[FIGHT] Strapple: Lessons 1-5 [Part 3]

Tales from the Mat



I guess I like sparring. At my level I certainly don't finish a lot of people. I can avoid submissions against most white belts, including several with a lot more experience than me, although admittedly in a number of cases I have a size advantage and can just power out of bad situations. All the same, I don't really mind getting caught in an armbar or a triangle or a guillotine. Not that I like to lose, but I'd rather blue belts put some genuine effort into beating on me rather than just letting me pass the guard, for example. I guess I like sparring.

If memory serves me correctly, the first person I ever sparred at Strapple was Generic Dude (I don't know his name yet), he of the white-yet-brownish gi and matching belt with absolutely no trademarks on it. I noticed this guy previously when I sat in to watch a session two weeks earlier. He seemed to be one of those guys that crank maneuvers on too hard during technique practice and go a little too turbo during sparring. So I asked Generic Dude to spar, and he managed to force me to sit on my butt pretty quickly. From there I gripped both of his inside sleeves and kept him away by putting my feet on his inside elbows. Generic Dude tried to stand up and force his way out of my grips in order to pass, but I managed to hook my left leg around the back of his right leg, followed him up and yanked him down onto his back. I was working to pass Generic Dude's guard when he scrambled somehow to put his feet behind him and start standing up. As I got to my feet as well, I took the half guillotine that I saw (with his right arm in). I briefly considered Nogueira's Anaconda Choke which Phil taught me once, but I concluded that (i) it would look presumptuous of a first-timer to try it and (ii) I would probably get it wrong. Instead, I cranked on the headlock, I think to the point where I made some loud grunting noise. After a bit, Yonezawa-sensei came over and broke it up, saying that I wasn't going to get it. Damn.

Right after that I sparred Sato, a guy close to my weight if not a little bigger and, as it turns out, with two years of white belt experience. I don't remember this well since it was a blur of submission attempts by Sato from his guard and my free hand grabbing the wrist of the target arm every which way to prevent the armbar. In the last minute or so Sato finally got it on my right arm when he was upside down. I believe I could have taken a little more but, as a first-timer, decided to tap early.

I sparred Sato again this past Monday, with Hyodo acting graciously as my unsolicited chief second. I made the mistake of letting Sato get ahold of my right collar immediately, from which he could work for a twisted head crank, pull me in for a triangle, and readjust from the same triangle position into an armbar with my right arm going out the other way. I tapped twice in the first minute. Terrible. But from there things got better. I got more careful about keeping my right hand on Sato's belt or below as I passed behind his right leg, also making sure to get a grip on his left collar. Once I got to side control, Sato obviously started flapping around like a fish, but I was able to stay with him. I worked for a collar choke with my right hand deep in his right collar, four fingers in, and the left hand going over for the left collar, four fingers out. However, it took me too long, Sato shuffled a bit, and I had to start over. I wasn't able to secure a good attempt before the bell rang.

Osada and Nagataki, the Juniper engineer boys, almost always show up together with matching Adidas gi. I sparred Osada on my first night. He must have been tired because I mostly lowered my head and pushed him around until I ended up with his neck in an unobstructed full guillotine. I suppose I jumped to guard too quickly and his head popped out thanks at least in part to all the sweat on his hair. Then I got out of that predicament and ended up on his back with hooks in. I worked for the RNC which he fended off by holding onto my sleeves. I tried to switch to a collar choke, but the lesson, as always: I don't know what I'm doing. Time ran out.

I have sparred Nagataki twice, once with gi on and once without. He is a pretty tough cookie who is generally happy to pull me into his guard and go for a lot of submissions. From his guard, Nagataki has gone for a Kimura and a triangle choke, neither of which were close to being deeply sunk. He has put me in compromising positions twice, once with a roll away armbar on my right arm (Sakuraba versus Randleman, for example) and once with a RNC attempt, his back on the ground and hooks around my hips. I stayed patient and eventually got out on both occasions. In addition, Nagataki is pretty energetic at putting me back into at least his half guard when I try to pass. In our no-gi roll, it took me forever to figure out what to do to break the interlocking feet in his cross guard; I finally decided to just stand up while pushing his hips down. I need to figure out a way to submit this guy in the near future.

