It’s been a while since my last post but I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus due to injuries. Getting back into it now, with cross-fit and drilling/sparring on a day-to-day basis.
After sinking my teeth into some good roles on the mats yesterday, I got home feeling fired up – and that means doing some research via Youtube. I highly recommend taking a look into studies conducted by BJJ Bishop and BJJ Scout; BJJ Scout, in particular, features some truly in-depth and fairly accurate studies, with some catchy melodies to boot.
So here’s two notable studies I ran into via the BJJ Scout Youtube channel, highlighting unique tendencies used by Wrestling prodigy Ben Askren, and Jiu Jitsu star Michelle Nicholini.
Rodolfo Vieria combines the best of both worlds: that includes Judo, and Wrestling, to initiate some of the craftiest take downs in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) today. In this Part 2 study, BJJ Scout highlights Rodolfo’s grips of choice, technical foot-work, and transitions to double/single leg.
Further to this, there are some exemplary highlights on Youtube, depicting world class throws, by world class Judo practicioners. I came across this particular video – take a look: JUDO: Ippon of the Week.
The concept of guard-passing is vast in scope; there are literally hundreds of situations and factors at play. Today, we’ll take a look at some key concepts [and technique] highlighting the intricacies involved in passing a downed opponents open guard – an altogether difficult task if you are unfamiliar with basic to advanced principles. To aid in this analysis, we’ll take a look at what top practitioners are doing, and attempt to model these techniques so as to build up a databank of what to do, and what to avoid.
Note: Part 1 emphasizes a greater focus on competition level guard pass’s with the gi – but I do digress: most of the pass’s discussed within this article can be applied to no gi/mma situations regardless, baring in mind, slight and obvious variations do apply.
GUARD PASS – OVERVIEW
As a guard-passer, the object of the game is to minimize obstacles impeding a pass, using deception, deflection, and responsive technique. There are many obstacles that can arise when attempting to do this. Factors which determine your success rate include the initial engagement [or entanglement], strength-to-weight ratio, reflexes/fast-twitch muscle reaction, instinctual habits, counter actions/reactions, grip fight, positional tendencies (ie:// hip-movement), and on a broader scope – strategy, technique, and mind-set etc. As a result, the techniques and variations required to complete a successful guard pass, or to prevent one, become limitless.
Guard Passing
THE INITIAL ENGAGEMENT
Getting entangled with your opponents grip-fight presents a major blockade to a successful guard pass.
During the initial engagement, we cannot allow a downed opponent to get an advantageous position, supplemented by grips that could constitute a threat (sweep/submission etc.). Threats from the upper half of the body include (1) collar grips (which help break the passer’s posture), or (2) sleeve grips (in the form of pistol/umbrella grips). Thirdly, a (3) belt grip can present problems, especially as a downed opponent attempts a berimbolo or [as Penny Thomas shows] a variation of an arm-drag to back-take. The lower half of the downed opponent’s body presents challenges because of hip movement, and leg-work (used to create distance, or push/pull/hook the opponent into a sweep or submission).
In order to even begin a successful guard pass, we need to engage the downed opponent, in an advantageous ‘combat stance’. This stance entails posture, and an elbows-in approach, while staying square to your opponent at all times, unless sufficient pressure is maintained [which we’ll get to through examples].
NOTE:Staying square does not necessarily entail an approach with both legs in horizontal alignment. Ideally, you want to engage the downed man using a somewhat staggered stance: that means 1 leg forward, 1 leg back, similar in style to that of a Greco Roman stance, while assuming a mid-level posture that can allow you to change levels quickly depending on circumstances, and your guard pass of choice.
Once a stance has been established, most, if not all techniques, require a corresponding grip-take, in order to then initiate the guard pass of choice. If we’re unable to fully execute the initial pass attempt, we must have the ability to remain square, balanced, and composed enough to break any grips (assumed by the downed opponent) that could impede our ability to remain balanced/postured for the next pass attempt.
