The Flog!

Ude Garami – Entangled Arm Lock is called several other names depending on which martial art you are familiar with. Judo uses the same term for the three basic positions. Here is a video of Traditional Ude Garami. In each arm position, the aim is to place torque on the shoulder or elbow joint and achieve a tap out from the submission.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, ude garami is called a Kimura (named after a famous judoka who used this version to great success) if the arm is placed behind the opponent’s body when he sits up. In the traditional video, Dave shows a version of the Kimura at the very end, when he changes his body position, sitting his legs through in a manner similar to Kesa Gatame, causing Mike’s shoulder to come off the floor as the technique is being applied.

Another, somewhat unusual, version of ude garami can be seen in this video which shows Mike being held in a side triangle choke (sankaku jime) position: ude garami from jigoku jime.

During one of our classes Dave demonstrated why ude garami is less successful from full mount than from side control. Side control enables you to place far more body weight on your opponent. It also protects you from your opponent by placing most of your body away from him. If you are in full mount, uke has the ability to arch his back, negating the torque that is being applied on the shoulder, and possibly even bucking you off. Also, in full mount, it is possible for uke to manoeuvre his head between tori’s arms, rendering the ude garami attempt completely harmless.

Full mount also leaves a gap between your chests: this gap doesn’t exist in side control. Any time there is space between you and your opponent, there is the possibility of his escaping from your hold. In fact, side control enables you to drop most of your body weight on your opponent’s upper chest and shoulders. Few people can escape from holds when their shoulders are being held down, which is why kesa gatame is so effective as a groundhold.

ayjay

March 6, 2010

The juji gatame, ude hishigi juji gatame formally, is an armbar in which you as tori use your legs to control uke while you hyper-extend his elbow into an armbar. The juji can be accomplished from a variety of positions, from the ground, from standing, etc. In the case of this fight, the positions were classic with Hardy on his back on the floor and GSP at about 90 degrees from Hardy and on his back as well. The object is to apply pressure to the elbow, extending it to the point that you achieve a tap out. In order to get the arm bar, the pressure must be applied to the elbow and the arm must be straightened out completely. When we teach this technique, we talk about pointing the thumb to the sky. That position works for the most part, but there are some versions of juji in which that statement doesn’t apply. Tori must be aware of where uke’s elbow is and turn the arm such that the elbow is the joint that is having the torque placed to it. The elbow has to be against your body, the thumb away from your body. In GSP’s attempt at the juji gatame, Hardy managed to move his arm so that he could bend it.  GSP did not control Hardy’s upper body or his arm, so that eventually Hardy turned over and got free. 

Initially GSP had his left leg over Hardy’s face and the right leg over Hardy’s upper torso. GSP had Hardy’s right arm extended to the right maintaining grips on Hardy’s wrist and hand. This is the first screen shot of the position: 

juji1 - GSP attempts Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC 111

In the photo above, GSP has Hardy’s arm in the correct position, but the leg on Hardy’s face should be extended and be pushing down, squashing his face. But even more importantly, GSP should be squeezing his legs together around Hardy’s arm while pushing down with both legs.  Closing the gap between the knees immobilizes the arm so that uke cannot move his arm from the juji position. Pushing down on the face and torso enables tori’s control over uke’s shoulder and upper body. Squeezing the legs together is the most crucial element, though.

If you look closely at the video (you can see it better than with just the few photos we’ve included), you can see Hardy’s arm twist and turn between GSP’s legs, allowing him the range of motion to resist the arm bar attempt and ultimately escape.

juji2 - GSP attempts Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC 111

By the 18 second mark above, Hardy has begun to turn onto his side and his arm has moved, his elbow slightly bent such that GSP cannot apply the arm bar – the elbow is pointing sideways here, so Hardy can actually bend his arm to relieve the pressure.
At the 17 second mark below, Hardy is fully on his side and GSP is straining to achieve the submission, to no avail. 

juji3 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

At the 16 second mark below, the grimace on GSP’s face shows his effort, applying all his strength. It was in vain, though, because Hardy managed to move onto his side, having lifted GSP’s hips right off the floor. If GSP were in control of the arm bar, Hardy would still be on his back, and GSP would lift his OWN hips to further hyper-extend the elbow. Hardy’s elbow is away from GSP and his thumb is now pointed toward the floor instead of the ceiling, enabling him to use the larger bicep to bend his arm. 

juji4 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

juji5 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

One second later, at the 15 second mark above, GSP’s left foot is completely under Hardy; Hardy is turned onto his side and is moving his arm away from GSP. Georges spent all his effort on Hardy’s arm, but had not managed to stabilize the arm. 

juji6 GSP attempting a Juji Gatame on Dan Hardy - UFC111

By the 14 second mark above, Hardy was on his knees and about to escape from GSP’s grasp completely.  Had he squeezed his knees together at the beginning of the arm bar attempt, we believe Hardy’s arm would have been immobilized and the submission would have been successful.

Click here to link to our videos on juji gatame - traditional version, and our modified judo4MMA version of juji gatame.

ayjay,

April 4, 2010

The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 TUF11 Episode 3 had at least one surprise: Chris Camozzi was sent home, having sustained a slight fracture of the jaw during his elimination fight. Dana White was pre-empting a broken jaw by Camozzi’s elimination. Tito Ortiz was then given the opportunity to pick a guy from the eliminated men to come back. He chose Seth Baczynski.

This episode’s fight was between Brad Tavares (Liddell‘s team) and James Hammortree (Ortiz’s team).Yager felt that Tavares was going to win by knock out, while Nick Ring guessed that Hammortree would win by TKO in the second round.