Hyodo is a very good guy, near my weight and a fluent speaker of English despite spending most of his youth abroad in the state of Georgia. When I first sparred Hyodo I tapped to a triangle. I kept leaving one arm ripe for the taking when passing behind one leg with the other arm, and I am still working my way out of that bad habit. I have been lucky enough to avoid getting submitted by him since, including at least one occasion when Hyodo was on my back working for a choke, and I invested a lot of strength in slipping him off my left shoulder and putting his back on the mat.

Some little guy in a blue Isami with a shaved head and six months of experience loves to get it on. We have sparred four times, and I have formed the opinion that he is out to prove to himself the technique-over-size sentiment born of UFC 1 and 2. In our first spar, I got to side control, locked his left arm in a Kimura and stepped over his head with my left foot. To this day I think he gave me a free pass there, but then again, he is small. Most recently, I muscled Little Blue onto the ground and eventually got past his guard. As usual, I was perplexed as to how to finish him and he regained a half guard. I still had my left foot caught in his half guard when I heard "30 seconds left!," thought to myself "Fuck it," and took his left arm for the armbar; he tapped. Perhaps Little Blue's best chance came when he asked me to spar 2 seconds after I got manhandled by Harada-sensei, then promptly stood up and caught me in a guillotine with his skinny blade-like wrists. It hurt for a while, but I relaxed, tucked just a little bit of my chin, then grabbed his legs (mostly my right hand on his upper right leg) and dumped him onto the ground, which loosened the guillotine.

Lastly, a 90 kg somewhat squishy dude showed up for his very first class this past Monday. When asked by Harada-sensei if he had done any combat sports, he said absolutely none. Didn't fool me. His ukemi rolls were too good. Sato sparred with him first and let the inexperienced first-timer progress to side control. 90 Kilo then took the mount and proceeded to put a sode-guruma on a very shocked Sato. Suddenly seeing his life and pride flashing before his eyes, Sato bridged for dear God to get out. I sparred with 90 Kilo at the end too. Before I knew what happened, he just pushed me down and walked over me into a mount, 198 squishy pounds on my chest. So of course, I bridged for dear God to get out. Soon enough I got him on the ground and passed one leg with my right leg trapped in his half guard, then I did a John Travolta thing and hopped and pivoted 180 degrees and back again. Time ran out with no finish.

And I'm not even going to talk about getting smashed by Harada-sensei and Masada-sensei yet.

[FIGHT] Strapple: Lessons 1-5 [Part 2]

Basic reversal from cross guard

This is the same first reversal I learned from Kotani way back before I had bronchitis. From cross guard with your back on the floor, create space to fit a bent leg (here, your right) into the top guy's belly, maybe optimally at the sword-slashing angle (a line running roughly from his right shoulder to his left waist) or below. The grips: right hand grabbing a rich amount of cloth below your opponent's right tricep, left hand pulling on the sleeve at his right wrist. In one motion, jerk your hands hard with counterclockwise English, stab your free left heel into his lower right leg, and kick through and extend with your right leg for the sweep. Kotani taught it with a quick sit-up first and then kicking through as you fall back, but blue belt Harada-sensei at Strapple said this wasn't necessary.

Kuzushi to all fours from guard

The practical application of this may be a little questionable. With your back on the mat, shift to open guard and create space with your feet on the top guy's hips, pivoting a little bit to your diagonal upper left. Now you can break your opponent's balance by taking his right sleeve with your right hand, then jerking it back while simultaneously using your right foot to kick out his left leg at a spot above his knee. Keep a hold of his right sleeve but use the time created by your opponent's loss of balance to crawl out from under him to the right side of his body, ending up in a squat or on your knees. Get your left hand a grip on the pants outside his left ankle.

In practice, once this position was established, the guy on all fours then forward rolls over his right shoulder, wheels out both legs high and wide in the air, then places his opponent in his guard at the end of the circle. The roles in the exercise now reverse.

Kimura from guard

The mechanics were the same as those taught to me at Abe Ani Combat Club. Strapple's Harada-sensei and brown belt Masada-sensei helped out with a few more points of emphasis. First, the arm (assume your left) flying over your opponent's shoulder should snake around and meet your right wrist at just about the same time you establish your grip on the top guy's wrist. This is because establishing your grip first would telegraph your intentions to your opponent. Second, focus on maintaining the 90-degree bend in your opponent's arm and pull it straight into the air behind him, then start forcing his hand toward his opposite shoulder blade at the end. A flexible opponent can endure quite a bit when the hammer lock is kept close to his back.