Elevating the likelihood of success requires not only balance, pressure, and timing, but also subtle but important hints of deception: making your opponent feel like he/she has an advantageous position, if only temporarily. As a result, there is an element of compromise to some degree; at all times, you must attempt a pass using the laws of 80/20; knowing there’s an 80% chance of executing a successful attempt, with the assumed posture, grip control, leg-work, and overall pass in mind. The latter 20% is that subtle cue that it may not work, and that you must maintain your pressure and ability to back-out of a bad situation.
ENGAGING YOUR OPPONENT VIA STANDING POSTURE OR ‘IN-CLOSE’ ENTANGLEMENT
There are two notable positions where guard pass’s are initiated: (1) at a distance/standing, or (2) in-close entanglement. As you progress, you will come to realize a combination of the two may be in the cards. Know that pass’s initiated from in-close require a supplemental amount of pressure/weight distribution whereas pass’s from a distance/standing require pressure momentarily – but require a great deal of emphasis on coordinated movement and timing.
NOTE: Similar to how a wrestler ‘changes levels’, so to will the guard passer, depending on circumstances. Changing levels when engaging your opponents guard should always be done to deal with or enhance your position. On the other hand, ‘in-close’ entanglement also encompasses a ‘low pass’ which heavily utilizes knee pressure to shin slide through. Remember to remain on your toes at all times, so that you may disengage or spring to a standing posture when called upon; avoid both knee’s on the mat unless your opponent has re-guarded altogether.
Standing pass’s also equate to greater mobility, but are susceptible [to a greater degree] to getting hooked as your opponent has inherent space to leg-work and weave you into bad positions, such as the spider guard or De La Riva. On the other hand, getting in-close entanglement or in a low stance allows for optimal pressure [due to weight distribution and gravity].
ELBOWS IN – STRONG BASE/POSTURE
Always keep elbows/arms in an advantageous position, close to your body; your elbows can serve to prevent threats such as spider guard entanglement(s) and/or submission attempts, and can be used to control the opponents knee, collar, or sleeve, so as to initiate a pass. Additionally, ensure your momentum is kept centered, so that you may back-out of submission and/or sweep attempts.
NOTE: It’s important to stay square to your opponent at all times; but realize that your stance (leg work) should be somewhat staggered, to ensure optimal balance and to negate your opponents attempts at getting underneath your base to apply any sort of ankle sweep, x-guard, deep half, or variations thereof. By staggering and flaring your knee’s in an active/reactive fashion, hooks such as the De La Riva [to berimbolo] can also be dealt with. Supplement a good posture with the appropriate grip fight/pressure and you can begin to negate many forms of hooks your opponent will attempt to apply from the bottom position.
Now that we have covered a general overview of the ranges (standing/in-close entanglement) and touched on effective behavior, lets begin to identify positions (the guard passer may face) and corresponding techniques to deal with them; we’ll attempt to tailor this to all levels of BJJ practitioners.
[STANDING] Guard Passing – When Your Opponent has the De La Riva Hook + Spider Guard Variation
The De La Riva hook continues to be used as a weapon of choice in high level competitions, and is an essential setup for sweeps and finishes, from the bottom position. Most notably, the berimbolo sweep, is executed using this particular hook as a setup to entry – and so we must be able to deal with this scenario by negating its potency, while passing in the process.
Here to illustrate: 3 x Pan American Champion, Vinicius ‘Draculino’ Magalhaes highlights 2 effective guard pass techniques, when standing in your opponents De La Riva:
As “Draculino” points out, one obvious yet over-looked concept, typifies why guard passing can be a difficult task to accomplish. Simply put, a grounded opponent (with a guard in effect) is able to utilize his/her legs to a greater degree, to negate pass attempts. Inversely, the guard-passer (in top position) is using his/her legs for his own balance and mobility, while micro-managing grip fight, posture and so forth. ‘Draculino’ recommends deflecting your opponents legs whenever possible, through finite movement, and clever timing.
[STANDING] LEG DRAG PASS – WHEN YOUR OPPONENT HAS THE DE LA RIVA HOOK
As we can see in the video, Draculinho’s 2nd variation applies a variation of a pass using our next key concept: the ‘Leg Drag Pass‘ – in this case, initiated from a De La Riva hook.
