Posts Tagged ‘Mark Corkhill’

BJJ

We had a solid warm up to start off. During the shrimping drills, Warren again made sure we all understood the fade movement and why it is so crucial to be doing it instinctively to avoid the front choke. Shrimping drills are fundamental movements to BJJ and it’s important to understand the intentions behind the drill. If you don’t know ask!

Warren walked us through head lock control tonight.

Initially we started from short base side control. Then we slid our top knee back slightly and moved our left arm through the gap and under-hooked the near arm. Sprawling out we switched base, putting our leg closest to their legs through under their arm and straight out in front of their head. We then shoot the arm closest to them under the far side of their head, around their neck and grip our own knee. Our other leg is pointing at the ceiling at 90 degrees posted out. It is important to put your weight down on your opponent by getting you butt of the floor, the front leg is only floating as control.

The second method for getting there was again from short base side control. First you under-hook the near arm again, then you move your far hand till it sits on their chest. Form there you are able to move all the way back across their body till your weight is pinning the arm you have under-hooked to the floor, sprawling out to keep it pinned hard. Your opponent will feel like there is a gap and generally go for your back. All this does is allow you to easily head lock them and then switch out to the control position.

We then moved into rolling. Warren split the class ( 42 on the mat, wow) into 1 stripe and below on one side and everyone else on the other. It worked out half’n’half roughly. 1 stripe and below were put on positional work only, everyone else was to do full grappling with submissions. Warren got us doing the system Kodz did last week where you’re in groups of three, 2 rolling and one walking. 3minute rounds with one person swapping out at the end of each round leaving the other person to continue to make a 6 minute round. We rolled that way for more than a full cycle, then after a short break we did it all again. It was a really great way to push yourself in your stamina, pacing yourself by being relaxed and efficient while being effective. I hope to get a lot better at it than I am now.

Cam D

BJJ

Kodz took the training tonight and after the warm up re-introduced us to the half nelson lapel choke from the blue belt syllabus and then took us through a couple of variations that were more advanced.

For a detailed break-down of the basic choke go here.

The first variation was for when you failed to get the under-hook of the arm. You still grab the top lapel and wing it up and feed it to the bottom hand. You then control their top leg holding the pants or under-hooking the knee joint. Then you bring your back leg up from the floor and slide your knee between your arm gripping the collar and their shoulder, placing your shin on the back of their neck. Sitting down (rather than rolling onto your back) you pull back, up and around with your collar grip and push with your shin on the back of their neck, bringing the choke on.

The third variation was a crazy Kodz variation that most of us found really difficult either for technical, body shape or flexibility reasons (or all of the above). You get the same collar position but you must under hook the leg. Shifting your weight subtly forward, you then move upright quickly, leaning to your right, putting your back leg around and over their head, sitting back and putting the choke on by pulling with your grip and squeezing down and back with your leg. If you are confused by this description you fit in with most people actually at the training. A lot of us were looking contorted, awkward and perplexed. Kodz pointed out that these were advanced techniques and more to get us thinking than anything else. The basic technique was the essential part for most of us.

We initially rolled as normal for about three rounds. Then Kodz got us to pair up with people of similar size. Two of the three rolled for three minutes while the other walked. When Kodz called time, one person swapped out and the other stayed in and kept going. This carried on for a couple of cycles giving everyone one 3 and one 6 minute round. There was no leaving the mat while the drill was happening. By the end of that we were pretty beat. For a warm down, Kodz got us to number off in threes. Whoever’s number got called out had to scramble and defend the other two from pinning them, this was really funny!

MMA

Mark got us all geared up and lead us through a full sparing class. Hands only for one round, hands and feet for two, then adding clinching and take downs for two more. Then full MMA rounds including light strikes on the ground.

Mark discussed with us the differences between ring fighting thinking and self defence thinking, how to use elbows and knees on the ground in side control for example.

