D’arce Choke Defense : Counter Sweep From Half Guard And Bottom Of Side

 

D’arce Choke Defense : Counter Sweep From Half Guard And Bottom Of Side

The Darce or D’arce choke is a super effective and somewhat painful choke. People can attack with the Darce choke from top of Half Guard as well as Side Control. Knowing how to defend against the technique in BJJ is important, as it can happen quickly.

In this video I show a way to defend against and shut down the Darce choke and counter it with a sweep.

I’ve used this move a lot since I play from half guard a lot. It’s all about developing the sensitivity with your under hook.

So if the Darce or D’arce choke (however you prefer to spell it) is giving you trouble. Try this counter.

If it works for you, I’d love to hear about it.

Thanks

Chewy

Drilling is important for BJJ and Battles (nerdy parallel)

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I think it’s safe to say the deeper you go into BJJ, or anything for that matter, the more it consumes your thoughts, and ultimately the more connections you make with other subjects and ideas. Some similarities are a bit unclear while others are easily connected. With that, anytime I read about historical battles I can’t help but notice the similarities to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Especially conflicts between European powers where the technology was often similar and it came down to skill of the commanders and men as well as the guile of the men fighting the battle. Like a game of chess, opponents possessed the same pieces and what made the difference is how they were used. With this post I am simply combining some historical information and mixing it with Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. If you read through it, the hope will be to reinforce information you already know just in a history nerd sort of way. If this isn’t your thing, no biggie, but if you want to geek out a little then let’s continue.

Before I begin into the drilling idea, let’s draw the first parallel so that the others make sense. An army’s fighting force or manpower, constitutes its ability to fight. Without it, there isn’t an army to fight. While in abundance, morale is strong and the ability to push forward is an option. Once it begins to diminish, that is to lose men, deterioration of morale soon ensues and the will to fight begins to waver. This in my mind is best linked with the cardio/gas tank/ energy (whatever you wish to call it) of a grappler or fighter. Everyone feels great when they are fresh, but as a person tires their ability and often desire to fight is greatly reduced. Just as some nations were known and feared for their potential manpower (an example being Russia which has traditionally been able to take massive losses and still continue to fight), some fighters are characterized by their ability to continue pushing late into a match and beating their opponents, not just with skill or finesse, but with cardio.

So cardio / gas tank = manpower.

 

Drilling makes your techniques efficient and more effective

Armies of the 18th and 19th century would drill formations, maneuvers, and essential movements they would require in battle, just like we as BJJ practitioners drill techniques and fundamental movements we need for our matches. As we practice positioning our body into various area to attack our opponents. Likewise, armies would march and form various positions and formations which on the battlefield would precede an attack. Here is what Carl Von Clausewitz (a Prussian general and military theorist) writes when talking about the importance of marching and drilling an army.

“The first, is the due care of the troops, so that no forces shall be squandered uselessly when they might be usefully employed; the second, is precision in the movements so that they fit exactly.”

 

Using our parallel with manpower (troops) and cardio, draw a parallel with the drilling of an army and drilling your techniques. Drilling your techniques will help you make them more effective and efficient so that you won’t squander your gas tank (troops/manpower) needlessly. In addition, a well drilled technique will inevitably possess a higher rate of success and have a higher chance of finding its mark (fitting exactly) when executed.

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Examples of drilling being used to overcome superior numbers can be seen in British Naval gunnery during the 18th century and the infantry of Prussia under Frederick the Great. In both, men were drilled rigorously. British sailors were said to be able to fire 2-3 broadsides for every 1 of their French or Spanish counterparts. The Prussian army under Frederick the Great would go on to win several wars against numerically superior forces. During the engagements they would execute superior formation maneuverability, that is to put themselves in favorable positions for attack or exploiting weaknesses in their enemies as they presented themselves. In addition, the rate of fire by their musketry was nearly three times as fast as most armies of the time period. Imagine playing chess and getting three moves for every one of your opponents. These were a result of drilling and training.