The leg drag should be drilled as often as possible, and is applied in standing posture. This simple but effective technique entails lifting your opponents leg, and dragging it across your body in 1 smooth motion. As a result, you are deflecting the energy from a stronger limb (that being your opponents leg), and finishing the move in what is called a ‘smash pass’. The video on a leg drag pass from De La Riva can be viewed here: Leg Drag Pass from De La Riva.
DISCUSSIONS WITH DRACULINHO ON GUARD PASSING
While writing this article, I had the privilege to speak with ‘Draculino’ himself:
Razi BJJ: Hello Vinicius, I have had some difficulty over the past few years, in practice, and in competition, on the concepts of passing guard, and it is a growing realization that the importance of coming to terms with development in this avenue. I recently came across your Gracie Mag featured video on passing the guard when your opponent attempts to apply the De La Riva. I would like to gauge your input on a simple yet complicated question: why is guard-passing, such a cumbersome and difficult task?
Vinicius: “The Guard is so difficult to pass because you are dealing with the person’s whole body (legs, hips, arms etc) while you just have pretty much your upper body to deal with that. It is like fighting an octopus! So your only advantage on top is gravity, when [and if] you can use it against the opponent.
It is a big picture theory but it makes a lot of sense in my mind.”
Razi BJJ: Do you have any other principles on this? Do you prefer to pass the guard from distance? or prefer to pass the guard in-close? are there any specific methods/principles you can describe?
Vinicius: “There is no [clear-cut] answer because it depends on millions of factors: Your body, your game, the specific situations, the opponent’s body, the guy’s [opponents] game, the guy’s reach etc. There will be times when one [form of pass] will be better than the other. You just have to have it all in your game because you will need it.”
Razi BJJ: I watched the featured Gracie Mag video [on the De La Riva pass’s], which includes a 3rd variation using a spider guard pass and you make a great point: the leg is stronger then the arm, and the man on bottom is utilizing these limbs to keep distance or close the gap. Do you have any other great tips of such nature which can help shed light on effective guard passing.
Vinicius: “About the Dela Riva passes, it is all about putting the guy on bottom in a state of discomfort. Then everything flows 🙂 ”
Razi BJJ: Knowing that the guard can be a difficult obstacle to pass, do you believe it is vital to learn how to deal with it and develop a strong top game? Or to develop a solid ground/bottom game – especially when presented with the strategies involved in BJJ competition where a point system is in place… we see many top practitioners dropping guard very early in the match, and apply their sweep of choice to come on top.
Vinicius: “I believe that sweeping an opponent that is willing to really try to pass your guard may be easier than to pass but when you are dealing with a passer that has balance and no rush to move too much [playing a patient game], sweeping can be super hard. So my answer is: you have to have it all! Strong pass and sweeps!”
As we can see, setting your intent on situational sparring – guard pass’s being the focal point – is the first step. Once you have vigorously attempted your pass’s on good opponents, and failed, you can proceed in this way: utilize the tools (Youtube, instructors, training partners) available at your disposal, to develop a thorough understanding of what to do, and when to do it. Locating effective techniques, and studying the finite details of a particular move – an effective one at that, allows you to enhance and improve your knowledge bank of guard pass’s you can resort to – if the opportunity presents itself, or if your intent is to get in such a position. Over time, real-time application becomes increasingly refined. Having said this, set your intent on drilling or rehearsing 1 or 2 pass’s in particular; stay away from a bombardment of pass’s over a short period of time as you may only remember the last few you’ve practiced.
[STANDING] Guard Passing – When Your Opponent has the Spider Guard
If you had a look at the previous 3 pass’s in the video from Vinicius Draculinho Magalhaes, you’ll notice his third pass is initiated in the opponents ‘spider guard‘. As a guard passer, the spider guard is becoming increasingly popular, as it forms a very optimal level of entanglement, where sweep and submissions can be applied from the bottom player.
