I currently teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at The Foundry in Farmington, Maine. I’ve been teaching since 2016 and have taught hundreds of students through the years. I’m not a competitor. I’m much more of an academic. My teaching style includes a lot of thought and consideration and my ultimate goal is to convey to our students a better way to get something done. I avoid using strength as much as possible and much more prefer the use of leverage and cunning. I’ve been practicing BJJ since 2008 and have trained full time in Connecticut, Florida, and Maine.
Each week, I write a synopsis of the day’s class to come. I post this summary on our group Foundry Facebook page for students to review before attending that night. Since some of these summaries are quite in-depth and useful, I thought posting them here as well would be of help to my students, other students around the world, and instructors. Preparing lesson plans and conveying knowledge can sometimes be a challenge. If you’re an instructor at an academy and would like to use my lesson plans, please feel free. Just read below and pick out what you like. Also, be sure to leave a comment to let me know your thoughts. And if you’d like to read about my jiu-jitsu story, please do. It’s constantly evolving.
BJJ Instructor’s Theory & Class Lesson Plans
But first, a shameless plug…
Rated a solid 5 stars in Google and a longtime mainstay of the Foundry, Tuesday night classes are a top notch learning experience. I, as well as all of our Foundry students who regularly attend, invite you to try it out. If you haven’t stopped by to see what the buzz is all about, you owe it to yourself to play our style of Jiu-Jitsu and have some good ol’ fun in the process. Each class, we start our focus on beginner basics that later transition into more advanced technique. The best part is, you’ll never even know you’re making moves that purple, brown, and black belts make. It’s that seamless and that well explained. My instructional style is laid back, fun, and educational, but don’t get me wrong, it’s also aggressive and meant to help you win. That’s really all I’m after. You winning.
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 8/29/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: For the past few weeks, we’ve been working on what to do when your opponent manages to make it halfway past your closed guard. Somehow, they broke your guard. Somehow, they made it past one leg and somehow, you stopped them in their tracks. That’s half guard. It’s half of a full guard. With both of your legs, you’re squeezing their one leg. In these types of situations, it’s important for the player on bottom to stop the top player’s arm from getting a cross face and it’s critical that the bottom player stop the top player from getting an opposite side underhook. It’s also important for the bottom player to stay up on his or her side. If the top player were to get the cross face and underhook, the bottom player would certainly be flattened out and would have to use a last resort defense. Tonight, we learn this defense.
The question is, what does a person do when they’ve got another person, who quite possibly weighs more than them, lying on top of them with some sort of headlock thing and an underhook? Completely trapped. The headlock (cross face) is bad enough, but the underhook is worse. It takes one arm completely out of commission. The only thing the bottom person has trapped is the top person’s leg. At least that stops any further progression into side control. Really though, it’s a terrible place to be for the person on bottom. If any of you have been rolling for more than a week, you know how unfortunate this type of situation is. And how common it is for a person to find him or herself in something similar.
I’ll be the first person to tell you that there’s no magic bullet when it comes to Jiu-Jitsu defense. There’s real horror in what our opponents enjoy so much – and that’s throwing at us the worst of the worst during a match. There are, however, methods for mitigating the pain and suffering we’re all likely to endure. Tonight, we learn what can be done against someone who thinks they’ve got game. Perhaps we can turn the tables. Perhaps we can turn their arrogance into despair. It all happens tonight. BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 7/18/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
When the pressure becomes too intense, when your options are few, when the light at the end of the tunnel seems to have all but disappeared, take what little you have left, run, and hide your weary body in turtle position. Words of wisdom by Jay Gaulard – 2023.
Last Tuesday evening, I asked if you had ever heard of the turtle position and many of you said you hadn’t. I was surprised at that because, up to this point, I had thought turtle was preprogrammed into each one of us. I can’t recall learning about it before I began hiding in it and I’ve been hiding in it for a very long time. It’s where I go when I’ve got no options, nothing left. Either that, or when I’m rolling with someone I’ve deemed to be in a very dominating mood. The last time I used it was when I was rolling with Jerrod Dicentes. He had a look in his eyes that warned me not to push my luck. He easily passed my open guard and I transitioned to a place I knew was safe. If I hadn’t done that, he would have taken side control and from there, who knows. What happened from turtle? Wouldn’t you like to know. An old friend of mine used turtle a lot – expert level, I’d say. His name is Steven Belanger and he’s probably the best turtle player I’ve ever met. He taught me a few tricks that I’ll eventually pass on to you. It’s an incredible position that, if used correctly, can truly save your hide.