Jack and Simo continued charging hard with Warren and assistants preparing for their Fights at ICNZ 10. We cheered them on as they pushed through the last hard rounds.

Cam D

BJJ

Warren started us off with a solid warm up, getting us to work on our shrimping drills thoroughly and then switching out movements.

Continuing the review of the blue belt syllabus, Warren ran us through figure four from front control and then sweeping from half guard to the same submission.

Starting from north south (front control) we practised basing in and out and keeping our weight down. Then the technique required us to slide our left hand up under the armpit of our opponent’s right arm until the smallest part of the wrist was there. Then we crushed all our weight down on the end of their elbow, pinning them and exposing their arm. Keeping our weight down, we lock in the figure 4, grabbing their right wrist with our right hand and grabbing our right wrist with our left hand. Then we slide our left knee up their back, lifting them onto their left shoulder, but keeping the crush down on them. Quickly, we move our right leg and snag and drag their left arm behind us and kneel down. We are then able to pull their figure 4 arm into our chest and sit up, going to one knee by bringing our left leg up, then torquing the shoulder by rotating the arm anti-clockwise. It’s important to keep the arm close to your body and bent at a 90 degree angle at the elbow.

The half guard sweep involved us getting wrist control from half guard in the same way as from full guard. You must be grabbing the wrist on opposite side from the leg you control. Then you sit up, go over the shoulder and lock in the figure four. You then wait for the right time and allow your opponent to pass out of your guard. As they move round to side control you orient so they are north south, press their arm into their hips and rotate them over, from there you can crush and do the submission out lined above.

We drilled these techniques thoroughly and then spent 30 minutes rolling until the end of class.

MMA

Mark got us straight into it. Combos were the order of the day, working in pairs with focus mitts

1. jab, cross, jab, cross, four punch combo
2. jab cross, double jab
3. cross, jab, double cross
4. jab cross, front leg kick, cross
5. cross, jab, rear leg kick, jab

followed by 3 sparring rounds. The first just boxing, the second and third were punches and kicks for a few minutes and then transitioning to submission wrestling (starting form the clinch) for the next few minutes.

That was us but Jack and Simo were working their butts off with Warren and co at the same time. If you want to road trip to Palmy to see them fight at ICNZ 10, get talking to other people and make it happen!

Cam D

BJJ

We did light rolling for the warm up, switching partners a few times, positional work only.

Warren ran us through Cross Lapel choke, which we then drilled the setups for. Then we did Front choke (also called Guillotine) followed by the Anaconda choke.

Little details for double lapel stood out to me. Pushing up with your hand that is in the collar already to create space to slide your other hand in. Another detail was using the forearm of your collar hand to wing their head up, creating space to get your other hand in under their jaw.

With front choke I found drilling it helped emphasise the steps in my head for the technique. The detail that stands out was that the better you clear their arm across and the tighter you make the space before you sit back, the better it comes on.

The Anaconda is all about control and timing but not speed. Cinching their arm in tight across their neck and then slowly and gently rolling them, placing your head in the gap by their knee that you create by moving them off centre and rolling them over as you walk your legs around to get your body underneath them.

We rolled for half and hour to finish the class.

MMA

Following on from Tuesday, Mark got the class drilling with thai pads again.

1. jab, cross, hook
2. jab, cross, front elbow
3. jab, cross, back elbow
4. jab, cross, front knee
5. jab cross, back knee
6. jab cross, flying knee
7. jab, cross, front leg kick
8. jab, cross, back leg kick

We then did all these moving around, getting a feel for applying them on the go. Then we drilled it with the pad holder showing us the target but trying to evade the strikes.

We saw our carefully honed foot work collapse as we got tired and missed the evasive pads, but it was great learning.

Jack Lambe and Simo Postings were put through their paces separately by Warren, training hard for their upcoming fight at ICNZ 10. We look forward to seeing all their hard work pay off in the ring!

