Week 14 at Gracie Barra Centennial
Side Mount is the position everyone in the building is training this week, and Side Mount is the clearest lesson in leadership that Jiu Jitsu offers.
Leadership on top of Side Mount doesn’t look like domination. It looks like control with a purpose. You’re not there to hold someone down for the sake of holding them down. You’re there to guide the exchange somewhere specific, isolate a limb, take the back, finish the choke, while making sure your partner stays safe the entire time. That’s the actual job of a leader in any room, on the mat or off it. Take responsibility for where things are headed, and don’t lose sight of the person you’re leading.
This Week’s Curriculum
GB1 Fundamentals (Adults) are on self defense with headlock escapes, working from the ground into turtle, inverting to technical mount, and finishing with a straight armbar. On the sport side it’s Sidemount, both attacking and defending, escaping sidemount control while recovering half guard, sweeping from the underhook while controlling the opponent’s foot, and two variations of escaping sidemount by anticipating the guard pass before it happens. This week’s GB1 Talking Point: Master Carlos Gracie Jr.
GB2 All Levels are working Hip Throws and Foot Throws into Side Mount, with the read this week built around the idea of Isolate. The opponent is already turned or off line before the sequence even starts, so the question becomes what you isolate once you’re there. Frame and push the far hip to recover guard, and you block the hip and ride to North South. Turn in hunting a turtle escape, and you follow across into the back take, our universal rule at work again. Get the near side arm isolated in the scramble, and it’s a Kimura or an Americana. Turn the head away during the cross face, and the Arm Triangle is sitting right there. This week also adds two counters to the room’s most common live defenses from weeks 2 and 8, an armbar off a failed hook defense on the back take, and an armbar off a defensive roll from the Kimura. The core principle carries the whole week: turn the head, isolate a limb, that’s what makes them weak, and block the hips throughout.
Little Champions 1 are learning Knee on Belly control and taking the Mount from Side Mount. Self defense and takedown work covers the Hip Throw. Game of the week: Red Light Green Light.
Little Champions 2 are combining self defense with the takedown chain, blocking the punch into a Hip Throw, then Side Mount Control into Mount and the Keylock, along with Single Leg work. Game of the week: Amoeba Tag.
Tiny Champions are building locomotion through Four Supports drills, Bulldog and Freeze, then applying that base to the Earthquake technique from Side Mount. Game of the week: Little Clock Game.
Juniors and Teens are on the feet with the Single Leg using grips and defending the push kick, then finishing on the ground with the Spinning Armbar and the Paper Cut Choke from Side Mount. Game of the week: Sun and Moon.
Why Leadership Matters Here
Every belt in this school eventually ends up on top of someone smaller, newer, or less experienced. What you do with that position says everything about your character. A student chasing their own ego holds the position and does damage. A student who understands leadership uses the position to teach, to control, and to bring their partner along safely while still working toward something real.
That’s the standard we’re training this week, position by position, from a five year old learning Knee on Belly to an adult finishing a Kimura counter off a defensive roll. Control without responsibility isn’t leadership. It’s just control.
New to the school or thinking about starting? See the full class schedule and reserve a free trial.
See you on the mats.
The Gracie Barra Centennial Team