As I said at the beginning, this was not intended to be ground breaking new information for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Rather, just a reinforcement of what we already know from another subject. We all know drilling is incredibly important. It strengthens our ability to execute our movements. Whether you’re competing, trying to hit your buddy in class with a new sweep or fighting on a battlefield. Drilling is crucial.

 

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Add speed to your drilling

The one idea I will throw into this, and again it’s nothing new, is to incrementally work up the speed of the technique you’re drilling. When you first learn a technique that isn’t familiar to your body, it often has an almost unwieldy quality. It just doesn’t feel right. However, after hundreds and thousands of reps it feels smooth and comfortable. At this point you can probably perform a repetition of the technique while holding a conversation. The mistake I often times see younger students commit, is drilling techniques only at a slow pace and never working up the speed. Drilling slowly is effective to a point, but it’s important to add speed and eventually a little resistance when drilling because you’re going to need to be able to deal with the stress created by both of these things.

Whenever I am attempting to add in a move that isn’t familiar or comfortable I follow this sort of process.

Phase 1: Learning the technique for the first time and drilling it slowly to learn the movement.

Phase 2: Begin to add speed to the technique. Try and execute it faster. It will be no doubt be sloppier at first.

Phase 3: Add a slight amount of resistance to the technique. An example would be, if you were trying to sweep from guard. Have your drilling partner offer a strong base and resist your sweep. Not 100% but maybe 20%. Just enough so that you get a feel for fighting through opposition which will eventually confront your technique during rolling or a competition match.

Phase 4: Situational flow rolling with a partner. Again, keep a minimal amount of resistance going, but now add some movement. For example, if you are working on passing the guard. Have your partner give you a real look just with light resistance. Meaning they will work grips, defend and adjust to your movements as they would during a full roll, just not full speed.

Phase 5: Full speed situational rolling. After you’re reasonably comfortable with a technique. You need quality experience with it under live conditions. This is a good time to grab a partner for open mat and roll from the position you’re trying to better. If you don’t have the option of going to an open mat and doing extra work, then try and put yourself into the positions during free rolling. For instance, if you’re working on mount escapes, let the person mount you so that you have a chance to work your mount escape techniques.

As always, thanks for reading!

Chewy

*Now time to go back to reading since snow has put a damper on our gym’s training today 🙁

BJJ Knife Defense

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2szJMsF7REA&w=560&h=315]

Knowing how to use your BJJ in a fight situation is very important. Having fun with your Black Belt friend after rolling is just as important. With that said, I present to you the BJJ Knife Defense video. Although if we are being honest, I stole this powerful technique from another style.

Self-defense vs Sport BJJ

It’s seems like the people that denounce and attack sport BJJ are those who are least involved with it. There is no issue with people focusing 100% on self-defense. If that is what someone wants to do, then go do that. But don’t discredit or vilify others and their accomplishments. When people do this it appears, at least on the surface, as if they are falling behind the times in BJJ. Instead of keeping current and continuing to evolve with the sport it’s simply easier to condemn it.

There is simply no reason to draw this line in the sand. Where more sport oriented people are on one side and self-defense on the other.

“So for me all jiu jitsu is just one, there is no divide.”

http://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-news/carlos-gracie-there-is-only-one-jiu-jitsu

Half Guard Pass

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l0Fryi6mus&w=560&h=315]

This is a Half Guard pass that I use against someone who is trying to get their body underneath me for one of the various types of Half Guard positions. I’d rather not have to work myself out of inferior positioning so in my eyes it’s better to stop it before it starts. Keep them away and frustrate them by denying them the position they want. The pass is sometimes a little slow so take your time.

Oh and you’ll have to excuse Adam and I. We were in a silly mood that night.

