“The Choke is Easy…”

Kenny Baker of SBG Plymouth

This week in training we’re going over back attacks and escapes. The way we train at SBG Mainline is to cover fundamentals over and over again on a weekly basis over a period of x amount weeks e.g. last week we would have went over something like half guard, this week is back attacks and defence, next week may be mount escapes and attacks and so on. This is to ensure each position is drilled and fundamentals (basics) are constantly being reviewed. The thought process of this is; when you’re dog tired you’re always going to be able to attack and defend using pure technique and fundamentals such as base and posture. When your energy levels are way down, you’re not going to be able to explode and cartwheel guard pass somebody or flying triangle that equally as good opponent – the person with the gas tank and technique wins.

I digress.

Interestingly out of the session, I took away the title quote; “The choke is easy…” after Karl insisted we battle for position (hooks, chest to back, hand position, grips) rather than finish the choke. And it’s something I want to remember hence why I’m blogging it.

So many people (myself included) are so eager to get the submission that you forget your position. You know your body is making the shape, you’re attacking the neck for the choke but he’s got a baseball bat grip (2 on 1) on your arm and you’re slowly sliding off but you attack the neck relentlessly for minute after minute until time is called.

One of the first things you learn in BJJ is “Position before submission” whether that be conciously or subconciously. At SBG we learn submissions but it’s the final part of on ongoing battle for position. Tonight it was stressed – “The choke is easy, forget about the choke, we’ll come to that…”.

Engage the hips. Where are your hooks? Are you using them? Do you need to control the neck? Break their posture. Attack the base. What grip are you using? Where are our your feet? Where are your opponents hips? Are your hands in the right position? Have you got leverage? Head position. Shoulder pressure.

Position, position, position.

“The choke is easy…”

2011 – Shaping Up To Be A Rather Good Year

Moved into a new modern flat a mile away from work, got me a stunning missus, got my motorbike back, bought me a car, got me a small pay rise, bought me a new phone and as of a few hours ago… became a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) blue belt under the infamous Karl Tanswell of SBGi. I made history by being the first bluebelt in the new gym near Piccadilly train station in Manchester!

Mainline MMA – it’s where it’s at.

After being ironmanned

Mainline MMA

12 Sheffield Street, Manchester, M1 2ND

Situated behind Piccadilly train station, Mainline MMA is the newest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) gym to hit Manchester. Boasting 150 square metres of mat space, a fully functioning Strength & Conditioning area with a coach, male and female changing rooms, a seating area with a flat screen TV in the reception as well one of only 3 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) blackbelts resident in Manchester, Mainline MMA have kickstarted with all their cards on the table. No tricks, magic or gimmicks.

Now the official home of the Straight Blast Gym (SBG) Manchester competition/fight team, it’s hard to picture anything but upcoming success from under those railway arches. Karl Tanswell, employed as the BJJ and MMA coach took a year long hiatus only to return full of energy and eager to teach again.

With numerous world class purple belts and brown belts currently training there as well as up and coming MMA rising stars and European MMA champions the only thing left to do is grind it out and work hard.

Mainline MMA has BJJ/submission grappling technique sessions every Monday to Thursday from 6pm until 7pm with Muay Thai kickboxing on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7pm til 8pm. BJJ sparring sessions are Mondays and Wednesdays from 7pm til 8pm with MMA being taught as a whole from 8pm onwards daily.

One of the only MMA gyms to open in the daytime between 12pm and 1pm, it also opens on the weekend between 11am and 1pm.

But it’s not the variety of classes or the fact that it has 25 classes a week, it’s the Strength & Conditioning (S&C) programme running in the evening on Mondays and Wednesdays. S&C sessions are difficult to find in the evenings, especially MMA/BJJ specific but with these sessions being in place for after you finish your 9-5 grind, it’s perfect for those part time fighters or those who want to keep fit using techniques from the fastest growing sport in the world (corny eh?).