Hammortree, nicknamed “The Sledge”, has a record for the fastest KO in Florida – five seconds. Ortiz was looking for a take down by Hammortree and ground and pound. One of Liddell’s coaches said that Tavares will be “a force to be reckoned with in the UFC”.

Hammortree was the bigger of the two men, two inches taller with a two inch reach advantage. His record was 5 and 1 coming into this fight, whereas Tavares’s record was 4 and 0.

Round one began with a failed take down attempt by Hammortree, Tavares threw his opponent with harai goshiand ended up on Hammortree’s back. He then tried a rear naked choke which failed. Hammortree flipped over and was in Tavares’s half guard.

Tavares used the fence to get up, after which Hammortree tried a take down ending on the bottom again with Tavares on his back. Ortiz kept yelling for Hammortree to get “up, up, up”. Hammortree again managed to get in Tavares’s half guard and then side, but there was a huge gap between their bodies and Tavares was up.

Round two had Hammortree rushing Tavares to the fence. Tavares pushed Hammortree and ended in Hammortree’s guard. Tavares applied a knee to Hammortree’s face. While on the ground Tavares was on his knees with Hammortree on his back. He used the fence to stand up, but Hammortree took him down. While on the bottom, Tavares tried a Kimura (ude garami) for some time. At the bell, Hammortree was in Tavares’s guard and butterfly guard.

The Sudden Victory round began with Tavares’s striking. Hammortree attempted a take down which was stuffed and then Tavares rolled into Hammortree’s half guard. Hammortree applied elbows and achieved full mount. Tavares immediately rolled over and was in control.

While bent over, Hammortree tried a take down; Tavares was holding Hammortree’s arm trying ude garami sporadically.

Unanimous decision in Tavares’s favour.

My thoughts: If Hammortree were a striker (witness his record in Florida), why was he trying so hard to defeat Tavares on the ground? Hammortree was jumping from one technique and position to another very quickly, not giving himself the opportunity to establish control.

Tavares deserved the win. His techniques were solid and competent.

Click here to go to TUF11 Episodes 1 & 2.

Click here to go to TUF11 Ep. 4.

ayjay

April 20, 2010

Episode 11 of The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF10 contained the last two quarter finals matches between Matt Mitrione and James McSweeney and Marcus Jones versus Darrill Schoonover.

Although Dana White wanted Kimbo Slice to fight instead of Mitrione, Slice amazingly turned down the fight. His knee is missing cartilage and he refused to have injections to alleviate the pain.

Mitrione spoke with his doctor and told everyone that the doctor had OK’d his fight against McSweeney. Mitrione admitted to the camera that he’d played with McSweeney so that McSweeney wouldn’t know with whom he was fighting until the last minute. Schaub suggested that Mitrione’s unorthodox fighting style warranted some respect.

A major confrontation in this episode revolved around Mitrione: He had inadvertently poked Scott Junk in the eye during their preliminary match. The result was tears to Junk’s retina, requiring surgery. Also the doctor suggested that Junk’s MMA career would be over. When Marcus Jones heard this, he proceeded to go quietly berserk. By the time he saw Mitrione, he looked as though he was about to take Mitrione’s head off. (Mitrione didn’t have a clue what was causing Jones’ outrage, but didn’t back down either.) Jones was irrational and hysterical for some time, eventually calming down, partially due to Jackson‘s comments. (Junk was later given the news that he could fight in two months’ time, although the doctor did not recommend it.)

Dana White felt that Mitrione would win the bout against McSweeney if he fought as he did against Scott Junk. Click here to go to the article containing that fight(Mitrione versus Junk).

Click here to go to the article about McSweeney’s preliminary match with Wes Shivers.

Round 1 began with McSweeney applying a low leg kick. Mitrione followed up with right and left shots. The men were circling one another, with Mitrione looking for the opening. He caught one of McSweeney’s kicks and followed up with multiples strikes.

McSweeney used some combos and tried a take down. Mitrione dropped near the fence and, with McSweeney following him to the ground, attempted a leg lock.

McSweeney had side control and when Mitrione turned over and got up on his knees, McSweeney clung to his back. Mitrione began to stand, but McSweeney had his neck in an hadaka jime. My first comment was, “Don’t you tap out!” and Mitrione did! He didn’t attempt to move McSweeney’s arm or elbow, or his own head. He could have taken a fraction of a second with the choke on to try to escape. Oy.

The last quarter final match was between Marcus Jones and Darrill Schoonover. Jones is four inches taller and has a four inch reach advantage over Schoonover. Schoonover said that his plan was to get up immediately if taken down by Jones.

Click here to go to the article about Schoonover’s preliminary fight.

Click here to go to the article about Marcus Jones’ preliminary fight.

Round 1 had Jones beginning with a leg kick and an immediate take down. He obtained side control without difficulty and shoved his forearm into Schoonover’s face. He then took the leg closer to Schoonover’s head and placed it over Schoonover’s head (an interesting move – your opponent can’t move his head and you are in control of his upper body) and punched his head multiple times. Jones then tried an arm bar (ude garami/Kimura).

All this time Schoonover moved to his knees when able and then his back again. He went from full guard to rubber guard. Strangely, Jones let Schoonover get up and then pounded him on the ground again. Eventually Schoonover’s head bounced on the mat and he was out. Total domination.

Rashad Evans was gracious about Marcus Jones (who wasn’t on his team) and his abilities.  

The quarter finals are completed and now on to the semis for The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 TUF 10. The semi-final matches are set between Nelson and McSweeney and Jones and Schaub.

ayjay

December 3, 2009