BJJ

Codz ran us through a warm up with a few differences including wheel barrow races to get those arms going.

Warren continued our charge through the blue belt syllabus with figure 4 from guard, from mount and in side control.

We drilled 50 times each side the movement from guard. From the open guard, shifting onto our side gripping the wrist. Sitting up and reaching over the shoulder and back under the arm we are already gripping. Grasping our own wrist and forming the “figure 4” then sitting back, cutting with our leg on the same side over their back to prevent them rolling. We got the tap once and then focused on repping out the positional shifts.

After that we moved to mount and drilled the top figure 4 50 times on each arm alternately. Using straight and locked arms we pushed our opponent’s arm to the floor, slipped our arm on the side under theirs and gripped our own wrist in the figure 4. Then we pulled the lock down into position by our knee before applying the torque for the tap. Again we didn’t get the tap just the position after first one.

Then we moved to side control. We started as if we had already locked the top figure 4 and they straightened their arm out of it. Our goal was to control their transition and, at the right moment, apply an arm bar then as it moved through the full rotation to the down facing position we pulled our arm through and applied the bottom figure 4. We drilled this 50 times as well.
With the bottom figure 4, it is necessary to switch our knee over their head and pin them down in order to apply the tap.

We then rolled two quick rounds to finish the class

MMA

Unfortunately I couldn’t make this class but Mark had them getting out the Thai pads as I left so I am sure it was awesome. It always is if I don’t go…

Cam D

No training this Saturday due to the long Easter weekend.  Will keep you all updated about the BBQ on Monday via the Forum if it gets cancelled.

See you all tonight.

BJJ

Mark took us through a basic warm up and then introduced the first technique for the class, The Lapel Half Nelson Choke. He explained that this is that last technique to finish our run through the blue belt syllabus that we have been doing over the last couple of months.

The choke is done from sidemount but we started from mount. This allowed us to get the feel for giving our opponent some space and letting them roll into a side position for us to take sidemount. As they rolled, our first priority is to under hook the near arm. This is a starting position that lets us control our opponent and presents us with several possibilities to exploit depending on our opponent’s response.

In the situation of the half nelson choke we have a good under hook but maybe not a perfect locked down control of the arm. Using the under hooking hand we grab the near (or top) lapel a fist distance or so down from their jaw and pull the jacket open. Sliding our left hand around and under the head, we feed the top lapel into it. Our top hand is still under our opponent’s arm and we slide it on top and behind our opponent’s head. Then we pull back and up with our bottom hand and press down on the back of the head with our top forearm in a scissoring motion bringing the choke on as the lapel wraps around the throat and neck.

We drilled this and then Mark got us to work from mount, to sidemount, to back control, making sure to get our seatbelt grip and applying the back choke as described in more detail here. We defended the attacking hand and used the resistance to tighten the choke before applying it.

He then got us to do a drill where the defender went 30% resting and getting the attacker to apply the technique appropriate to the opportunities presented. Those of us that knew the arm bar relevant to the situation could do that technique as well. This drill is all about practicing seeing the opening and grabbing the opportunity to apply a technique.

We then rolled for 30 minutes to finish the class. Next week Mark told us we we’ll be running through all the techniques in the blue belt syllabus and seeing what people know, so revise your techniques and be ready.

MMA

We started off doing grappling to warm up, light work with gloves on to get the feel for it.

Warren walked us through escape from mount and guard while being ground and pounded.

First he walked us through the elbow escape from mount. Those of us on the bottom then got to shell up while keeping our head off the floor, while our partners gave us reasonably firm ground and pound to make us feel the strength of the shell and add realism to the escape.

From that position we first did bridge trap and roll. In this MMA variation we made sure we shelled up and then bridged hard throwing our opponent forward. Reaching back and linking our fingers around an arm, we waited for them to move it back and then sucked it hard into our chest. We then waited for them to try and sit up or withdraw the arm and then bridged hard straight and then rolled over into the guard position.

