Raven78's on the set of the Living Dead

Great stuff! I thought it was really great when you blasted the double-leg takedowns on the first guard-puller. His game actually reminded me of the only Aussie I ever trained with. He had tons of leg and spine mobility and loved playing stacked guard, hated takedowns.

That last guy was bigger and pretty damn methodical after he brought shame on himself by pulling guard on someone smaller. You weren’t the first smaller guy he’s gift wrapped, taken the back and choked out.

A lot of my rolls can look similar, where the size advantage really lends itself to holding good positions, especially when you also know how to hold good positions. Cook them with pressure, wait for a mistake. Gift wraps often present themselves.

“Posture up” can be simplified into “do a deadlift” or, in the case of your position where you were being broken down by his arm in his guard, a safety bar squat. Out of everything a big strength edge gets you in grappling, posturing up with authority might be one the biggest advantages. Hip strength can create a lot of problems with control from most positions.

If you watch some of @T3hPwnisher 's matches you can see him posturing up with quite a bit of authority, which is just so damn frustrating to people in guard trying to break down the posture. It is not the same proposition to break someone down who can “posture up” with 500 lbs resting on their back.

Great stuff and congratulations on not giving up on that arm triangle and getting the win with it!

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Congratulations!

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Great job! Hard work is definitely paying dividends.

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Excellent work my friend! I couldn’t be more impressed than with folks like you who put in the training and go out and compete in stuff like BJJ. Keep it up!!! :muscle:

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Very Good!

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Thanks for the comments all!

@twojarslave the first guard puller was proud of his hypermobility which he mentioned to me after I lost my first match to him. Appreciate the nod on shame re the second guy re guard pulling ha. But he got the win so credit to him. If only there were more smaller older guys starting BJJ in my area! It’s a tough combo ask so I suspect more comps in the future I’ll be pushed back into the all ages white belts in my weight bracket (145lb/66kg with a small cut to make weight). I get it though, if I had size advantage I’d be looking to do the same! I’ll have to give @T3hPwnisher recent matches another view for sure.

Was happy with my tenacity on the winning round given he almost had me in another armbar/triangle again, phew!

Thanks @kleinhound @TrainForPain @ChickenLittle @shaneinga @TM79 @Friedrich - appreciate the comments. Enjoying the BJJ training aspect, and the rolls at the end are great cardio.

Elbow still a little angry today, so some light gym work at lunch is the plan.

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Your fellow descendant of England’s criminal outcasts was one of those guys who could always surprise me with replacing a guard. There are feet and legs everywhere you try to go, plus he could fold himself into so many compact positions to get some type of guard back. Using your mobility is actually 3 times more unfair than using your strength.

As far as “posturing up” goes, @T3hPwnisher (and me at times, for that matter) are good examples of simply using well-developed strength to power out of bad positions, which is not necessarily the right idea for everyone.

In his most recent matches there were posture battles that really shaped the whole match, as it resulted in his opponent smoking himself while insisting on fighting a losing battle against an absolute brute with some wrestling experience and good instincts for movement.

“Posturing up”, like most of grappling, gets pretty technical the further down the rabbit hole you climb, and I’m not much deeper than you are. I would encourage you to ask your coach to watch the video and explain what he meant in that situation.

Lifting and recovering to a bigger squat is comparatively simple, and arguably more effective at lower levels of hand-to-hand combat.

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Squats (work gym)
04.02.2025 (Noon pre lunch session)
Mobility, warmup, groiners

Ankle mobility
Hip aeroplanes x5 L/R
14kg KB goblet squats x3 x 10sec holds

Squats
Bar x 8
40kg x 8
60 x 8, 8, 8
-ss-
HLR x 10, 10, 10

SL Squat +5kg x 5, 5, 5 (L/R)
-ss-
Nordic leg curls (hand assisted) x 10, 8, 10

Fascia stretches (2mins ish per stretch - hip flexors)

-just some medium weight movement today.

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BJJ
05.02.2025 (6am morning session)

BJJ 1hr, all levels class

-coach was happy to run through a few of my technical issues (and there were plenty!) from the final in the comp. So we worked bracing techniques when opponent is in mount going for armbar, kimura, etc. I’m defo guilty of fighting that grip when coach advised ‘it’s just a distraction’ and I have to frame the hips.
-then some good rolls with J, H and Bl thereafter
-coach also recommended I work on some low HR rounds re technique so some great feedback to work on for me @twojarslave @burien_top_team fyi coach is on the money :slight_smile:

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I’ll talk more about this later (things are a little helter skelter right now), but I want to make a point about posture since that’s come up.

Yes, posture when engaging the guard is very important. I don’t think it’s a matter of strength, though. Rather, proper technical positioning can make it very difficult for someone to break your posture while at the same time not requiring much strength or athleticism to maintain.