TONIGHT: Before we get into using the turtle position as a defense, we’ll cover a few attacks against the position. Without first being attacked, we’ll never fully understand and appreciate the value of defending. Tonight will be an introductory lesson on something called the clock choke and after that, perhaps we’ll move onto an incredibly sneaky armbar from two different positions. While turtle can be effectively used as a stronghold, it does have its weaknesses. If you learn those weaknesses, you can defend them too. All of this begins tonight. I very much hope you’ll BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 7/11/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: Let’s continue working on some knee on belly escapes. Remember, there are a few things you need to consider while on the receiving end of this position. First, don’t give anything away for free, such as offering a big space south of your armpit from trying to push the offending knee off your belly. That space is prime real estate for an underhook (and consequently a straight arm lock or a far side armbar). Also, don’t freak out and start pushing your opponent straight up in the air because that opponent is going to slap an armbar on you so fast you’re not going to know what hit you. Second, knee on belly is popular for one reason: it’s awful and it hurts. The primary reason it’s so awful is because of the concentrated weight of the knee on the belly. That weight sort of paralyzes the person on the bottom. The bottom player is forced into thinking about far too many things at once and when under this sort of pressure, doesn’t think about any of them very well. To reduce its awfulness, the bottom player can shift his or her opponent’s weight so only half of it is upon them, as opposed to all of it. We’ll go over how to do this again tonight. So as for defense and pain mitigation, what I just wrote will help a lot. As far as escaping goes, tonight I’ll cover two very basic escapes that are sort of fun and another more advanced escape that’s extraordinarily fun. The second one just feels good and if anyone in class tonight has a camera, you’ll want to get some pictures of you pulling it off. It’ll be Facebook worthy. When friends and family see the pictures, they’ll love you more than they already do and you’ll certainly attain superstar status. For all of this, I request the pleasure of your company in class tonight. In other words, BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 6/27/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
Last Tuesday, we covered some basic, but very high percentage, submissions from knee on belly. As we all discovered, bottom knee on belly isn’t a place you want to be. Top position is the pinnacle of aggression in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. There’s no nice way to take that position and there’s no nice way to submit from it. The goal for the guy on bottom is to get the heck out of there (without making the mistakes I told you about last week). But how? With all that pressure on the stomach, it seems like escaping is an impossible task. I’ll let you in on a little secret: there are ways out and they’re not as challenging to pull off as you think they’d be.
TONIGHT: We’ll cover the fatal flaw of the knee on belly position, the kryptonite. The inventors of this position don’t want me to teach any of this, but I’m going to anyway. We’ll look at what’s successful from both top and bottom positions and what’s not. And then we’ll look at how some movement here and a tip there can tumble things down like a house of cards. Yes, it’s a terrible place to be, but yes, when on bottom, you can certainly recover control, reverse things, and then submit. Like I said above, these movements and techniques aren’t that difficult to execute. All you need to do is remember a few key mental principles: don’t freak out and don’t ever stop fighting. I’ll see you all tonight because I know you’ll all BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 6/20/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
The scourge of Jiu-Jitsu practitioners globally – knee on belly. We’ve been working up to this position and tonight, we’ll begin to tackle it. It’s well enough to find a way to impose your knee on someone’s belly and submit from there, but it’s quite something else to have an opponent’s knee on your own belly. Oftentimes, it seems as if there’s no escape from this ultra-dominant position. There are escapes, however, and I intend to teach them to you throughout the next few classes. Knee on belly (or knee-ride) is one of those positions that’s super fun to use because not only does it hold an opponent down, it also causes great suffering. And to see that type of suffering and to have the ability to capitalize on it – well, let’s just say that’s what BJJ is all about. When you use knee on belly, the suffering can become so great that it encourages your opponent to do stupid things in an effort to escape. It’s those stupid things we take advantage of. I’ll show you them tonight. I’ll also begin to teach you how to properly escape and to actually end up in a dominant position yourself. People get cocky when they’re on top. They let their guard down. That’s when the guy on bottom needs to strike.
TONIGHT: For warm up, plan on passing guard with any guard pass you like (from standing or kneeling). I’d like you to end up in the knee on belly position. Higher belts, if you’d like to submit from there, go for it. Just don’t teach your partner the submissions and steal all my glory. After that, we cover what you shouldn’t do from bottom knee on belly and then we’ll go over a submission or two from this incredible position. We’re going to drill, drill, drill.