The next variation was the person in guard then sat up and landed shots on the person holding them in guard while they shelled up protecting themselves. While shelling, they pulled their opponent forward and down with their legs and, when they fell forward, controlled them with double over hooks. Then we broke our guard, shuffling our butt back to create space. Using our legs still in open guard, we wrapped our feet under our opponent’s shins and used that control to stretch them out flat. We then unhooked our right leg pulled it back and under our opponent’s leg, inserting our hook under their knee. Pulling our knee towards our head and taking their weight off the floor, we then rolled to our right, sweeping them over and putting us in mount again.

We drilled this cyclically for a while.

Then Warren demonstrated elbow escape from mount. In MMA we are being punched by our opponent so you are a lot more cautious about protect yourself than a grappling tournament. So while shelling we bridged hard then used our elbows to shove our opponent into a low mount. From there, we insert our elbow between their knee and our body and then shrimp to our side, pushing with our body away from our elbow and at the same time bringing our same side knee up to meet our elbow. This pops our leg out on that side. In the first version of this we fully cleared our leg out and then switched to our other hip allowing us to pull our other leg out, switching our hips back to clear the leg completely and regain full guard.

Version two had us leave our hook under the back of their knee and then switch hips to get the other hook in. Getting double under hooks with our arms, we can then pull our opponent’s weight forward onto us using our hooks and arms and then sweep them over.

This was a really great class for some core technique which is essential knowledge for MMA, but also for the fundamentals of hip movement and creating space which are so core to a BJJ approach to MMA.

Cam D

Ok, so I haven’t managed to make it to a seminar yet for various reasons so today was my first experience of one. Will-Machado black belt Geoff Grant from GSW in Wellington came up to the humidity of Auckland to teach us some new techniques, but more importantly developing our ways of thinking and being while doing BJJ. A lot of them Mark and Warren have told us before but today they were highlighted really clearly in the middle of having a crack at very advanced technique that contained animal words like Anaconda and Spider, as well as descriptors like spinning, inverted and triangle.

A lot of today though I felt like the real lesson was learning how to learn BJJ.
Starting with basic understanding of what it is in brief terms and then teaching us what frame of mind and body we need to be in, in order to learn technique effectively and develop our overall game.

These are some of the ideas Geoff talked about that are standing out to me at the moment.

Almost the first thing Geoff talked about was Basics vs. Fundamentals. These are different. Basic is like a Basic figure 4 from mount, it’s a straight forward version of the technique and is one of the early things you learn. Fundamentals are the underpinning little things your do which, when added together, result in achieving control of your opponent: e.g. how you shift your weight, position your hips, hip escape or move from one position to another keeping your weight down but still moving lightly. If you master these fundamentals, then submissions and other techniques, basic or advanced, flow from that control.

The idea that was emphasised over and over again by Geoff was Flow. Being relaxed in rolling is something I have fought very hard to learn since starting BJJ under the guidance of Mark and Warren. Geoff re-emphasised this idea and the way it applies to your learning in BJJ and your technique in rolling. Flowing techniques as you learn them means not being herky jerky or trying too hard to push through a technique or finish the submission, it’s about slowly and smoothly getting it right step by step, flowing from one step to another. It’s also about making sure you are applying the technique for the tap the first couple of times and then working through the grips and positions that resulted in the tap with out worrying about getting the tap. Slow, smooth flowing reps and lots of them is the best way to learn and get really good at it.

This is the math of it according to Geoff (paraphrased by me)

Flow = good BJJ
Flow + speed, strength = AWESOME BJJ
Jerky, poor technique + speed and strength = Munter with jerky poor technique

From the very start of the day, Geoff told us we were going to do stuff way over our level, crazy messy Rigan stuff that would be hard and probably impossible to pull off rolling. The point was to bust us out of our boxes…to have a crack at this stuff and see what we get, what we don’t get and what new paths to techniques we already do get opened. He was teaching us the mindset of training, try stuff, think, reflect on what you learned from what you got; examining what works for you and developing your game. These are questions we can use for all our rolling not just the things from this seminar.

