Here's a No-Gi technique that I have been trying to experiment with- the Bayev Bite, shown here by its creator, Elliot Bayev.
It's a stupid simple bicep slicer which also lends itself nicely as an armdrag set up.
1) From closed guard, shoot your hand under the shoulder across from you, just as you would with an armdrag.
2) Instead of dragging that arm across, which your opponent should already be attempting to resist, you bring up your other hand, and clasp your palms together in a palm-to-palm grip.
3) Squeeze your forearms together while curling them towards you for the tap
4) If he turns his arm around to escape, arm drag him.
Yes, that would be a Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey choking somebody
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you're reading this blog, it's likely that 1) You're not a vegetarian 2) You're going to be eating your weight in turkey today
And so, here's some facts from WHFoods.com about Turkey that you can tell your family members when they remind you that you're on your 17th serving of breast meat and that you shouldn't talk with a drumstick shoved down your throat.
The Health Benefits of Turkey
Turkey is a very good source of protein. A four ounce serving provides 65.1% of the daily value for protein, along with 11.9% of the daily value for saturated fat, about half the amount of saturated fat found in red meat. The structure of the human body is built on protein. We use animal and plant sources of protein for our amino acids and rearrange the nitrogen to make the pattern of amino acids we require.
Cancer-protective Selenium
Turkey is a very good source of the trace mineral, selenium. Selenium is of fundamental importance to human health. It is an essential component of several major metabolic pathways, including thyroid hormone metabolism, antioxidant defense systems, and immune function. Accumulated evidence from prospective studies, intervention trials and studies on animal models of cancer have suggested a strong inverse correlation between selenium intake and cancer incidence.
Several mechanisms have been suggested to explain the cancer-preventive activities of selenium. Selenium has been shown to induce DNA repair and synthesis in damaged cells, to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells, and to induce their apoptosis, the self-destruct sequence the body uses to eliminate worn out or abnormal cells. In addition, selenium is incorporated at the active site of many proteins, including glutathione peroxidase, which may be the most important for cancer protection. One of the body's most powerful antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase is used in the liver to detoxify a wide range of potentially harmful molecules. When levels of glutathione peroxidase are too low, these toxic molecules are not disarmed and wreak havoc on any cells with which they come in contact, damaging their cellular DNA and promoting the development of cancer cells. Just four ounces of turkey provide 47.1% of the daily value for selenium.
Turkey is also a good source of another cancer-protective nutrient, the B vitamin, niacin. Components of DNA require niacin, and a deficiency of niacin (as well as other B-complex vitamins) has been directly linked to genetic (DNA) damage.
B vitamins for Energy and Cardiovascular Protection
Turkey is a good source not only of niacin, but also vitamin B6. These two B vitamins are important for energy production. In addition to its DNA actions, niacin is essential for the conversion of the body's proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into usable energy. Niacin helps optimize blood sugar regulation via its actions as a component of a molecule called glucose tolerance factor, which optimizes insulin activity.
Vitamin B6 is essential for the body's processing of carbohydrate (sugar and starch), especially the breakdown of glycogen, the form in which sugar is stored in muscle cells and to a lesser extent in our liver. Along with vitamin B12, vitamin B6 plays a pivotal role as a methyl donor in the basic cellular process of methylation, through which methyl groups are transferred from one molecule to another, resulting in the formation of a wide variety of very important active molecules. When levels of B6 or B12 are inadequate, the availability of methyl groups is also lessened. One result of the lack of methyl groups is that molecules that would normally be quickly changed into other types of molecules not only do not change, but accumulate. One such molecule, homocysteine, is so damaging to blood vessel walls that high levels are considered a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Four-ounces of turkey supplies 27.0% of your daily needs for vitamin B6.
Yes, so Turkey is good for you- so serve yourself up slices of breast meat, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, stuffing, and armbars ...er, pie.
Dirty Boxing for MMA - Jens Pulver One of my favorite stand-up clinches is the Dirty Boxing clinch, made popular by Randy Couture and Jens Pulver.
I find that it's exceptional in Mixed Martial Arts when you're up against a much more technical striker than yourself- instead of standing off and getting picked apart, you can come in and grab your opponent and pummel him to bits while opening the opportunity for a takedown or throw.