Through the years, I’ve taught this position quite a bit, but also through the years, I’ve changed my perspective and have added a few things. There’s always a surprise or two to share. In the coming weeks, we’ll learn some escapes and move on from there. I’d also like to impress upon you how tempting it can be to completely ignore being on the receiving end of this position for the entirety of your Jiu-Jitsu career. It’s not a fun position to drill from. Yes, it’s terrible, but it’s not something you want to shy away from. It’s best to face it head on, learn what needs to be done to get out of it, and then to find a better position to dominate from. It’s just what we gotta do. BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 6/13/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: Let’s continue on with our domination from being on the bottom end of side control. A few weeks ago, I demonstrated a submission and sweep from this position, and tonight, you’ll get your chance to practice both of these things. For the submission, for me personally, as long as I can properly set things up, my submission rate is nearly 100%, so obviously the setup is critical. We’ll focus on that a good amount tonight. As for the sweep, its success largely depends on the mass of your opponent. The heavier he or she is on top, the less likely you’ll achieve success. Success also depends on stealth. If your opponent knows it’s coming, it’s less likely you’ll get what you’d like to get. Proper technique is critical. Both the sweep and submission work hand in hand, so that’s why I’d like to get to them both in the same class. They’re easy and straightforward, so I don’t see why we can’t get it all done in one sitting. For warm up, plan on practicing guard breaking and passing; both from kneeling as well as from standing. For the new white belts, know this: standing guard breaks are about 20x more difficult to defend against than kneeling guard breaks, meaning, if I’ve got you in my closed guard and you decide to stand up and break from there, I’m gonna have a helluva time stopping you. So that’s something you should practice and consider adding to your arsenals. Standing guard breaks. I hope you’ll BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 6/6/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: We’ve been working on closed guard and open guard passes, countering the pass, side control escapes, and submissions from side control. All of this is a fairly good portion of BJJ as a whole. If you can grasp the general concepts of what we’ve been covering, you’re going to be in incredible shape. Granted, what I’ve been teaching just scratches the surface of what’s available. It’s been a good introduction though. What’s left? Sweeps and submissions. From bottom side control, meaning, you’re the one on the bottom. One might think that being positioned in the bottom half of side control is a horrible place to be…and it can be, for the uninitiated. Once you become initiated though, it’s actually quite fun. The best part of it has to do with surprising your opponent with some ridiculously creative maneuver that they’ve neither expected nor knew existed. I use this stuff all the time and it works quite well. Tonight I’ll share my secrets with you. My plan is to show some oldies but goodies and then introduce some new things. I’d also like to work on a few combos as counters to specific scenarios. So – for the next few classes, it’s all about winning from bottom. It’s about owning your opponent from one of the arguably worst positions to be in and beating him or her with a move that will be pondered for life. It ain’t easy losing side control, much less being submitted while you’re holding someone in it. So if you’re looking to learn a game that’s not often played, tonight’s the night. BE THERE!!! (PS – think triangles from bottom, straight arm locks, and multiple sweeps/reversals.)
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 5/30/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: Now that we’ve been introduced to some open guard passes, let’s try them out with some light sparring. One person stands, the other person plays some light open guard and we’ll see if we can pass on by. Just as a reminder, there are folks out there who have very “sticky” feet, meaning, they’ll tangle you up in their open guard web. Passing open guard is something that’s practiced and refined through the years. It IS NOT something you pick up in a class or two. It’s actually one of the most athletic BJJ movements around. If you watch top-level matches online, you’ll find that much of the battle takes place while one player is standing, attempting to make progress. Sometimes that progress doesn’t happen. And sometimes it does, which brings me to tonight’s lesson; capitalizing on an open guard pass. The question is, is there anything we can do to counter a pass? Is there some way we can take advantage of it (as defenders)? Is there something we can do with our bodies that would stop our opponents in their tracks? We’ll find out tonight. Also tonight, we’ll be taking our first look at what to do when stuck in side control…or should I say, after we’ve lured our opponent into a false sense of security while they think they’ve got us stuck in side control. If there’s one idea I’d like you to take away from tonight’s class, it’s this: when it comes to BJJ, we’re rarely ever truly stuck. It’s just that the escape, sweep, or submission hasn’t made itself known yet. We simply need to learn where those things are. We’ll talk about all that. BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 5/23/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: We now have two solid open guard passes in our arsenals; the bullfighter pass and the knee slice pass. Of course, we’ll need to practice those two a lot before we look like experts, but they make for a solid foundation. Tonight, let’s work on one more. This will be the last one for this series because, at this point, three is enough. This last pass looks a lot like the knee slice, but there’s no slice. Don’t worry, you’ll see. It’s actually an easier pass to execute, which is a nice break. After that, I’d like to talk a bit about general reactions you can expect while passing someone’s guard and what you can do to mitigate those reactions. Closed guard passes are very different than open guard passes, so for these open guard passes, we’ll focus mostly on restricting the hip movement of our opponents. After that, I’d like to show you two more chokes from side control. These chokes are pure evil, so get ready for them. I’m convinced that there are people out there who sit around and conjure up the worst of the worst. Yes, we have straightforward armbars and shoulder locks in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which are fine, but then we have chokes that require the use of our own gis. These things are treated sort of like wrist locks. The people who perpetrate them on us certainly can’t be considered our friends. So bad…but oh so good. BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 5/16/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: For warmup last week, I asked you to practice passing open guard. Because there were quite a few people in class who had never done that, there were some questions. I expected this and demonstrated the most basic of passes; the bullfighter pass. Because it was only warmup (and a quick introduction), I didn’t want to get into too many details. Tonight, for warmup, you’ll be passing open guard again, but this time, we’ll add some detail. We’ll practice the knee slice pass, which will lead beautifully into a fully functional side control position. If you’ll recall from last week, we covered the three primary “contact points” of an effective side control; the hips, the near-side arm, and the head. If you can control all three and prevent your opponent from hipping out and turning onto his/her side to face you, you’re doing well.