Sitting upright in shrimp v. in guard position with back on the floor

On Monday after class, Masada-sensei took four of us aside to expound on one of his favorite tactics. Sato paired up with Hyodo and I paired up with Sugimori. During kumiwaza on the floor, the key is keeping you back off the mat when you can. Legs are in a relaxed shrimp position, here the left leg bent and resting on the ground, the right leg bent and propped up, both feet inside the space between the top guy's knees. Take a deep grip on the opponent's right collar with your right hand with four fingers in, control the fabric near his right ankle with your left hand.

This creates several options. If you tug on his collar and your opponent reacts by jerking his head up, use his momentum against him and push him forward while picking up his right leg. Don't forget to step over his right leg with your left and work toward side control. If you tug on his pants and your opponent reacts by jetting his foot back, his balance will be compromised and you can pull his head down closer to your ribs using his collar. The opponent is more vulnerable if you can use your newly freed left hand to yank his right arm prone across your body, his right hand ending up in the open space under your right armpit. From here, you can work a collar choke by stringing your opponent's right collar across his throat, and then reaching over his back with your left hand and pulling on the gi near his left shoulder. (Not sure about this; I have to work this part out next time.) Lastly, with his head down you can slip your right hand under his left armpit and use your left arm to keep his upper body in tight to your right chest. Your feet should be hooked under his inner thighs. Kick straight up with more power in the right leg and take him onto his back for the reversal.

Feint clock choke to switched hands choke

If I'm not mistaken, this choke came to Harada-sensei only a couple of weeks ago by a white belt girl. Pretty impressive. Your opponent is seated and you koala behind him, your feet hooked around his hips. Work for the clock choke, say with your right hand gripped on your opponent's left collar. (Need to figure out whether it makes a difference that your right arm goes over or under the opponent's.) Your grip will be loose and down on the collar, perhaps because of the way your opponent is defending the choke. From here, pivot away to your right with your right leg sinking in deeper across your opponent's abdomen, unhooking your left foot. Bring your left hand over the right side of the opponent's neck and take the deep grip in the space higher up on the collar above your right hand, four fingers out. Release the right hand and bring it back while shifting your pivot to the left, this time your left leg sinking in across your opponent's abdomen and right foot almost unhooking. To finish, use your right hand to grab the fabric over your opponent's left shoulder and pull.

Single leg tackle with opposite feet forward

This came up in the beginner wrestling class taught by blue belt Yonezawa-sensei. Start with opposite feet forward (in this case, your opponent's right foot forward near your left foot forward). Look for the opening, or create it by slapping down and away if your opponent posts a keep-away arm on your shoulder. Lower your center of gravity and dive in, your left hand coming around your opponent's upper right thigh, your right hand swooping a big circle along the ground and then up towards the crochet, if you know what I mean. Your left leg moves to his right side but don't drag your right leg or leave it behind. The hand hooking around goes on top, lock it in high and deep. The left hand grips the wrist of your right hand; this way, even if your opponent can pull the top hand off, your hands remain in a favorable position close to each other.

This is a look-in tackle, not a look-out one; your head will drive into the opponent's body, your left ear on his right ribs, the rest of the left side of your face as flush as possible. Keep pushing through your left shoulder and head while lifting your opponent's right leg off the ground. Create a new angle to break his balance by shifting the orientation of your feet, pulling your left foot backward while dragging the goods back with you, leaving your right foot forward. Masada-sensei pointed out that sometimes it helps to sandwich your opponent's lower right leg between your own legs somewhat tightly. In the alternative, you can hook your opponent's right angle into the small of your elbow, or then heft it onto your shoulder -- taking a momentary quick dip with your hips if necessary -- and then stand straight up. Push forward or trip with your legs to finish the takedown. Tenacity is the key to all tackling.

[FIGHT] Strapple: Lessons 1-5 [Part 1]

I have kind of settled down. A few months ago, I realized that learning both striking and grappling would not work on my schedule. Shooto was out, and I decided on jiu-jitsu. I took my brand spanking new blue Atama gi for a free two-hour test drive at Scramble Shibuya. The class was fun, but I admit to being a little lost when the teacher, brown belt Kotani Satoshi, went through some reversals. On top of that, the mat area was tiny. After shopping around some more, paying attention to class schedules, commuting distances, and meticulousness of instruction, I signed up in Otsuka with the Gold's Gym North Tokyo branch of Strapple, the school founded by Taira Naoyuki, a Carley Gracie black belt, Shootboxing champion, and MMA pioneer.

