Hey guys, I had another BJJ tournament, the Great Lakes Brazilian Jiu-jitsu championship. I ended up fighting seven matches (two gi, three no-gi, and one each in the gi and no-gi absolutes). My gi division only had three people in it, so we ended up doing a round robin . Highlights include: -Taking silver in gi. -Choking one of my teammates unconscious during our gi match. Though I didn't know it at the time, he told me after the fight that he blacked out for several seconds when I had him in a triangle choke. -Getting crushed to death in my gi absolutes. I was fighting a 200+ pound fifty year old wrestler. I am, once again, in awe of the ability of wrestlers to make my face uncomfortable. If he had been wearing a coarser gi, I would be missing a cheek right now. -Nearly getting my arm broken in the no-gi absolutes. I had, somehow, managed to come up against someone from my own weight division (as a welterweight, that's not terribly common). This did not stop him from applying a keylock waaaay to fast (though I am generally quite flexible, my shoulders are exempt from this), and me hearing someone pop in my elbow. I signaled my submission with the ever-dignified "scream in pain" tap. He was very apologetic after the fight, and said that in future matches, he'd be more careful with that lock. Also, I learned the following lessons: -I NEED to get better at defending single leg takedowns. In at least half of my matches I got single-legged, and found myself incapable of defense. -Rubber guard is working out well for me. I initially started playing around with it because I'm flexible and I think the "Gogoplata" is an awesome name for a submission, but I'm really liking it now. I also like the way one can "blitz package" submissions from rubber guard - omonplata-gogoplata/triangle, etc. I managed to keep solid control of my first no-gi opponent in my rubber guard, and nearly got him in an omonplata before switching to a triangle.
Regarding the single leg thing. There are three things you can work on that I guarantee will make it easier for you. #1. Sprawling. #2. Your own aggressiveness. (i.e. take the lead, attack first and they won't have time to set up a shot) #3. Work on regaining guard soon after being taken down (the place I trained regular sport JJ before did a lot of this because european sport JJ includes pins, so getting stuck under side control means the clock is ticking.) But I've found it's very useful in BJJ as well to avoid giving people an edge by getting the takedown. Other than that, great to hear you competing and having fun BJJ ftw! You can drill #1 and #3 together. Work on sprawling and always keep in mind when it feels like you're not getting away, work on getting guard as quickly as possible. It's a reactionary skill that has saved me many times.
congrats. to defend against the single or double leg takedowns remember to sprawl, whizzer, and cross face.
This Judo throw is also worth a shot if you didnt have chance to sprawl and feel you are going over any second; http://www.judoinfo.com/images/animations/blue/hikikomigaeshi.htm Basically, overhook their head with one arm, grab their belt with the other, stick the foot of the leg they are holding in their crotch and attempt to do a backwards roll. Kick out the foot in their crotch as you are rolling over. Be prepared to scramble straight away because often you may fling them over your head but not quite manage to roll over with them and land on top. Edit - meh my description of the grip is different to the one on the website, but you get the idea. I also do it no-gi hence the gullitine type head grip.
We do that throw in my BJJ club as a counter for a shoot, or a throw when you're opponent has really low posture. I think I'll start working more on adding into my game, though.
We got taught that throw recently under the name obi tori gaeshi I think, we where taught it as a counter to a single handed really bent over stance though. On the wrestler thing, boo hoo for you, I wound up fighting a guy who was down on the sheets as being a 5th dan at the Judo BUSA's in the team event, I even have photographic evidence http://www.theimagefile.com/?skin=4900&ppp=0&pcp=1&ppwd=rs4943mr&Action=VF&id=3678247 Keep hitting the next button, check out the look on the face of the girl in the background
Yeah thats how i was taught it too, but you generally don't get many single leg takedowns in Judo. When i started BJJ i noticed it was the most common takedown attempt, and i figured hell im halfway through the throw so i mays well try it. Sorry to derail the topic, but did you fight anyone from Sheffield in BUSA?
I dunknow if I did or not, I know one of our guys trains at a club in sheffield whilst he's home for the holidays but I don't know if thats a University club or another Judo club but I know it's fairly big.