For class, we’ll continue working from side control. I’ll show you how you can dominate both the near-side arm as well as the far-side arm and from there, choke your opponent. I’ll teach two very easy and very effective chokes. The best part about this sequence isn’t actually the chokes themselves, but the setup for them. By controlling both arms, you can basically do whatever you want to your opponent and by learning and coming to appreciate arm control, you’ll be setting yourself up for a whole lot of fun in future BJJ. When I was a young boy, my father and my father’s father taught me, “Jay, if you can control a man’s arms, you can pretty much do whatever you want to him.” I took those lessons with me and I now pass them on to you. You’re going to love it. BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 5/9/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
I was once watching a Brazilian jiu-jitsu match where I heard the coach yell, “That’s right. Stay right there in his guard. You don’t want to move anywhere else. That’s your position!” When did this happen? Never. No one has ever said, “Yeah, just settle in and get comfortable in your opponent’s guard.” What do coaches scream when their player is stuck in guard? “Get out of there! C’mon! Do all those breaks and passes we’ve been practicing! Get to side control!” Apparently, side control is where it’s at. The question is, why is side control so important and why do coaches and instructors focus on it so much?
In the most basic sense, side control is when a player pins another player to the ground. The bottom player is facing up and the top player is facing down. Usually, they’re both perpendicular in position. While there are many submissions from side control, it’s most often thought of as a gateway to checkmate positions like the mount or back control. It’s also a relatively safe place to be, as there aren’t too many submissions from being on bottom. There are submissions from bottom however, so be careful. We’ll cover them in future classes. There just aren’t as many as when you’re on top.
We began exploring side control a few weeks back when we did some positional sparring. As many of you found out, it’s very difficult to escape from the position, but just as striking was how challenging it can be to hold someone down as well, especially if that someone is more experienced or stronger/heavier than you are. So yes, while side control is highly dominant and perhaps the most dominant position of all (Shawn Smith, 2017, The Foundry, Farmington, Maine), it’s also something you’ll need to truly perfect to use to your advantage.
If you’ve ever worked side control, you know about the delicate balance between pressure and mobility. Because of this balance, the jiu-jitsu wizards of years past have devised dozens of variations of the same position. It’s rare that you’ll establish the position without a fight and it’s likely that you’ll need to adjust what you’re doing, where, and when. After all, when we roll, we aren’t necessarily familiar with the other person’s level of skill. And out on the street, this type of thing becomes extraordinarily important. If you’re a police officer and need to restrain someone, you’ll want to have a few options available to you. Who knows how the person on bottom will react to you and who knows how long you’ll need to hold them there.
TONIGHT: Let’s start off with some more positional sparring. Like previous weeks, I’ll indicate which top position I’d like you to start from and you’ll simply try to maintain that position. The person on bottom will try their darnedest to escape and you’ll try like all get-out to keep them there. No submissions. Simple maintenance. We’ll work and then learn and correct. Then we’ll change variations of the same position. That’s the way you’ll ultimately become winners at this game. By putting in this type of effort. I hope you’ll BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 5/2/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
When it comes to training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, body style somewhat dictates what will be successful and what won’t be. A taller person might not have great success going for a double-leg takedown on a shorter person. A shorter person might not have great success trying a hip toss on a taller person. While anything is possible, some things are simply more possible than others, depending on the situation.
When I roll with heavier, stronger people, I have definite strategies I employ. I never try to fight them with muscle. I usually try to put them in very uncomfortable positions that they’ve got to use their own muscle to get out of. During that effort, I reposition myself to take advantage of their discomfort. I would much rather deceive my opponent and then capitalize on the deception than to burn myself out trying to “wrestle” them. I suppose that’s what BJJ is all about. Using your brain and leverage to win.
