BJJ Zero

After spending far too much time researching UK based BJJ Gi suppliers , as well as soliciting advice from several people, I plumped for a Tatami Nova as my first real Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi. The Nova is, by all accounts, one of the most dependable inexpensive gi on the market. I've only racked up about 15 hours of jiu jitsu mat time and given that I only train once a week, the Nova seemed to be a sensible choice. I wanted something friendly on the wallet as well as relatively plain. The Nova ticked the boxes, though it does come with patches on the shoulders and trousers (which I have subsequently removed). On paper, the Tatami Nova looks like the perfect beginner Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gi; maybe even the perfect gi for the occasional student - you know, the one who isn't on the mat every day. How does it perform? I've got an old Shogun gi from about 10 years ago. I've long since forgotten what size it was (and the label has faded past the point of recognition). I...

Today we worked on the arm-bar. Here's what I remember. From the guard, keep the knees tight - cue bad joke about the German Guard (gudentight). You need to basically get yourself 90 degrees to your opponent to get a good arm-bar. That's a lot of movement, so you want to push him a little and move yourself a little. Put one foot on the hip. Whichever foot goes on the hip is the side of the arm that will be arm-barred. At the same time, make your body slightly U shaped. Bring the hips off the ground and the upper back off the ground. That way you have less surface area against the mat to move. So, right foot on the hip, hips up, head up. Left leg squeezes and pushes opponent slightly towards the right as you spin slightly towards the left. Right foot comes up and over their head, knees together and squeeze tight. Reach over and get their left hand and arm-bar. From there we worked on a transition, should they escape their arm which involved taking your right leg, w...