We were honored to host Dave Camarillo for a 2hr in-house seminar last night.  Anyone who attended can attest to how much great information was shared. 

It seems like every time I train with Dave he is different, and better.  I am not speaking technically in terms of his performance, I really can't judge that since he is so far beyond me, but rather his teaching ability and his overall game.  He is constantly honing how he communicates the essence of what is important.  He gives detailed answers to questions (which is great) and uses a lot of visual imagery which helps in remembering.

What did he cover?

I asked Dave to spend some time on open guard passing for the seminar.  The main reason is that I feel it is a very broad area and one that we don't spend much time at in our club.  We started with the basics of how to control the opponents legs and some of their common reactions.  We also discussed the concept of push-pull as applied to guard passing.  Incidentally, this idea of action and reaction is one that I feel separates beginners from more advanced students.  It is definitely an area I want to explore more.

Once we had a good grasp of leg control fundamentals we moved into two solid options for passing the guard.  One was what I would call a sprawl pass where you lock your arm out and control a leg.  The other was a transition directly to the basic smash pass, Camarillo style.  He has some fairly unique ideas on this pass given that it is his favorite - he even referred to it as the "perfect" pass.  Dave also was kind enough to give the bottom player some game as well by discussing the various approaches to countering the stack pass when you are both early and late.  Solid fundamentals and they fit very well with the earlier discussion of pushing and pulling.

A Philosophy Emerged...

Although techniques are always interesting, what I get most out of seminars, and particularly from this one, is a broader philosophy.  Dave spent a good amount of time talking about  "Game" and what that means.  In his view, you have game when you understand and make reflexive the essential postures in each of the six positions of Jiu-Jitsu.  For example, in half guard, he talked about the underhook, head control, and leg pressure as critical.  A player with game with move directly into this type of control without thought.  When you can do that everywhere, you have game.  Until then, you are just collecting techniques and will have major gaps to fill.

Another concept that I found powerful was his idea of "hub" positions.  A hub is simply a place of control where you can rest and force your opponent to move.  Based on their reaction you can take what  is there.    A small point, but a great nugget I thought.

Lastly was Dave's discussion of "go-to" moves.  I got the sense that once you understand the principles of each position and have made them automatic you would then begin assembling a set of go to moves.  This is what most people would call "technique".   The key is to not go overboard, but get a small set of moves that work really well for you and then hone them over time.   If you start with techniques you tend to be a bit lost and confused, but under Dave's model I could see people progressing quite rapidly, as Jon Fitch has(the photo above is in honor of Fitch's accomplishments).  More gold.

To anyone who was there, feel free to post your impressions to comments.  I'd love to hear what you thought was interesting or what you'd love to see from Dave on his next visit.

See you on the mat!