One thing that’s always worked for me is taking my opponent’s back. If my opponent can’t see me, they won’t know how I’m working against them. If you’re smaller and lighter, the last thing you want to do is stare a larger and heavier opponent down, face first. That’s a battle you most likely won’t win. We’ve got some big boys in class these days and I shudder at the thought of going toe-to-toe with them. I either avoid eye contact with them altogether during open mat or, if they catch me and somehow get me to roll with them, I use leverage and deflection until I get where I need to be. Hopefully, I’ll somehow take back and from there, I’ll submit.
TONIGHT: For the past few weeks, we’ve been working on back submissions and escapes. I’ve got one more back submission I’d like to show you and then we’ll begin working on exactly how to take back. We’ll start with an arm drag from closed guard and then we’ll continue on from there. We’ll also continue on with our positional sparring as well. Because this arm drag has such a high percentage of success, we’ll use it to begin a few matches to get a feel for it. I hope you’ll BE THERE!!!
PS – I’ve attached a video for you to take a look at. Start watching at the 7:20 mark for some excellent back action. In the video, you’ll see a smaller, lighter guy totally dominate a very strong man by taking his back and submitting. Pay attention to the offense and defense and you’ll see much of what we’ve been covering recently in class. This stuff works.
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 4/25/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
We’ve been working on back control and back escapes for the past few weeks. Neither controlling back nor escaping the position is easy. It’s actually one of the toughest positions to deal with (escape) because, according to John Danaher, it’s the “most dominant position in all of BJJ and MMA.” Last week, a student was working with someone and asked, “I can’t seem to escape at all. I can’t even move. What do I do?” At that point, I asked the person who was holding the student to hold me so I could demonstrate the escape. Funny thing happened – I found myself stuck. I couldn’t move an inch. Apparently our new purple belt has an incredibly strong grip and just clamped onto my tender frame and subdued me like none other. Yes, it was very good for him, but not so good for me. The week earlier, I got the same question: “What do I do if I can’t escape at all? What if I can’t even move?”
In Jiu-Jitsu, getting stuck is part of the game. As aggressors, we try our hardest to put our opponents in terrible positions from which they can’t escape. Back in 2003, Eddie Bravo held Royler Gracie in just two positions for a full eight minutes, nearly the entire match. Royler Gacie is incredible at Jiu-Jitsu. If he can get stuck, so can anyone. Even yours truly, while failing to demonstrate an escape in front of young and impressionable eyes.
So, what can we do when we get stuck? I see three options: 1. Tap. 2. Keep trying to escape with all your might until you burn out – and then tap. 3. Protect yourself and survive until the aggressor wants to submit and initiates movements to do so. In order to submit, the aggressor needs to make small positional changes. These are called “transitional” movements. It’s during these movements that you’ll need to make openings for yourself. In the case of trying to escape back mount, keep your hands up to protect your neck and keep your elbows tight against your ribs, on the inside of your opponent’s knees. Keep your entire body tight and ready to spring. Once your opponent moves and goes for the submission, you’ll have a tiny window of opportunity to shift your body around and make your situation slightly better. Sometimes it’ll work and sometimes it won’t.
Back in 2008, I asked the same question of my instructor. I asked how I could get out of a terrible position. He told me that I shouldn’t have gotten into the position in the first place. That I had “screwed up five steps ago.” I shrugged his answer off all those years ago, but I now know he was actually correct (I’ve heard this same advice many times since). Through the years, as you get better at Jiu-Jitsu, you’ll develop an ability to avoid finding yourself in compromising positions. Today, the only people who manage to get me in back mount are Eric Whitney, Ian McLaughlin, and Esther Hall. Like I said last week during class, never trust a person who can’t look you in the eye while attacking you. Kidding, of course. These three are awesome back attackers.
TONIGHT: We’ll continue working with back mount. I’d like to much more slowly and carefully cover a few submissions and then we’ll try a round or two of positional sparring. After that, if we have time, we’ll move into a new exercise; one that requires us to begin in an entirely new position with the goal of actually making our way to back mount. Back is great, but if you can’t make it there in the first place, what’s the use? I sincerely hope you’ll BE THERE!!!
PS – I’m posting the Eddie Bravo Vs. Royler Gracie 1 at ADCC 2003 video so you can see that even the greats get stuck. Sometimes, it’s those inch by inch movements that matter most.