More information on classes can be found on Mainline MMA’s website.

Add Mainline MMA on Facebook here.

WAAARGGGHHHH!

It’s amazing to see a friend and training partner get the recognition they deserve. Get the fights that they deserve and look to progress their fight careers even further.

Matt ‘The Pirate’ Inman took James Mair‘s scalp on Sunday evening to win the European title on Strike n Submit. A title once held by tough Peter Irving.

Karl Tanswell, Matt Inman, Jon Lee

Stunning his opponent inside 3 minutes of the first round with a brutal and pinpoint knee to the jaw, Inman went on the ground and pound his opponent and won convincingly via TKO.

But it wasn’t this fight I was looking forward to. Not to say Matt or anybody was looking past James Mair but I’ve simply not had the experience and don’t have the same amount of UK MMA knowledge as others so the match up isn’t as excitable. Eugene Fadiora on the other hand…

Unbeaten in his Semi Pro and Pro MMA career, Fadiora has been making waves in  UK MMA. A karate stylist with an underrated ground game, Fadiora handed Danny Mitchell his first loss by way of Ground & Pound not too long ago. Mitchell has awesome BJJ and very neat stand up but Fadiora was relentless. And the thing that excites me about this match up?

Inman has all the tools to beat Fadiora. Matt isn’t a slouch on the ground and his wrestling isn’t to be brushed off either and although Fadiora has moved to world-famous gym, Kaobon. Inman has recently made a major move in training with Danny Mitchell, Jason Tan and the brilliant, Karl Tanswell.

With pinpoint striking and an ever evolving arsenal of submissions – Inman may look like the underdog in terms of exposure… but the die-hard UK MMA fans know how much of a war it’s going to be.

“So you wanna be a coach?!”

I came across this video after it was linked from a “How a 2 stroke engine works” video

Many things sprung to mind as I was watching this. The first was how I knew NOTHING about the mechanical workings of a car and second was that the ‘coach’ was explaning things in such a way that I can only imagine mechanics understanding it.

This stamps the point of NEEDING a technically sound and confident coach when it comes to BJJ/MMA instruction. Anybody can be good at their chosen sport but it takes somebody special to be able to break something down to the point of where a layperson could understand it. For example, the very basic BJJ ‘Scissor Sweep’.

The Scissor Sweep is where your opponent is in your guard (between your legs) – you want to reverse your opponent (sweep) so you end up in the more dominant position. Before Iget into the tiny details of it, the basic principle is you want to put your shin across your opponents chest, take a grip of their collar and basing arm, use your other leg to unsettle their base, then sweeping them using a scissoring motion with your legs. As below:

Now if I was to show you the basic motion of the scissor sweep, you’d get it immediately. You’d know WHY you would need to do it that way and the right motions. BUT, it takes an entirely different person to go into more detail. Explaining how to load your opponent’s weight onto your shin/leg by unsettling his base and pulling him into you, how to stop your opponent from sprawling down and flattening your legs thus nullifying the sweep, how to get your hips under their centre of gravity and use leverage to complete the sweep, where to go once the sweep i complete and what to do if your opponent reacts in certain ways.

Discussing this coaching theory with a friend of mine, he brought up a good point. “People who are generally self taught like Karl Tanswell, Nathan Leverton, Evan Tanner and Greg Jackson have that ability to break things down to understand the technique better – then commnicating it across takes an entirely different skill set (one which the above all have)…” and it’s true. You can be the most amazing, accomplished wrestler but until you can sit down and break something down to a layperson, you might as well leave the coaching to somebody else.

By all means, coach away – the more experience the better. But observing somebody else’s style of coaching could help you in limitless ways in regards to how to plan and structure your session, clarity of communication, how to adapt your approach to different people and more importantly – catering for those of different levels.

You don’t want to confuse people now do you?

Here’s a basic scissor sweep taught by Expert Village on YouTube