BJJ used in a self-defense situation

Today I watched a video that was posted of a guy using his BJJ in a self-defense situation on a basketball court. The video is a great example of BJJ being used as self-defense in a hand to hand situation. What I like best about the video is that it very closely resembles a roll on the mat, except of course for the punches. I think this is significant because I’ve seen people try to reinvent the wheel and demonstrate “self-defense” moves with elaborate punching blocks and throws. Many of which look cool, but are simply not effective nor based on reality in the fast paced, high stress situation of a fight. This video and similar videos, even the old Gracies in action videos are reminders of what fighting BJJ looks like.They demonstrate that very basic BJJ combined with control of space are the essentials to winning a fight in a hand to hand situation, not some crazy self-defense move. In the video you see the purple belt working to close the distance, establish dominant position and then submission. . . essentially what is done everyday in a good BJJ gym.

BJJ is a fighting art, first and foremost. It’s always important to remember that, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel or stop doing sport BJJ competitions in order to apply our BJJ in a fight. We just need to understand how it works in relation to a fighting situation.

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http://www.jiujitsutimes.com/blog/jiu-jitsu-guy-got-sucker-punched-while-playing-basketball-and-used-bjj-for-self-defense/

2 ways I’ve dealt with a BJJ shoulder injury

About a month ago I felt something in my shoulder and it didn’t feel that bad, but slowly the pain progressed to a constant ache that would persist after training. The pain was very uncomfortable and I could just “feel” that something wasn’t right with my shoulder. I looked up a few self-tests to perform and I successfully figured out that my injury was a strained subscapularis (my student who is a PT confirmed my suspicion) which makes up part of the rotator cuff. At this point I came to the realization that either I’m hanging around my Physical Therapist student too much, or I’m getting injured too often. I’ll side with the latter, because I like hanging out with Eugene.

There was a real problem with the timing of the injury. I was heading down to Costa Rica the next week which was going to consist of surfing and training twice a day, so I really wanted to keep my shoulder together for the trip. I did 2 things and they helped immensely. Hopefully, if you’re experiencing shoulder pain, the suggestions listed below will help.

First, I received a deep tissue massage. My PT friend happens to have an awesome wife who is a phenomenal Massage Therapist. I went into her with some serious discomfort in my shoulder. I left with very little. What she explained to me was, “the  source of the pain is rarely the root of the problem.”  I’ve heard this sort of stuff before but it’s important to remember, because often times if something hurts we focus on the site of the pain, rather than focusing on other areas that might actually be causing the pain. Another example of this was I used to experience back stiffness after long walks or time spend standing. I would stretch and strengthen my back continuously. Come to find out after visiting someone smarter than myself, my back pain was caused by an imbalance between back and core strength. In short, my core was too weak and my back was overcompensating for the difference. After working on my core I have not experienced the same back issues.

During the massage I was told that my pec minor, lats and several other muscles (ones that are used over and over again during BJJ) were way to tight. After she worked on them the relief was immediate.

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Second, I used some KT (Kinesio) tape. This was my first time giving KT tape a try. I’m not going to say that I didn’t believe it worked, but I was a little skeptical. Up until this point, when I thought of KT tape I thought of Sakuraba during the old days of Pride. The skepticism I had was quickly dashed after the first application. While in Costa Rica I was experiencing some residual pain and an unstable feeling. I had my girlfriend apply the KT tape following instructions on a YouTube video. Again, the effects were immediate. I had a much more stable feeling shoulder and didn’t experience any pain. Just to prove to myself that it was for real and not just a mental thing. I removed the tape and trained. That training session was accompanied by a feeling of instability in the shoulder and pain after. After reapplying the tape, my shoulder felt much better. Now granted rest was needed at the time, I was in Costa Rica surfing and training . . . rest simply had to wait. I continued to train hard and surf for the rest of the week with KT tape and it made a huge difference. I’m now a believer.