Here’s Henry Akins, Rickson Gracie black belt, explaining the concept. I attended one of his seminars many years ago and it was far away the best instruction I’ve ever received in person.

He refers to the technique as maintaining a “pelvic tilt.”

This is not to say that you can’t work with a broken posture in the closed guard. Especially in no gi, there are bodylocking pass strategies that start with a “broken” posture. But knowing how to be safe in guard without using your arms, without pushing, without “strength” is always valuable.

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Just to be clear, I brought up strength and T3hPwnisher’s matches for an exaggerated example of the basic concept of what “posturing up” is, not as an example of technical refinement or a good precursor to a guard pass.

Those matches are also a good example of how much technical refinement is needed to break down the posture of an athletic unit.

@raven78 I’m glad your coach is working with you on remedying the situation. In my experience, they love questions like that.

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Weighted vest walk (work gym)
05.02.2024 (1pm pre lunch session)

25mins incline dreadmill with vest (10ish kg?), HR122-130

hip flexor fascia stretching and shoulder flexibility routines, stretching, cool down

-great vid there thankyou @burien_top_team tried it out during warm downs and it makes sense. Coach often mentions we might need to get into a ‘bad’ posture as part of an escape. Will add this into some rolls soon.

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Shoulders (work gym)
06.02.2025 (1pm pre lunch session)

Mobility warmup

BPA’s various angles x 40ish
Dead hang, HLR x 10, 10

DB OHP
10’s x 10 yeah nah elbow not a fan

Circuit:
Rear delts
10kg DB’s x 12, 12, 12, 10+5rp
-ss-
Lat pulldowns
+40kg x 10
+45kg x 10
+50kg x 8
-ss-
Laterals 7.5kg DB’s x 8 > 5kg x 8 x 3sets

DB incline press
10’s x 20r
12.5’s x 15, 15
-ss-
Parlof press
+20kg x 10 L/R x 3s

Pec fascia stretch 2min
Foam roll legs, stretch, cool down.

-resting HR60

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BJJ
07.02.2025 (6am morning session)

BJJ 1hr, all levels class

-today we continued addressing some areas of my rolls from the comp, closed guard escapes from seated position, then standup.
-good rolls thereafter, focused on slowing things down a bit, and suprisingly lasted longer vs J in this manner. A good even battle roll after with L too finished in mount working kimura/americana options when timer went off.

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Vanity-Movement (work gym)
07.02.2025 (1pm pre lunch session)

BPA’s various angles x 50ish
Dead hang

5 sets:
Banded curls, hammer curls, tri extensions (circa 40reps per set)
-ss-
20kg KB Swings x 20r +1r

15kg DB wrist curls x 18, 12, 15

So plenty of light reps in there to get some blood moving through the elbow as it heals. Plus 101 swings.

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Do you think this is hurting your elbow’s recovery any?
I’ve found this to be very unfriendly to my elbows personally, may not affect you as it does me.

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BJJ
07.02.2025 (6pm evening session)

BJJ 1hr, beginners class

-got to an evening beginners class too today. Worked entries and getting around the upper leg
-4x rolls working on keeping calm in a bid to roll with a lower HR. Went well, against similar level opponents.

-thanks for popping in @Andrewgen_Receptors it doesn’t seem to anger it on the dead hang, but if I extend the arm a bit further I can still feel it. Bottom end of the humerus has a sore spot. Will nurse it through! HLR earlier this week seemed fine too cheers!

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Daily work
08.02.2025 (on the set of the living dead)

KB Swings
24kg x 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20

Ran these between morning house duties for a bit of movement.

A simple KB press defo still angers the elbow this am @Andrewgen_Receptors so some things are ok, others defo not!

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Weighted vest walk (work gym)
11.02.2024 (1pm pre lunch session)

15mins incline dreadmill with vest (10ish kg?), HR115, nasal breathing only

BPA’s various angles 4 x 20ish sets
Banded hammer/regular curls 3 x 20ish reps
Tri extension 3 x 15r
Elbow prehab routine 3 x 10-12r (LrR)
Light DB Curl to ohp - testing out the elbow, ok at light weight

hip flexor fascia stretching 2mins (L/R)

-a few arm curls and tasty gourmet hot dogs for the superbowl as is the annual tradition. Nice timeslot for us here in Oz, 10am kickoff here. This pic was taken around 10 years ago? Back when I’d brew a heap of beers and have 10-20 mates around to polish them off during the game. A lot simpler now, case of beer and couch!

-gave the ute a wash yesterday, and found some paint is bubbling up in a few spots. Back to Ford to get them to fix it under warranty!

-Sunday was a quality rest day. Much lego play with junior…

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Glad you guys enjoyed the superbowl! And some Budweisers to make it official! Quality time with the family too. Looks like a great day. :sunglasses:

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