The last point I will discuss here is the idea of your own game. I had understood this from classes so far and at an instinctive level about what I liked about BJJ. Geoff really solidified this for me. One of the core concepts of BJJ is that BJJ uses what works and not what doesn’t. At a personal level this means we work on a technique to find out how it works for us, with our body shape and abilities. We are not cookie cut physically and in BJJ it’s not expected that our technique and strategy will be the same as everyone else’s. It’s also our responsibility not our instructor’s to work this out, to analyse what’s working and not working for us. Sure we can go to them and say hey X is not working for me at point Y in this technique, but is up to us to have figured that out and go and ask, not to put the responsibility on them by asking “what do I need to work on”. This means that in training we find people that are good at what we’re bad at and learn from them and we find people that are good at what we suck at defending and roll with them.

The techniques we did today I am sure we will all be having a crack at pulling off in rolling, but what we really learned was how to posture ourselves to learn effectively, how to be effective in our technique, and to take responsibility for learning and developing our own game.

Cam D

BJJ

We started out with light positional rolling to warm up.

Then Warren picked up where he left off on Tuesday, quickly running through what we had done then, and went on to show us how the far side arm bar fitted within the game plan from the knee ride position.

We partnered up with the first side starting with revisiting knee ride position. Then Warren took us step by step through the technique.

From the knee ride position we make sure we are putting our weight firmly down on our opponent, trying to get a reaction from them we can work with. We use the far side arm bar when our opponent uses their free (far) arm to push on the knee that’s crushing their stomach. As soon as they present that arm, we let go with the rear hand that was holding the pants leg (or elbow in the nogi technique) and shot it under the arm they are attacking our knee with, gaining strong under-hook grip. We then pull up on that arm, letting go of our grip on the near arm, and partially stand up while still keeping our weight low. We continue while doing this motion, to pull our opponent onto their side, using the far arm we have under hooked, until they are against the shin of our leg closest to their feet. We then in one motion kick our leg closest to their head all the way around their head and down to the small of their back in a circular movement, pivoting on our other foot. Once there, we apply the knee squeeze and sit back to arm bar, making sure to keep our butt as close to our opponent as possible.

After drilling the technique in steps, we ran all the way through it to the count. 5 on both sides and then they did 5 on each side 1 for 1. Having completed these reps the first side swapped out and we did it all again. I found that it was great to do the continuous repetitions; you could really start to get the movement flowing without over-thinking it.

We then rolled for 45 minutes in 5 minute rounds to finish the class with a lot of people working on their technique with Sunday’s ICNZ Contender in mind.

We are all looking forward to the Geoff Grant seminar this Saturday as well! It’s going to be a great weekend!

MMA

Tonight Mark decided that we would work on our take downs and grappling to help those of us competing tune up for ICNZ Contender. We spent the first half of the class doing 5 minute rounds with different partners doing 1 for 1 take down techniques lightly, refining and practicing the take downs we knew.

The second half we went to full grappling rounds but standing up again after a couple of minutes if no submission had been achieved. This was great for those of us with less experience to practice putting it all together from standing, as you have to in competition.

A great class for learning more about what you already knew tonight. Good luck to everyone who’s competing on Sunday!

Cam D

BJJ

Tonight we started by rolling lightly just doing positional work to warm up, swapping partners several times.

Warren introduced  the crucifix position in this class.

Starting from turtle and side back control, we first learnt and drilled three ways to snag the near arm and drag it back to being locked between our legs.

First, we placed our right leg out to tempt them into grabbing it, then dragging the arm back with the same leg. Then our opponent left this arm exposed so we snagged with our right hand, hooked it with the right leg and dragged it back into position. Finally we drove our left knee (that was floating under the opponent’s body in side back control) forward towards the head and under their arm, bumping it out and allowing us to then hook with leg again.