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If you’re experiencing some shoulder issues, try either of the above, after you’ve had a professional determine what’s causing the issue. A massage by a skilled Massage Therapist can be invaluable. Situations can of course vary, but in mine I felt instant relief after the muscles which are attached to the rotator cuff were rubbed out. In addition, this is not the first time that I’ve had issues resolved via massage. Also, if complete rest is not an option or you want a way to help assist the affected area of your body with day to day activity. Give the KT tape a try. Even when I was off the mats, the tape made a huge difference.

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If you’re reading this and your shoulders are feeling a little funky, good luck!

Chewy

I received a promotion on my Black Belt!

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I was promoted a degree this week while I was in Costa Rica! I honestly had forgotten all about it. I was never big on stripes, as my original instructor didn’t use them, and as a Black Belt you’re not focused on them (since they only come after several years). It is crazy though to think about the journey of the last 3 ½ years. It’s been one of immense growth in me as well as my students, in my abilities as a competitor and a teacher.

Leading up to the day I received my Black Belt I had been with my mother who was entrenched in a losing battle against cancer. During the struggle, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu was the only thing that provided an escape for me. Many of the guys in the gym were unaware, and probably still are, but they provided the much needed mental relief I needed. That mental relief helped me put on the “strong” face for my mother and my sisters. It kept me from completely losing my head. Without training and more importantly the people I was training with, I am not sure what I would have done. When I received my Black Belt on July, 9th, 2011 it was the most bittersweet day of my life. My instructor Renato Tavares stopped the training session and awarded me my Black Belt. Immediately afterwards my friend wrapped his arms around me and said, “I’m sorry brother.” I knew what it meant.

As I reflect back on the last 3 ½ years as a Black Belt. What I am most grateful for, are the people that I have had the pleasure of developing relationships with. They’ve assisted in making me a better Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner, competitor and teacher. They’ve also helped make me a better person and have assisted me, albeit sometimes unknowingly, through some of the most absolutely nasty times in my life. It’s been a great journey as a Black Belt so far, full of ups and downs, mostly ups, and I am excited to see it progress.

In our quest for medals, submissions and improvement it’s always important to sit back and enjoy the journey that is taking place and the people that were are surrounded by that make that journey worthwhile.

Being awarded my black belt

Being awarded my black belt

Fake Black Belts are Offensive

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgXP0V7TJQ]

By now I’m sure everyone in the BJJ community has seen the video I listed above. In the video you see a guy claiming to be a black belt who can’t even recount his lineage or previous instructor. Anyone who is a black belt can rattle off their instructor’s name without a second thought, and if they know their lineage as they should, they can go all the way down the line back to Mitsuyo Maeda.

Faking a belt is incredibly offensive, especially a black belt. I find it so offensive because I know what I’ve personally had to deal with, as well as others, in order to receive the right to wear the rank. The training for me was the easy part. I love training. It is all the other things that have constantly gotten in the way or created obstacles, obstacles that tested my dedication to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Not least of them have been all the injuries. I look at someone faking a black belt and get angry. I imagine a similar reaction would be cause if someone wearing a military uniform with insignias that was never actually in the military was spotted by a former military man or woman. It means something very dear to them to wear the patches and the uniform, and for someone to just fake it is completely unacceptable.

I’m happy that this guy posted a video bringing attention to this faker. As our sport grows it is only inevitable that more fakers will pop up. Even worse, some legitimate black belt with their eyes on the dollar and not the preservation of our sport / martial art will begin to give belts away to undeserving recipients.

It’s important for us as Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioners, teachers and students to uphold the tradition that we were brought into and keep it alive. It’s a tougher journey and many won’t have the “stuff” to make it, but it will keep our art strong. Like the saying goes, “the cream rises to the top.”

Spider Guard Pass

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdKbGMgvWgs]

This is one of my favorite Spider Guard passes. It’s one of those “fancy” looking moves that isn’t fancy at all. I always tell my students I have caveman Jiu-jitsu. My game is fairly basic and if I can do it, anyone can do it. Give the pass a try the next time your buddy at the gym tries to work spider guard on you.