So now that I have had five sessions at Strapple (admittedly, one of those was a wrestling class), it's probably high time to write down as much of what I've learned as possible before I forget. Besides, this is the first time in over a month that I can take some sort of breather from work. Unfortunately, due to failing memory in my old age coupled with overexposure to the smell of printer toner, these techniques are described in no particular order.

Guard pass behind one leg

First, the basics. Maintain good posture: head up and back straight; otherwise the bottom guy will find it to easy bring your head down for a guillotine or jerk it down by tugging on the collar. Don't extend hands past your opponent's belt line; otherwise the triangle is coming. Keep your legs bent and based on the ground; stepping into a crouch invites a reversal.

Second, on to the pass. Focus initially on prying the legs open, generally by keeping your hands together and spiking your elbows into the your opponent's thighs, then on getting control of one leg (assume his left) generally by pinning the opponent's inside thigh with your right knee. If this proves elusive, at the very least keep your non-passing right hand back and tucked near the upper part of the open leg.

In one quick motion, hook your left arm under his skyward right leg, first cradling it in the small of your elbow and then hefting it onto your left shoulder. Lean and dart in to establish control of his left lapel with your left hand, thumb in. As you pull forward and shorten up the distance between your opponent's head and his right knee, get into a sprawl and force your weight into the job. When the bottom guy is uncomfortably boxed up and if your right hand is somewhat free, pick up the backside of his drawers and lift. His right leg should fall away and you can work to establish side control. Again, keep legs bent and flush to the ground.

Guard pass behind two legs

After spiking your elbows into the bottom guy's thighs, quickly scoop both your arms under the back of his knees. Shift your opponent's ankles to your shoulders. Grab the pants on the inside part of one of his legs with your opposite hand -- for illustration, let's go with your right hand clasping the cloth on his inside right thigh. Sprawl up, keeping your legs behind you for safety, and lean your weight in, collapsing his legs. Keep his legs together and grasp the cloth on his inside left leg with your left hand, now releasing your right hand as you pass to the right side of your opponent's body.

Thumb knuckles choke between thighs

A great defense for the bottom guy while his opponent attempts to pass guard. In this case, guard top attempts to pass behind two legs. Bottom shoots his hands up, each to one side of his opponent's neck. Both hands grip top guy's collar, four fingers out. Drive the base knuckles on both your thumbs into the sides of your opponent's neck. Pull top guy's head down by jerking on his collar, get both your hands between your thighs and squeeze. This hurts like the dickens.

Leg wraparound opponent's near arm, kick stretch

Another good defense from guard bottom. If the top guy is passing behind one leg with his arm down near the ground or your waist, attack with that leg (assume the right). If not in a pass, you can try to create space by shifting to open guard and kicking off of his hips. The key is to control his left arm and hold his wrist at your right hip. Swing your right leg around the front of top guy's left arm and tuck your right foot and shin into his belly. Lunge over the top and grip his belt with your free left hand while your right foot makes it out to the far side of your opponent's ribs. Keeping his left hand trapped, pull his belt toward you and extend out your legs. This will cause pressure on his left shoulder or upper arm.

[FIGHT] Still the Greatest

Deep funk Monday. The image of Sakuraba's face was hard to ignore.

We were there live, row 17 on the ground level east side just a few meters from the post-fight exit lane for the blue corner. But Mrs. Ramen had to leave three minutes into Sakuraba v. Arona, so there went the good luck charm. The fight worked out pretty much as expected. Considering what Saku was giving up in size, strength, age, and maybe vitamins and minerals, I don't think he did half bad.

People will now complain again that he should hang up the gloves. Yes, he got totaled in there. Maybe he should quit, but he won't. His body is in worse shape than most of the cars Xzibit hauls into West Coast Customs for "Pimp My Ride," but he is still a capable fighter, and more than capable when fighting opponents near his natural weight.

Perhaps most importantly, the man won't let himself quit. Some of his fans may wish better for his wife and three kids, but his will is still there. If he wants to go out his way, even if it means, for example, a fourth match against an ever-enlarging Axe Murderer, then we probably owe him that, however insane. He is, after all, a legend and a pop cartoon. He is Eddy the Eagle, the Jamaican Bobsled Team, Johnny Unitas and Muhammad Ali at the same time.

In the premiere fightsport market that is Japan, if Takada Nobuhiko was the man who made mixed martial arts an event, Sakuraba Kazushi was the man who made it a viable industry. And to a further few thousand believers, Sakuraba made it a faith.