The concept of connecting your guard sweeps to your guard passes is incredibly useful. Anytime you can use one technique to set up the next you have an advantage, yet many grapplers fail to follow up after a successful guard sweep. Let's go through both the theory and practice of this concept. If you start trying to this then we can probably improve your grappling overnight... The Theory of … [Read more...]
Guard Passes
A Secret That Makes Passing the Guard MUCH Easier!
Passing the guard is one of the most difficult things to do in all of grappling. Against anyone who is even close to your own skill level it can be a real battle! But there's one simple thing you can do to make it MUCH easier. Ready? Here's the secret... Begin your guard pass IMMEDIATELY after you sweep or throw your opponent! Don't sweep and then back out to reset your grips - it'll … [Read more...]
The Cheapest Grappling Mat
I've trained on a lot of different types of mat in my day: wrestling mats, foam core mats, puzzle mats, and rock hard old school Judo straw tatami, just to name a few. And I've also rolled around on a lot of non-matted surfaces including concrete, wood and carpet. (Of all those surfaces, carpet is the WORST by far!! The carpet burns you can get on your head, back and elbows are … [Read more...]
The Folding Guard Pass for No Gi and MMA
The folding pass is a bread and butter guard pass that everyone should know. That's because the folding pass can be used in BJJ with the gi, submission grappling without the gi, and in MMA where guard passing is often mixed with ground and pound. Here's an excerpt from The Pressure Passing System with 4 x World Champion Fabio Gurgel breaking down how this exact pass can be used in no gi … [Read more...]
9 BJJ Solo Drills You Can Do With a Heavy Bag
There are some essential BJJ gross motor movements that need to be trained over and over until they're smooth and instinctive. Most of the time we train these transitions on our training partners, either in drilling or as part of sparring. But some of the most important movements can actually be trained on your own - before class, after class, or at home - using a heavy punching bag. Here … [Read more...]
Last Ditch Matador Guard Pass Defense
The use of frames is key when you're defending against the Matador Pass, commonly known as Toreando or Bullfighter pass. If you engage in a battle of strength versus strength, then whoever is stronger will win. But if you can use frames to negate your opponent's strength then you can defeat much bigger and stronger opponents. Here's a video I filmed with Rory Van Vliet on defending the … [Read more...]
How to Do the Leg Drag Guard Pass
The leg drag is a modern addition to the world of guard passing in BJJ. It was popularized by world class competitors like the Mendes Brothers among many others. And if you spend even a little bit of time competing or watching major tournaments you will notice this style of pass being used successfully in every weight division, from white belt up to world champion black belt. Not only is … [Read more...]
The Synergism of Guard Passing and Leglocks
Many people think that you have to make a choice between getting good at leglocks or getting good at guard passing. But that's a false dichotomy. Guard passing and leglocks can be friends! You can use leglocks to set up your guard passes, and you can use guard passes to set up your leglocks. In the video below Oliver Taza shows how to use the leg drag guard pass to get into the saddle … [Read more...]
How to Leglock Someone in Butterfly Guard
Obviously it's relatively easy to enter into a leglock position if someone is lying flat on their back with their legs dangling in the air to the outside of your body. But if the other guy is using butterfly guard with his feet on the inside of your legs then it's it's harder to get into positions like standard ashi, outside ashi, the 411, or any of the other dominant leglock positions (click … [Read more...]
How To Do the Over-Under Pass
The over-under guard pass is one of the classic pressure passes in BJJ. In it you absolutely kill your opponent's hips by coming over one of his legs and under his other leg with your arms. Then you spike your shoulder into your opponent's belly which pins his lower body the floor and puts a tremendous amount of weight onto him and makes it hard for him to breathe. This pass has changed … [Read more...]
A Closed Guard Passing Strategy
In a world full of butterfly guards, lapel guards, and upside-down-reverse-de-la-Riva guards it's sometimes easy to forget about the oldest guard of all: closed guard. But if someone who is good at closed guard clamps their legs around you and gets his hand in your collar than MAN, are you in trouble!! With that deep grip he's going to destroy your posture, make it impossible for you to … [Read more...]
How to Do the Leg Weave Guard Pass… And How to Counter It Too!
The 'Leg Weave' pass (also known as the 'Hip Smash') is a pressure guard passing technique that relies on correctly positioning your bodyweight to pin your opponent's hips and then methodically work your way past his legs. It relies more on sensitivity, weight distribution, and patience than on speed and athleticism. As such it's a great pass for older, slower grapplers to use against the … [Read more...]
How to Get Great at BJJ Defense
Want to tap out less? Let's take a look at how to get really good at defending against submission attacks. Today I mostly want to talk about training methodology, not specific techniques per se. Of course there are definitely many specific defenses that you can use to prevent, defend, and counter any possible submission. But too many people think that they just have to learn the defense … [Read more...]
How to Defend the Leg Weave Guard Pass
When you're learning BJJ basics you've got to become familiar with the most common techniques first - they are the low hanging fruit and also the techniques that you're going to face most often on the mat. The Leg Weave Guard Pass is one of the most typical ways to pass the Guard so you better have a good answer for it! Here's a simple and effective way to stop, and then counterattack, when … [Read more...]
The ‘Head Mount’ – A Secret Position to Pin a Squirmy Opponent Flat on his Back
Don't you hate those super-squirmy guys? Even if you pass their guards they just shimmy their flexible gumby legs around and you're right back in guard where you started from. Here's one of my biggest tips on how how to shut down their game and pin them to the floor like a butterfly on a lepidopterist's museum display board! The central concept is to pike up and use what I call the ‘Head … [Read more...]
A Guard Passing Drill You Can Do At Home on a Heavy Bag
It's hard when you want to train but there aren't any bodies handy right at that moment. Here's how you can drill a guard pass called the kickpass (aka X pass) by yourself. This is a standing guard pass where you force your way into a loose half guard position and then use a dynamic backwards swinging kick to free your leg and come forward directly into a dominant position like knee … [Read more...]
How to Drill Your BJJ Guard Passing on a Heavy Bag
You can use a heavy bag to drill your BJJ movements! In this video you'll learn how to perfect the footwork for a powerful guard pass used all the time in high level competition... https://youtu.be/Lkt7ca5Uems While I've got you here, click here to grab my free guide to learning BJJ fast. It's completely free and has already been used by more than 100,000 grapplers to improve their … [Read more...]
How to Set Traps for Your Opponent in BJJ
Today I want to talk about setting traps for your opponent in BJJ. The idea is that you force your opponent into a position or a situation where he only has a limited number of possible responses. Because you already have a pretty good idea of what he's going to do as soon as he uses one of those responses you spring your trap and go to the next pre-programmed move. This concept allows you … [Read more...]
Don’t Concede the Guard!
I used to make a very specific mistake all up until about purple belt: I would just concede the guard. Conceding the Guard By that I mean that in a competitive roll I would just give my opponent whatever kind of guard he wanted and then go from there. If he wanted to play spider guard, sure, I’d give him spider guard and then try to pass. If he wanted de la Riva I’d give that to him right … [Read more...]
How to Pass Closed Guard with the Stack Pass
If you're caught in the closed guard against a skilled opponent then you're in serious trouble. Give him time and you'll find that he's wrapped up your arms, broken your posture, and is getting closer and closer to tapping you out with some choke or armlock. That's why the closed guard is NOT a place for you to hang out. Instead you should immediately and determinedly start passing the … [Read more...]