[First published in 2008.]
“Serginho is 13. I like that about him,” joked black belt
Everdan “Dan” Olegário da Silva, teacher and leader
at Cohab Alliance and companion in the photos in
this Training Program produced in José Bonifácio, the
neighborhood situated in São Paulo’s eastern extreme. Being 13 is a
local slang for being nuts, but in a good way. Dan uttered the phrase
after Serginho, with an injured shoulder, climbed onto the gym’s roof
to take the photo illustrating this article a la Peter Parker. “Nuts” and
extremely technical, Serginho didn’t bat an eye in choosing two exercises
and six positions to make up the class. Make the most of these
lessons from 2008’s middleweight champion of the world.
Important: The aim of this article is to allow the reader to train
with a group of friends or make suggestions to the instructor on how
to improve the level of the students. It should be clear that nobody can
do this alone; nor is it our goal to change the traditional structure of
the class. So this training should be done in a group, at an alternate
time. Train hard.
Exercise 1 – Start the exercise off in classic spider-guard with
both feet on your adversary’s arms and taking firm grips on the
sleeves. Now do the movement to both sides. Pull your adversary’s
left sleeve, put your right foot on his his/her hip and raise his/her
right arm using your left foot. Next, repeat the exercise to the other
side, as shown in photo 3.
Exercise 2 – To cause the adversary in your spider-guard constant
discomfort, start the exercise with your back up off the mat and
perform a backwards pendulum motion, bringing your opponent
with you till your back is resting on the mat.
position 1 – Starting from the position in exercise 1, remove your
left leg from your adversary’s arm and pull the sleeves downwards
while raising your hips. Next, bend your left leg and pull your adversary’s
left arm to your left. Now lift your right leg and sink the triangle
applying pressure with your left leg to squeeze out the choke.
position 2 – From starting position, remove your left leg and pull
your adversary’s right sleeve while sinking your right hand into
your opponent’s collar. Next, bend your left leg and trap your opponent’s
right arm. Taking hold of the belt and adversary’s leg, turn
him/her over your body, laying him/her back-down on the ground
to establish side-control.
position 3 – From starting position, when your adversary tries to
move forward to the left remove your right leg and wrap it around
your opponent’s right leg, placing the bottom of your foot on the
side of your adversary’s body. Next, push your opponent backwards
with your left foot on his/her right arm and your leg tying up his/
her leg. When he/she is back to the ground, wrap your arm around
the leg and sink the ankle lock.
position 4 – From starting position,
let go of your adversary’s left sleeve and
pull the right sleeve till switching your
hold on it to your right hand. Meanwhile,
hook your opponent’s right leg with your
left arm and switch grips on the right
sleeve to your left hand. With your right
hand, pull your adversary by the collar
and start to spin, moving your grip from
the collar to the belt. With your adversary
sitting on his/her legs, rock backwards
and lay him/her sideways on the mat,
without releasing the hold on his/her
right sleeve. With your right hand, sink
a grip into your adversary’s collar and
squeeze out the choke from the back.
position 5 – Once again from starting position, remove the left
leg, pull your adversary’s left sleeve downwards with your right
hand and switch grips to the left hand. Wrap up your adversary’s
right leg with both legs and push downwards using your belly.
On the ground, hook your opponent’s ankle and turn to the right
squeezing out the kneebar.
position 6 – With both feet on your adversary’s forearms, perform
the movement from exercise 1 to the right and put your right foot
on your adversary’s waist, while pulling the left sleeve downwards.
Next, do the movement to the other side. With both feet on your
opponent’s waist and his/her sleeves held down, lift your adversary
with his/her head low. Next, spin him/her to the right and let him/
her land sideways between your legs without releasing your hold
on the sleeves. Finally, release the right sleeve and carry out the
armbar on your opponent’s left arm.
Practice all the positions learned throughout the week
and discuss the details with your teacher and training partners.