You’ve probably rolled against some guys who were roughly your own weight but felt unbelieveably heavy. Like breath-stealing, soul-crushing heavy.

So how do they achieve that pressure?

It’s not as simple as just eating more and bulking up.  There are 3 main technical ways to increase the weight and pressure on your opponent that anyone – even smaller, lighter grapplers – can use to make their pinning more effective.

Here’s a video I shot with 3 tactics to increase top pressure and crush your opponent.  It’s mostly focussed on side control, but the tricks and concepts covered apply to any pinning position.

Learn how to make yourself heavier here…

Additional Resources

If you’re curious to learn more about the 6 major positional hubs of BJJ along with the major attacks, transitions  and escapes from each position check out the Roadmap for BJJ instructional that I put together.

This is bread and butter jiu-jitsu, and is equally relevant for self defense, MMA, and BJJ training.

Another really good resource for people trying to make sense of the frames, levers, and … Continue reading How to Crush Your Opponents from the Top Position