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 4/18/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
There was a lot of sweat in last week’s class and probably even more frustration. If you recall, we positionally sparred and for some, there was success. For others, there was failure. Whatever the case, I was pleased to watch on as our more senior students helped teach the newer folks how to go about getting the job done. As I mentioned in last week’s post, when we set up in a particular position and begin to “situationally” spar from that position, the primary goal really isn’t to win or to do things perfectly. If you’re a new student, what I’m looking for is for you to end up in a situation where you can’t succeed based on what you currently know. My goal is to have you, during your drive home, think about what went right and what went wrong and then when you do get home, for you to jump on YouTube to seek answers. Coming to class and learning/drilling in an ideal environment with little to no resistance from your partner won’t get you very far. If you limited yourself to that and succeeded with it (perfect form, technique, etc…), you’d leave each class thinking well of yourself. No one ever learns deeply when they think well of themselves. True learning comes from a grinding struggle. You aren’t struggling if you aren’t failing. Rest assured though, the more you struggle, the more you’ll learn and begin to put the necessary pieces together for success. Also, when I hold a class where we positionally spar, I’m not going to give you instructions on how to do what you need to do correctly. As I did last week, I’ll offer some fleeting tips, but those tips aren’t meant to be technical in nature. I simply share them to offer perhaps a direction in which to proceed.
It doesn’t matter what color your belt is, positional sparring is an integral part of practicing Jiu-Jitsu. Through the years, many BJJ practitioners become rusty with their technique. As a student’s knowledge base grows, it’s common for that student to ease up on his or her rolling intensity and style. They develop what we refer to as a “game.” Oftentimes, that game calls for a fraction of the effort they once used when they began training. While effective games are what we all strive for, they also create the conditions that allow for forgetting the basics we once worked so hard to master. That’s where positional sparring comes in. It’s the ultimate reminder of what we truly need to know to continuously succeed.
On that note, tonight we’ll change things up a bit. For the first half of class, we’ll work on the theory of holding and escaping back control. I’ll more methodically cover what I quickly demonstrated last week and then, for the second half of class, we’ll turn to realistic scenarios that will hopefully illustrate how useless the technique I just taught can be if it’s not practiced, practiced, practiced. I hope you’ll all BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 4/11/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: We spar. If you aren’t aware, there really aren’t that many primary positions in Jiu-Jitsu. We’ve got guard, side control, knee-on-belly, mount, back control, and turtle. If you became proficient at just one killer submission and escape from each of these positions, you’d be in better shape than most of the world when it comes to self-defense and subduing an opponent. Luckily, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu offers a seemingly endless number of escapes and submissions from these positions as well as a variety of the same from the endless number of “sub-positions” (all the various types of guards, mounts, etc…) that we can use to become even better than that.
Tonight’s class won’t be complicated. I’m going to split you up into pairs (high belt/low belt) and have you start from a chosen position. One person will try to submit and the other will try to escape. Before I have you do this though, I’ll demonstrate an easy submission and an easy escape from said position. If you’re brand new, don’t worry about winning or losing. All I’d like you to do is struggle and learn. If you can’t find your way out of the jam you’re in, ask your partner or me for advice. Some of my best learning experiences have come from positional sparring and open mat. Yes, in-class instruction is essential, but nothing is more motivational than having someone sit on you and you not having the ability to get them off. “Learning from necessity inspires lessons we remember.” (Jay Gaulard – 2023)
If you’re having a bad day at work, come to class. If you’re in a lousy mood, need to blow off some steam, are down about something, need to see some friends, or just want to get sweaty and join some of the finest BJJ practitioners this side of Maine has to offer, The Foundry Farmington is the place to be tonight. I can promise that you’ll walk out happier than you walked in. They always do. BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 4/4/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: Rumor has it that we’ve got some triangle experts in the house. Seth recently completed a triangle deep-dive workshop, so I’m excited to have some students show off their skills. If you’re a new student, you might not be aware of how many situations dangle a potential triangle in front of your nose. I’ve shaken hands with people upon meeting them for the first time. Where did they find themselves mere moments later? Triangle. I triangled a bus driver while he was driving once – just for looking at me. My point is, triangles are extraordinarily fun to pull off if you know what you’re doing.
I didn’t see or hear about the workshop, but I can guarantee Seth went very deep in the art of triangling an opponent. I hope you all learned the proper finish so I don’t have to cover that too much. What I’d love to delve into is a few interesting and more esoteric setups. To link this to the lasso guard we’ve been working on for the past few Tuesdays, we’ll discuss two different triangle setups from lasso and for warmup, I’ll quickly review a lovely hip-bump triangle setup. This all sounds like a lot to learn, and it can be. That’s why we’ll move at a snail’s pace until you feel secure enough to triangle your own bus driver. Not really. Don’t do that.
Tonight is going to be an awesomely fun class, so I hope you’ll BE THERE!!!
PS – Please continue practicing the granby roll. You’ll need that in later life.