So to address this, let’s take another look at how subtle a technique, shown by world champion Rubens Charles Cobrinha, can be applied to nullify the grounded man’s spider guard:
[STANDING] SPIDER GUARD – DEALING WITH THE LEG LASSO:
To further troubles within the spider guard, we must also be able to deal with the dreaded leg lasso. The leg lasso can present all kinds of trouble for the guard passer, unless we can identify methods for dealing with it.
JT Torres highlights a simple method on passing the guard, when caught in the ‘leg lasso’:
Let’s further our knowledge on guard passing while caught in the leg lasso, by combining principles we’ve already discussed. Rafael Lovato Jr. discusses how to pass a leg lasso (while standing), straight into a guard smash. Click here to view the ‘smash pass from Leg Lasso’.
[STANDING] TOREANDO PASS:
Let’s now touch up on some guard pass’s initiated by the guard passer. If you haven’t heard of the ‘X-Pass‘, you will want to do some research and practice with this particular pass. It is one of the most simple, yet effective forms of guard passing, and can be applied to no gi/mma situations.
Similar in fashion to the ‘X-Pass‘, the TOREANDO (or ‘Torreado’) pass features compression of your opponents legs (using pressure), and a 90 degree rotational swing, so as to get into side control. This pass can be setup as a transition from being in your opponents spider guard, open guard, butterfly, or after having broken out of closed guard.
Leandro Lo, an advocate of this move, has been using it at high level competitions, since he was a white belt. Leandro highlights the Torreado, in the following video:
PLAYING A PRESSURE TOP GAME: Leandro Lo x Felipe Pregui̤a РCopa Podia [2013]
Because there are so many factors at play, being able to maintain pressure on top, becomes one of the most important facets to a successful pass. As Vinicius mentioned before, “it is all about putting the guy on bottom in a state of discomfort”. Anytime you alleviate ‘pressure’ (even from a distance), your opponent has the opportunity to get up or sweep/spring you into submission. A fantastic display outlining the importance of a pressure top-game can be seen in one of my favorite matches of 2013. Leandro Lo vs. Felipe Preguica, at the Copa Podio.
Felipe refuses Leandro’s guard pass attempts time-and-time again throughout the entire match and is up on points 2-0, heading into the final moments of the match. Felipe looks to be coming out victorious, but Leandro refuses to give up: he already has 4 advantages but is down points, and continues to pressure his opponents stubborn guard game. With only seconds remaining, Leandro manages an amazing guard pass due to his relentless pressure on top, to go on to win 3-2, in a fantastic back-and-forth encounter.
[IN-CLOSE] MARGARIDA PASS:
The pass which Leandro executes at the very end (and attempts throughout the match), is called the “Margarida” pass (also referred to as the ‘knee cut pass‘). Cheers to NJJ Scout for compiling this great video.
[IN-CLOSE] JEFF GOSLIN ON THE BJ PENN GUARD PASS [WITH VARIATIONS]
I had posted this particular pass, highlighted by Jeff Goslin, back in January – discussing (what he calls) the “BJ PENN – Pass”. I’m sure there’s a formal name for this move; correct me if you come across it, but this pass is fairly used at high levels, and is a hallmark for one of your bread-and-butter no gi (or gi) pass’s. Notably, the Mendes Brothers are fantastic at getting into this position, while maintaining pressure, and elegant leg-work to pass the opponents guard. The far-side under-hook, appears to set the foundations for this pass; ensure you have solidified the required pressure, before proceeding to the next few steps.
We’ve highlighted numerous concepts, and techniques and given a general overview of what a successful guard pass entails. Specifically, we’ve taken a look at the importance of (1) grip fight (2) proper stance/behaviour in your opponents open guard (a) standing position, or (b) low stance/in-close posture, and then (3) initiating one of many guard pass’s we’ve highlighted once the proper positioning and grips have been assumed. Remember to deny the downed opponents leg-work through proper engagement, as this can upset your balance and attemps at powering through into a successful guard pass.
In Part 2 of our featured discussion on guard passing, we’ll continue to further break-down key concepts, and present new and innovative techniques that can help nullify a robust ground game.
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