them (which at first glance seems to be needed to move), simultaneously keep the legs wide.  There is no need to "run" around your partner, simply alter the direction but not the magnitude of your pressure.  We  drilled 60 second intervals where the four points partner moves but does not try to escape while the top partner cannot grab, isolating hip and leg movement.  Then we added grips and drilled it again.  Next we covered the cases where the four points partner attempts to pull guard or to roll:

• Pulling guard: As the top player, you feel their body shift, keep your legs wide and drop your hips into your partner.  It is possible to move laterally to clear the legs, but you can end up sprawled on your partner's legs if necessary.
• Rolling: If the bottom player tries to roll, make sure that one of your hips is placed on their sacrum and use the ipsilateral arm to hook your elbow anteriorly to their hip.  Then turn this corner, allowing the bottom player to land supine, while the top player secures side mount.

We drilled this in 30 second sets either "slow" or "fast".

After getting the movement of the four points position we moved onto technique for offense from the top:

• Defend the roll, one hand lapel choke from the back: From the four points position, you as the top player secures your partner's contralateral lapel while placing your palm on the proximal part of your partner's near triceps (don't grab).  The bottom partner wraps the arm gripping their lapel and attempts to roll laterally.  Move with the roll, sprawling on your partners legs, then clearing them by moving further in the same direction. Your knee should end up in their popliteal fossa.  Use the free hand to grab the contralateral collar, across your opponent's anterior neck.  Move the contralateral knee (the one on the "rolled" side) superiorly up near your opponents shoulder, placing it on the mat.    Now roll to the mat on this side, pulling with the hand across their neck.  You will end up on your back, re-grab their forearm with your "trapped" arm, use the leg ipsilateral to your choking hand to overhook their shoulder and proximal arm to finish the choke.
• Defend the roll, 180° roll to the one hand lapel choke from the back: From the four points, in the top position you again have secured the contralateral lapel and your partner on the bottom again attempts to roll.  However they feel your weight shift and recover, this recovery should relatively open the neck.  Secure a cross lapel grip with your free hand, anterior to their neck.  Release the original grip you hand and clasp their forearm on this side.  Now roll sideways, placing your shoulder over their posterior neck and pull them with you, somersaulting them .  You pull with the arm controlled side to allow their ipsilateral hip to cover your ankle, while your other leg overbooks the shoulder and proximal arm.  Use this to finish your choke.

Then from the bottom of the four points position we built and chained the following together:

• Sit reversal:  From the four points position you circle towards your partner as if to grab their far leg.  Simultaneously kick the leg adjacent to them ceiling ward (you may have to kick more than once).  The kick rotates and moves your body so that the top players ends up sliding from your hip to the middle of your torso.  Remain propped on the elbow furthest from your partner and sit your far knee and shin next to your partner, the other extends across the mat.  Using a rear elbow motion to to pull them laterally over your proximal legs and hips.
• Taking the back:  If your partner defends your reversal by stopping their momentum with their lapel gripping hand by switching it to the mat. Simply use your top leg to overhook their near calf,  remain propped on your elbow and pull your other arm tight to your body in the space between you and your partner. Grab their far hip at the belt line
• Reversal from the whizzer: Your opponent whizzers the arm your freed and placed across your opponent's belt line.  Take your far leg and place the proximal part of the foot, into their popliteal fossa.  Now roll laterally and extend your hook reversing them to their back.  Now if they turn over to four points you can start from the beginning.

After the work from the four points we turned to the guard

• Pump handle single leg with pass to kimura:  Your partner is posted with one knee up, you have control of both sleeves with your foot in the the hip opposite from the one posted up.  Your free leg acts as pendulum to get you sitting up and moving your base laterally in the direction of and around the posted leg.  Now feed the arm from the unposted side under the posted leg and grab the sleeve with the contralateral arm.  Remove the foot from their hip and hook their leg.  Now put your head just medial to their shoulder and sit up,  you can cup their posterior knee with your free hand, in order to do a single to double leg from the ground.  Now pin their bottom leg with the hand holding the passed arm.  Start circling toward their open side, following the "pump handle" arm to its origin.  Their free leg can stay betwixt your legs until it gets to be hip height.  Now slide over it, placing your inferior knee to their hip.  Now transition further, circling their head.  Use your free hand to undertook their arm posteriorly, release your sleeve control hand to secure kimura.
• Koala guard to 50-50 60-40 guard:  You have the same set-up as above but after you have secured the grip on the passed arm, your partner stands.  Use your free hand to grab the skirt near the butt. Put the foot posterior to them at the anterior side of their hip.  Use this foot and the skirt grip to rotate your head to be lateral to their far leg.  Pike up and secure a triangle over this leg and the arm, with medial leg (the one placed in their hip) passing anteriorly to their arm and this foot extended laterally from their body and posteriorly to your other leg (i.e. medial leg forms two parts of the triangle).  Sweep them backward by flexing your leg and extending your hips.  You are now in 50-50 guard but in reality its more like 60-40 since you have them more controlled than they do you.
• 50-50 guard pass to ezekiel choke and arm bar: From the 50-50 guard lay supine, clear their triangled leg by passing the hand lateral to them posterior to their heel, cupping it and moving it laterally.  Place the lateral leg knee in their popliteal fossa and then bring your other (medial leg) shin behind their thigh by pulling your knee to your chest.  Now clear their leg in the opposite direction as you come to your knees, pushing them onto their side facing away from you.  Bring your inferior arm medial to their upper arm and to their contralateral neck, place the shin of your inferior leg into their back.  Ezekiel choke by using this hand to grab the sleeve of your opposite arm.  If they have strong neck, keep your inferior arm wrapping their neck and use the other hand to scoop up their arm nearest the mat.  Move your superior leg over their head and sit for back for arm bar.
• Koala guard to taking the back:  Should they free their gripped sleeve while going for your 50-50 set-up, simply place both of your shins into their popliteal fossa, pull on the skirt to gain access more gi and belt.  Now make them squat as your kick both shins forward to obtain rear mount.  Seat belt grip to control while getting hooks.  Tiago grabs his fingers and places his seatbelt higher and nearer the neck than I am do, so I will try this as well.

Front Row: Your humble blogger, Tiago Alves, and newly promoted faixa preta Max Burt