Lessons from Sparring (diary entry)

English: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Blackbelt Andre Galvao at the 2008 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

17.09.13

My client and I agreed on a sport grappling cross-training lesson. We mainly focused on Brazilian jiu jitsu groundwork with some judo newaza restrictions. The objective of this was to help improve the client’s judo ground game. Then we covered some no-gi stand-up and a small amount of no-gi submission work.

The gi work followed a reverse engineering principle. We sparred and then addressed areas that were flagged up during this session.  Areas included passing the guard from a very tight closed guard position to combat base and securing a tighter rear cross collar choke. We also looked at positioning from the back mount – why not to cross the ankles at the front in most submission grappling and the body triangle.

No-gi stand-up began with grip fighting and altering levels of takedown attack, as well as defending successfully after enacting a throw. We also discussed levels of sparring practice, which are particularly important for specific sparring:

Compliant sparring – Designated winner with increased levels of resistance

Light sparring – Competitive sparring, but with less intensity with attention to fluidity and technique

Heavy sparring – Competitive sparring with higher levels of intensity, safety considered

Competition/Pressure Testing – Full-on fighting, only restricted by certain agreed rules in place

There are all covered in my article “Specific Training”.

The lesson finished with an introduction to knee bars via an attack on the half-guard.