Grappling Tips Newsletter

October 29, 2006

Half Guard DVD Update

I know, I know, I am always saying that my new DVD - the Dynamic Half Guard - is going to be out soon, and then I make excuses for another delay. A couple of weeks ago we hit a snag in the authoring process (the step that prepares the DVD material to be sent off for replication).

Part of the problem is that there is so much material in this video - two hours of instruction - that I needed special hardware and software to get it all onto a single DVD. The problem has been solved, though, and we will really, really will probably, maybe, possibly send it off for replication later on this week. Replication should take 10 to 14 days, and then I'll be able to announce its availability via this newsletter.

If you want a sneak preview of small portion of this DVD continue on to the next tip about positional flexibility in the half guard.

Labels: the guard

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:49 PM

Half Guard Leg Positions

Someone once defined insanity as "continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results". This applies to grappling as well as the rest of life, and it is very true when you are in the half guard position.

Say you are under your opponent in the half guard, and your bread and butter sweep series just isn't working: perhaps he's too heavy, too nimble or too canny. Time to abandon ship, move to a different position and try a different technique.

One part of being able to switch strategies easily is knowing how to position your legs. The legs perform several different functions in half guard, including:

preventing your opponent from passing your guard
preventing your opponent from submitting you
making or removing space between you and your opponent
lifting and moving your opponent

When I first analyzed my half guard game I realized that, almost all the time, I was in one of seven leg positions. These leg positions, which I cover in detail in my Dynamic Half Guard DVD, are:

Inside Single Hook
Single Triangle
Outside Leg Hook
Double Triangle (Outside)
Double Triangle (Inside)
Knee Block
Half Butterfly Guard

Knowing different leg positions for half guard is one thing, but being able to move between them is another, so I refined a drill to train the movements BETWEEN half guard positions. This drill doesn't include all seven leg positions, and it doesn't need to: the movement of the hips is the key, and once learned you can apply it to all half guard positions and to mobility on the ground in general. Check out this half guard positional flexibility drill!

Labels: the guard

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:45 PM

Finding a School

Every couple of weeks I get an email from a reader asking if there are any good BJJ, MMA or submission grappling schools close to where they live. Unfortunately I rarely have specific advice for them, because there are just too many good schools out there. I have some good general advice, though, and I'm going to share it with you now. If you already have a good place to train then please feel free to pass it along to someone who doesn't.

There has been an incredible proliferation of grappling schools in the last decade. In some cities, Los Angeles for example, it seems like there is a BJJ school on every block. Furthermore I defy you to find a traditional martial arts school nowadays that doesn't claim to include some form of grappling in its curriculum (although often their 'grappling' may consist only of a few standing wristlocks).

So my generalized advice is this:

No matter where you end up training, you will spend a lot time, money, sweat and effort acquiring a set of skills, so I think it is a VERY good idea to spend a little bit of effort initially finding a good school. Comparing schools requires more more than simply calling all the schools with big ads in the yellow pages and asking them what their monthly rates are.

Take a week or two and try to attend classes at as many different schools as you can. The last two times I moved to a new city I went through the phone book, created a list of clubs I was interested in, and then proceeded to visit almost all of the clubs on the list before making my training decision. Nowadays I would use both the phone book and the internet: online a good place to start is www.grapplearts.com/search.php.

Most clubs will allow you to try a class for free - take advantage of this and get your butt on a matt. Doing this will give you a good sense of the instructor's teaching style, class structure, student attitude, club hygiene, etc. If a club won't let you try a class, or at least watch one, then run, do not walk, away!

Before you head out and start trying different classes these two articles may give you some insight into what to expect: www.grapplearts.com/Starting-BJJ-Classes.htm and www.grapplearts.com/Beginning-Grappling.htm

Good luck and have fun!

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 9:43 PM

October 21, 2006

How to get these tips by email

As you may know, you can have the tips you read on this page emailed to you. To accomplish this better, I have created a Google group called the New Grapplearts Newsletter.

Nothing is going to change with the Google Groups format: the tips will still be sent out about once a week. I have chosen Google because it is a highly respected company that is not going to sell your email address to some spammer. You can still opt out of your subscription at any point with a simple click of a mouse.

If you want to sign up for the newsletter using a different email address you can send a blank email to Grapplearts-Newsletter-subscribe@googlegroups.com

Hopefully this switch will greatly improve matters. Feel free to contact me at stephan@grapplearts.com if you have any questions or concerns.

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 10:53 PM

Training with Injury

Injuries suck. They hurt, they take a long time to heal, and most importantly, they prevent you from training. Knowing how to train around injuries is an important part of getting better at any sport, and this is especially true in grappling.

In the past I have often used tape, braces and other gear to protect minor injuries and stop them from turning into major ones (as discussed here, for example).

Major injuries are more tricky, because your number one priority should be not to make that injury worse. However, often there is still some limited training you can do. For hand, arm and shoulder injuries, for example, you can tuck that arm into your belt (or grab your waistband) and work your open guard using just your legs and one arm. If your opponent passes your guard then STOP, let your opponent go back into your guard, and then start again. I have done this exercise safely with a cast on a fractured arm, and when that cast came off I found that I had really improved my open guard game.