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 3/28/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: Let’s revisit last week’s lesson while focusing on the basics. I’d like to discuss the omaplata once more as well as offer a defense to the submission. Then, I’ll teach a defense to the defense. Last week, I mentioned that the omaplata isn’t something a player would necessarily initiate from a sedentary position; it’s rather something taken advantage of during a scramble. The issue is, the most common defense to the omaplata is virtually instinctual and is somewhat challenging to defeat (especially if you’re rolling with Innerfirejds). To counter the defense, it becomes critical to develop some muscle memory to set the submission up so it’s effective. Don’t worry, it’ll all become clear in class tonight.
If we have time, I’d like to teach and practice the granby roll and then get back into the omaplata from lasso guard again. And after that, we’ll be covering the triangle from lasso guard. All these things are related and by learning them, you’ll become a better and more wholesome person. I promise.
PS – Make sure your toenails are cut and smoothed.
PPS – Here’s a video that covers the granby roll. Feel free to study up before class so you can hit the ground running.
PPSS – BE THERE!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 3/21/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: Here’s the short of it – for warm up, hip bump sweep. For class, new white belts will learn and practice the traditional omaplata from guard. Higher belts will learn and practice the omaplata from lasso guard.
Here’s the (very) long of it – I can’t even count how many times I’ve been asked, “Why can’t I get that submission? We went over it in class and I tried it during open mat. I didn’t even come close.” It’s true. No matter how proficient you become at executing a submission, you may never, ever have the opportunity to apply it during live rolling. Why not? Because good Jiu-Jitsu isn’t about submissions. It’s about setting the conditions for submissions. It’s about tenderizing a person to such a degree that the submission falls into your lap. Once that happens, you take it. Going for a collar choke, while your opponent is still strong, two seconds after establishing knee on belly on him or her isn’t going to work out too well. Going for that same choke after digging your knee into your opponent’s belly for half an hour is likely to work out much better. Going for a choke from guard while your opponent has good strong posture and is fighting like a bull, not so good. Breaking your opponent down and keeping him or her off balance while throwing tons of distractions his or her way, much better. I can humbly tell you that, by this point in my life, I’m fairly decent at finding and taking submissions. The problem is, I can’t seem to get any of what I normally do while rolling with our brown and black belts. Why? Because I generally spend all my match time trying to find holes in their games. They’re oftentimes too smart for that. They plug the hole the moment I find it. And they’re trying to do the same to me. How many times has Innerfire Jds and I ended a match in stalemate? Way too many. The reason for this stems from experience. We both know what the other wants and we play tons of defense. Just for the record though, Josh has submitted me far more often than I’ve submitted him and I find great offense in that.
Why am I telling you this? Because tonight we’re going to learn and practice a shoulder lock that’s sort of weird. It’s not straightforward, it ends up in an odd position, and you’ll find that you can only take the submission once in a blue moon. The traditional omaplata is somewhat elusive, while the omaplata from lasso guard is almost completely elusive. If they’re so elusive, why learn them at all? Like I always say, to show you that they exist. Why does anyone learn to fire a gun? Why does someone learn self-defense? Why does someone do anything? As Seth Harris once stated so boldly, “Sometimes you don’t choose the situation. Sometimes it chooses you.” And one day, while you’ve got your opponent’s arm perfectly wrapped up in the most beautiful lasso guard you’ve ever applied, your opponent may try to resist that guard. When they do, you’ll spin underneath yourself in the most glorious of granby rolls the world has ever seen. And then you’ll slap on an omaplata as if it’s the last thing you’ll ever do. Finally, after all that, you’ll win. See you tonight. BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 3/14/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: By now, you’ve heard of lasso guard. Seth and I covered the traditional setup a few weeks ago. I demonstrated how the guard itself works and Seth demonstrated a sweep from there. From what we saw, lasso guard is pretty basic. Or is it? Did you know that, for some people, working from lasso guard isn’t a mere one-off instance, but a way of life? I’ve rolled with people who use it EVERY SINGLE MATCH. They’re so good at it that they’re nearly impossible to beat. I’ve rolled with people where my primary goal was to avoid their lasso at all costs. And if I did get stuck in their guard, it was over for me. EVERY SINGLE TIME. I couldn’t pass, I couldn’t stand, sit, or do anything else. I’d simply wait to be rolled over and submitted. Needless to say, it’s a powerful position. Did you know there’s a deep lasso? A shallow lasso? Did you know that there aren’t only sweeps, but submissions that can be initiated straight from lasso guard? A lot of these things depend on how well you move your hips and the position of your body, so to become proficient at any of them, it’ll take some practice. So that’s what I intend to focus on during tonight’s class as well as the next few classes. It’s my goal to introduce you to the world of lasso guard so when you reach late blue and purple belt, when you begin thinking of the BJJ game that defines you, you may just choose lasso. I invite you to BE THERE!!!