The Dirty Boxing clinch is very hard for many people to defend, because the whole time that you're in it, you're constantly threatening him with both strikes and takedowns.
Jens Pulver made a video a while back about fighting this way, and I find it to be a great instructional (Note the live band playing the background. Awesome.):
If you train in MMA and you find that your wrestling is pretty much non-existent, follow Jen's tips, and I guarantee that you'll surprise your training partners next time you spar.
Notice how he doesn't really have a set plan, maybe a few starting positions to restart from, but it's all just one big flow drill. I suggest that you do the same, as in think of possible starting top positions (ie- knee on belly mount) and go from there.
These balance drills will do wonders for your transitions and maintaining dominant positions from the top, so I strongly suggest you putting in the time and effort to do them. Not only that, your core will thank you for it. As a matter of fact, I'm absolutely sure that if I hadn't done exercise ball work when I was younger, it would have taken me a lot longer to learn basic grappling skills.
Also, here is a video of Frank Shamrock doing his fitness routine- about 1 minute into it, you see his balance drill work on the stability ball as well as the medicine ball.
UFC 91 Predictions - Couture vs. Lesnar + Results EDIT 11/17- Sorry, I forgot to edit my predictions from a few weeks ago to account for the canceled fights, but aside from the Gurgel one, looks like I was pretty much dead on for this event.
-I feel bad for Randy, but Lesnar had his number for this fight
-Maia is absolutely sick, and is quickly becoming one of my favorite fighters.
-KenFlo definitely deserves a shot at the title, and looks like BJ Penn is going to have his hands full.
Randy Couture Vs. Brock Lesnar *sigh* - (I wish Randy does win, though) Kenny Florian Vs. Joe Stevenson Amir Sadollah Vs. Nick Catone Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Josh Hendricks Nate Quarry Vs. Demian Maia Dustin Hazelett Vs. Tamdan McCrory Jorge Gurgel Vs. Aaron Riley Jeremy Stephens Vs. Rafael dos Anjos Alvin Robinson Vs. Mark Bocek Matt Riddle Vs. Ryan Thomas
Essentially, as soon as your opponent posts his arm out, you're going to pivot right into an omoplata-
Note, a good way for you to work this omoplata setup, since most grapplers will not roll and willingly post their hands on the mat constantly, is to go for a Hip Bump sweep first to force the hand to the mat.
-Open up the guard, while hooking with the attacking leg, throw out the far leg to gain as much momentum as possible, and pivot on your hips. Make sure that you're keeping your head and upper body tucked in while pivoting.
-Catch the attacking leg with the far leg as soon as possible. MAKE SURE that as you're getting the omoplata, to raise your hips as you get it.
-Immediately post up on your near arm, posture, control your opponent's hips, and finish the omoplata as usual.
Win a Free Training Session with Urijah “The California Kid” Faber! Tomorrow, there will be Urijah Faber, Paulo Filho, and Jens Pulver fighting in the WEC on Versus, which I am highly excited about- Faber will be be defending his Featherweight Title against Mike Brown and Filho will be defending the Middleweight Title in a rematch with Chael Sonnen. I expect both champions to retain their titles in this MMA event, with the Filho/Sonnen match being a little closer. Also, I'm fairly sure that Pulver will be running right over Leonard Garcia. I know that fight will be on the undercard, but I hope they show it on TV.
Now, that would be exciting in itself, but I was just notified of a promotion being run by Versus to win a VIP trip to Sacramento for a training session with the Featherweight Champ himself, Urijah Faber, at the Ultimate Fitness Gym.
I still find that a significant number of BJJ people still have issues defending lockdown/double triangle based half guard sweeps, Eddie Bravo's famous Old School Sweep in particular.
There is the Sprinter escape from the lockdown, but lets say that your opponent has started the sweep already by pushing you up and grabbing the double underhooks (To which you should immediately posture up and post your outside arm out or risk getting sweeped real easily).
1) Deep overhook his near arm
2) As he brings his leg under and begins to roll, get ready for the reversal
3) As soon as he finishes, pummel your other hand for an underhook, and try to grab your other hand (the previously overhooked one)
4) Continue the roll in the direction he was sweeping you, and you will land in a modified scarf hold (Stocks, Base out with your legs as you would with a normal scarf) and you can neck crank him from there, as shown in the video.