As you may know, I recently injured my neck. A pinched nerve root at the base of the cervical spine has resulted in weakness and numbness down my left arm. A neurologist tells me that these injuries typically take 3 to 6 months to heal. Furthermore I'm not supposed to do any grappling nor lift any heavy weights until it heals.

Now being stubborn and foolish I'm going to partially ignore my doctors. I intend to continue grappling until this heals, albeit with several important caveats:

I'm only going to do light rolling
I'm only going to roll with people who have good physical (and emotional) control.
I'm going to avoid any and all positions or techniques that put strain on my neck
It's going to be ridiculously easy to tap me out: just grab my head or neck and I'm going to tap right away

I also intend to do a lot of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning during my recovery, since running on flats, hills and stairs doesn't seem to irritate the injury at this point. I'm going to do some light weights, just to maintain some muscle tone in my upper body, but definitely nothing heavy or extreme. Finally I have used this injury as an excuse to buy a couple of jiu-jitsu books and DVDs that I've been wanting to look at for a while now.

When I heal up I'll still be in the grappling mindset, have great cardio, and be ready to go!

Labels: Injuries, training

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 10:50 PM

Anaerobic Ideas

Q: I was wondering if you had any tips/techniques/ideas/routines for anaerobic conditioning drills?

A: Yes I have some suggestions for you. First of all, check out some routines here and here, first published on this site a long time ago:

If these aren't enough for you then also check out the interval training suggestions on this site: www.trainforstrength.com/Endurance1.shtml

Labels: conditioning

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 2:28 PM

Stuck in Defense Mode

Q: What are your thoughts on being stuck in defense mode all the time? I'm a white belt. Is this normal for awhile? I'm getting very good at stopping my opponents' submissions but I'm NOT SUBMITTING!!! I'm very frustrated by this.

A: Check out this article about the 2 month survival blues - it might address your question. Let me know if it doesn't.

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 2:26 PM

October 01, 2006

Foot Injuries in Grappling

Grapplers are a tough bunch, and generally tend to ignore injuries unless broken bones are actually protruding from a wound. I want to temper this tendency by using the Grapplearts pulpit to discuss a very serious category of orthopedic injury: strains and sprains of the lowly foot.

About 5 years ago in Judo I tried to take down a large opponent and got caught in an awkward position. There was an audible 'pop' and I collapsed in pain, holding my foot; it felt like someone had driven a spike right through it. Regular X-Rays at the local ER didn't show anything, and over several days the pain gradually decreased, all of which seemed like good news.

An extensive google search got me worried though: it seemed that there were certain types of foot injuries that were often misdiagnosed and went through a brief period of 'improvement' before getting much, much worse. There were references to fusing bones and foot amputation. Therefore, despite the assurances of the ER doctors, I pulled some strings to see my sports medicine doctor, and things started to happen.

Within the hour I had new X-Rays, weight-bearing X-Rays this time. Later that day I was in the office of a foot surgeon. One week later I was in the operating theatre and under the knife. 9 weeks later I returned to work and (light) training.

It turned out that I had suffered something called a Lisfranc injury, where certain important ligaments are torn. The foot looks and feels OK at first, but every time that foot bears weight it pancakes out to the side, there being no ligaments to hold it together. Things that shouldn't rub or move end up rubbing and moving, and before long a crippling form of arthritis sets in. Caught early - one to two weeks after injury - the prognosis is good. Untreated this injury rarely ever heals well.

So the take-home message is that if your foot ever goes 'pop' you have no choice: go see a specialist. All foot injuries are serious until proven otherwise, and most serious foot injuries are also time sensitive: early diagnosis and treatment might just save your grappling career. Hell, it might save your walking career!

Labels: Injuries, leglocks

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 12:51 PM

Nutritional Nugget: Twenty-One Percent!

I have received many questions about nutrition, and so far I haven't tackled them in my newsletter. This is partially because nutrition is such a huge issue, and also because people are starting from such radically different baselines and assumptions that it is difficult to know where to start. Just because something is difficult, however, doesn't mean that it shouldn't be attempted. What I'm going to try doing is to fire off the occasional 'nutritional nugget', see where it lands and what kind of reaction it gets.

I read recently that 21% of all calories consumed by Americans are consumed in the form of drinks, mostly soft drinks and sports drinks. This is an incredible number, and if 21% is the average then some people are consuming much more that that. It puts the obesity epidemic into perspective!

So here comes the nugget, and it won't be an easy one for many people to swallow: DON'T DO SOFT DRINKS. At the very least, restrict how how often you drink them and go for a small size rather than the Big Gulp. Learn to love drinking water. Making the switch can be difficult, because these drinks are designed to be addictive: for some people it takes time, effort and discipline to rewire their brains to accept the taste of water.

The suggestion created by advertising is that a 'sports drink' is a healthy alternative to soft drinks. Don't get caught in this trap - Gatorade, Powerade and all the rest are still packed with glucose-fructose solution (read "sugar"). Sports drinks in moderation are fine so long as they are consumed immediately before, during or immediately after (intense) exercise.

Another, more subtle, trap is to replace soft drinks with fruit juices. While juice is certainly healthier than carbonated sugar water it is very easy to over-drink it. 1000 calories of apple juice are relatively easy to drink, but it would take a lot of time and effort to consume 1000 calories of apples, plus you'd get the benefits of the fiber and eating an unprocessed food.

The nugget endeth.

permanent link to this article posted by Stephan @ 12:49 PM