We learnt and drilled these one at a time and then finished by drilling in our own time trying all three alternately.

Warren then showed us the first transition into the crucifix position, the Rollover. Having snagged and dragged the near arm we under hooked the opponent’s far arm and gripped their shoulder or forearm. Next we posted our right hand out forwards, and then stood up, keeping our knees and legs squeezed together. Then we hopped our weight forward into our opponent moving our feet closer and then tucked our head and rolled forward, bring our partner over with us. As we landed, we made sure to slide our left arm up our opponent’s arm and tuck our hand behind our head, locking their arm in the crucifix.

The second entry was the 7-11. Getting to the same under-hook position, we then shift our legs towards our opponent’s head (7 o’clock) and then sit back onto our left hip shifting our weight back to 11 o’clock, pulling our opponent over and back into the crucifix.

Finally we did 11-7 where we reversed the former technique: moving our legs to 11 down our opponent’s body and shifting our weight back to 7 o’clock. As you did this you needed to create cylinder with your body, extending your legs to allow the opponent to roll over you with minimal effort.

We were also shown how to apply a single side cross lapel choke while in crucifix. We began by reaching with our free right arm around the far side of the opponent’s head and back deep into their near collar. Then we moved our body in close to our opponent and under a bit as well. From there, we stretched our opponent out while pulling our choking arm (and our opponent) back and down to the floor, bringing the choke on across the windpipe.

We drilled for the whole class switching one for one with our partner and running through all the variations we had learnt, getting used to moving through the whole process. When it was our turn to be practiced on we were thinking of and trying ways to make it difficult for our opponent and attempting to escape from the transition or position.

MMA

Mark decided tonight was going to be a spin class. No, not that kind of spin class, we’re talking about spinning back kick, spinning elbow and spinning back fist. Now you wish you were there, don’t you?

Personally, I had nil experience in martial arts before I joined this club last year and spinning back kick is one of the most awkward techniques to initially learn that I have come across. However even doing my basic and slowly improving attempts I could feel the power you could generate in your strike.

Mark broke it down slowly for us. He started us in our fighting stance. From there we stepped our front foot across the tracks and pivoted on both feet to face away from our opponent with our weight low and posture straight. Then we looked back across our right shoulder, lifted our knee up and forward and then delivered the kick straight back, keeping our toes pointed down and heel forward. Finally, we retracted the kick all the way back, swivelling into our fighting stance again.

We drilled this solo and then with a partner holding a kick pad.

Then we learned the spinning back elbow, using the same foot work to swivel around and look for our target but then stepping our front foot all the way back into our original fighting stance and striking either with point or back of the elbow depending on where our opponent was. Our partner held the kick pad horizontally and perpendicular to their body at head height as we drilled. This drill was the most memorable for me as we all learnt why you have to keep good space between you and be careful where you roam while drilling, as I stepped through my strike, felt my elbow hit the pad and then collide with a much more solid object. It turned out that Mike had drifted into my blind spot and within my range as I drilled, and I caught him on the side of the head. It was a moment that was a bit funny (in a relieved way) in retrospect, but a shock in the moment. He was fine and we all chalked the lesson up for the future.

We next drilled spinning back fist, using the same foot work and aiming to connect with our opponent with the knuckles of the hand, being very careful not to straighten our striking arm. This was after Mark explained what would happen to your arm if your opponent closed the distance and you connected with your elbow joint on a straight arm (my mind saw images of a broken, dislocated and flailing around arm). Not Good!

We finished the class strongly by rolling though all three strikes in sequence with our partner as fast as we could for a three minute round. This was aimed at getting us used to the movement and starting to relax into the technique.

Wow! Looking back on this blog, I see that I learnt a lot tonight! It was a very cool class and interesting to learn some very different and new techniques.

Cam D