The two photos below were taken in 2013 at Fighting Chance Fitness, the best BJJ club in north Florida. It’s located in St. Augustine and I would recommend it without hesitation.
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 3/7/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: I was thinking about last Tuesday’s lesson and about how deceitful the open guard position can be. Yes, when you open your guard and play a push/pull game, you can likely impose your will upon your opponent. You can make things happen by using brute force. More likely though, when your opponent is put in that terrible position, he or she will react and make their situation worse (lose their balance, shift their weight incorrectly, ect…). Have you ever watched a fly get caught in a spider web? Initially, the fly is touching just one small part of the web, but the more it fights, the more it becomes tangled and stuck. That’s sort of like how open guard works. Much of the reason you open your guard is to force your opponent to react. You want that movement because you’ll have a relatively simple and almost effortless answer for it. Last week, we covered the spider guard position and then a simple spider guard sweep. Seth explained that there aren’t many good options for a person who’s stuck in this position. It isn’t difficult for the person on bottom to pull the person on top up and then over for the sweep, especially if that person on top is acting irrationally. In tonight’s class, I’d like to play some open guard again, but this time introduce the lasso guard alongside the spider guard. It’s a hybrid type of thing that sets up just as simple a sweep as last week’s. I’ll introduce the guard and we’ll play with that and then Seth will teach the sweep. As a special treat, there may even be a triangle thrown into the mix, just for good measure. What? Oh yeah…BE THERE!!!
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 2/14/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: One of the most fascinating aspects (to me) of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu is the fact that a player can use his or her legs as weapons. When students first begin learning BJJ, they naturally aren’t quite sure what they should do with their legs. They focus on what’s much more accessible: their arms. They wrestle and push and muscle around to get things done. It’s only after a few months of rolling does a student finally pull guard and learn what their legs are truly capable of. There’s a certain elegance to letting the bottom half of one’s body do much of the work. Has anyone rolled with Mike Hebert lately? Hello? I rolled with him a few weeks ago and was astounded by his technical capabilities. He learned all about using his legs a while back, and he’s since become lethal. For the next few weeks, while we’ve got Mr. Seth Harris in the house, I’d like to introduce the power of the leg. We’ll begin with learning how to properly open guard against closed, and then we’ll learn the difference between a collar and sleeve open guard and a double sleeve grip open guard. Learning both of these will truly liberate your game and you’ll be rolling with the best of them in no time. After we learn the difference between these two open guards, I’ll teach the Spider Guard and then Seth will teach a very simple Spider Guard sweep. This sweep is essentially a Scissor Sweep, but with a Spider Guard hold. You can even apply the Push Sweep in the same fashion. So, if you’re interested in learning about how you might destroy your opponent’s moral and vigor for life with your legs, I implore you to attend tonight’s class. BE THERE!!!
PS – Happy Valentine’s Day
The Foundry Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Farmington, Maine – 2/7/2023 (Tuesday) 6:30PM
TONIGHT: Last week we worked on a very effective choke from mount. Before that, we worked on a triangle from mount and before that, a few armbars from mount. I want you to think about something for a moment; Let’s say Ian (somehow) traps me in his guard. I manage to break through and pass his guard to settle into a nice side control. From there, I take mount and begin slapping on one of the submissions I just mentioned above. In the middle of my submission though, Ian decides to implement the Upa mount escape to reverse our positions. Now, instead of having Ian in mount, I have him in my guard. The question is, should I stop the submission I’m working on to do something else or should I continue with the submission? As you become more experienced with BJJ, you’ll find that you can continue with the submission. We’ll test this out tonight. We’ll begin by starting a choke from mount and then the person on bottom will Upa out of that. We’ll roll over and continue that same choke from bottom. It’ll be fun. You’ll quickly learn that if you attach yourself to someone like a koala bear (Phascolarctos cinereus), it really doesn’t matter where you are in a roll; you can still take a great many submission, no matter where you started them from. To sum up, mount and guard are closely related. They are essentially the same position. Many submissions from one of those positions translate right over to the other. And to wet your whistle with some trivia this afternoon, in Judo, the guard is sometimes referred to as dō-osae (Japanese), which translates to “trunk hold.” In catch wrestling, it’s called the “front body scissor.”
If you haven’t visited a Tuesday night class yet, I invite you to stop by tonight. We are a hugely warm and inviting bunch. And we’re very good at Jiu-Jitsu, so you’ll learn a lot. BE THERE!!!
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