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If you had the opportunity to ask one question to a world champion, what would it be?

Bumbling around Facebook one morning I saw that former Vancouver resident Emily Kwok would be making a homecoming of sorts to film an instructional video with Stephan Kesting of GrappleArts.com. There was to be an open workshop with Emily at the downtown In-Fighting academy, which is a five-minute Skytrain ride from my apartment in False Creek. Needless to say I was intrigued and decided that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn from the 2007 brown/black belt middleweight world champion.

Emily Kwok is a current student of Marcelo Garcia, and has adapted his game to the needs of a smaller female in a male dominated art. It was therefore appropriate that the theme of the workshop was “how to defeat the bigger, stronger opponent,” which would become the very specific-sounding name of the DVD package released by Kwok and Kesting a few months later.

The workshop was structured as a public private-lesson with In-Fighting coach Richie. Richie would ask questions about techniques or situations with which he was having difficulty and Kwok would take the group through a drill that would provide the correct technique. Being an on-again, off-again patron of Garcia’s online instructional site MGinAction.com, I recognized many of the techniques taught as being straight from Garcia’s game.

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Marcelo Garcia – One leg X guard

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It was no surprise, then, that the topic of the X-guard came up. Specifically the transitional position called the one-leg X-guard, in response to an issue Richie was having with opponent’s posting out in response to a hook sweep from butterfly. Garcia and Kwok teach how to enter the X-guard as a counter to this counter, and Kwok specifically focused on the single-leg variety.

Following the sweep (Emily, like Marcelo, has a habit of hook sweeping to the right) we were shown how shoot our supporting leg under our opponent when they post their leg, circling it to their hip. To assist this action, Emily would either underhook the posted leg or simply grip the pants at the knee and pull it over her. Alternatively, Emily demonstrated how she directly enters the one-leg X-guard by gripping the knee when in butterfly guard and blasting backwards, lifting with the butterfly hook and letting her supporting leg punch forward before once again circling to the hip, toes out of course. See the animation below for an example.

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The workshop went on to describe Marcelo’s philosophy regarding controlling and finishing from the back, a topic which makes either MGinAction or Emily’s DVD set worth the price of admission all on its own. I still had some questions about the X-guard, however. I use it a great deal and while I have a high level of success with it I do find that opponent’s can counter my attempts by not letting me isolate the leg needed for the position. To do this opponents tend to circle their legs back and sometimes even interlock their ankles to stop me from entering the position. With a brief open question period after the workshop I felt that I needed to ask an expert on the position about this issue.

Of course, being someone who abhors speaking in front of a group having a conversation with Emily was disrupted somewhat by the sound of my heart beating in my ears, for some reason. Regardless, with a bit of difficulty I managed to get my questions out and Emily answered them with really helpful suggestions. First I asked about an alternate X-guard entry, which Emily showed from the ankle-to-ankle position. Taking liberal advantage of everyone’s time I then asked about options when your opponent defends the one leg X guard. Her advice was sterling. Namely, to keep my hooks active and either lift my opponent back into butterfly guard or frame against them to allow myself to scoot back to open guard if I was unable to get the one leg X guard.

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One leg X guard troubleshooting

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These suggestions fit in well with the overall X guard game taught by Garcia. We’ve covered the X guard and one leg X guard before on The Jiu Jitsu Lab, but being able to troubleshoot the positions with help from such an accomplished Jiu Jitsu athlete helped me greatly, and was the highlight of the afternoon spent with Emily and everyone at In Fighting.

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“The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” – Proverb, unknown author.

In addition to being a two-time world Jiu Jitsu champion at black belt, Rafael Mendes is also the reigning two-time ADCC submission wresting champion. Not only that, but the entire Atos team, including brother Guilherme and ADCC middle and absolute champion Andre Galvao, are winning every tournament in sight, both with and without the gi. Clearly, they are doing something right to achieve such results.

Thankfully, William Burkhardt at BJJPix.com has just released a highlight video of Rafael Mendes’s training regiment for ADCC 2011. The footage shines a light on how Rafa and team Atos have achieved such dominance in competition. The video is filmed at Atos’s Rio Claro academy, with Ramon Lemos presiding over his star pupil’s training. The Rio Claro academy is actually a beautiful place; the exposed brick and natural light make the small gym as aesthetically interesting as the techniques performed therein.

The video starts with a brief look at the physical training that Rafael had to endure to get ready for the world’s most important tournament without the gi. The training that is shown focuses heavily on plyometric and explosive exercises with an emphasis on muscular endurance. The footage includes plyo-pushups, high-repetition bench press and push press, box jumps and an interesting sprawl-and-turn drill with a band belt. Previously released footage of the Mendes brothers’ physical preparation for ADCC 2011 also demonstrates Atos’s use of high-rep, explosive conditioning, which the team seems to favour over lower-repetition strength training. They tend not to show any heavy squats or deadlifts, although just because they don’t show it doesn’t mean they’re not doing it.

The primary value of the highlight is, however, the glimpse that it gives to the technical drilling performed by the Mendes brothers. Most drills are orchestrated to include not only a single technique, but a transition based on the most likely reaction of a well-trained opponent. This is one of Atos’s secrets to success. Below, several of these drills are  discussed, including animations. Beware, however, that the gif format used for animations is memory intensive and may take a while to load.

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Rafael Mendes – Preparation for ADCC 2011

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Anaconda Choke

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Rafael Mendes is one of the few high-level competitors finding success with the anaconda choke. Generally agreed to be “invented” by Milton Vieira of BTT, the anaconda is a form of kata gatame, or arm-triangle choke. Rafa’s most notable applications of the anaconda came at ADCC 2009, where he used them to counter Cobrinha’s arm-drag single leg takedowns, counter Leo Vieira’s half-guard and submit Justin Rader. The version shown in the animation above is from a loose half guard. From half-guard against Vieira, Mendes brought his hips high, allowing him to get control of Vieira’s head and use the overhook to counter Vieira’s ability to push on his hip. Rafa continued his momentum once he achieved the front headlock, rolling inverted to bypass Vieira’s guard. He wasn’t able to finish but demonstrated how he had been practicing this technique to counter the guard. It can be seen at 1:44 of this video.

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Here, Rafa pushes to a knee-in position, where he rolls over his opponent gaining a front headlock. Rafa also shows that his use of the knee to counter Rader’s defense in 2009 was no accident (see below).  Rafa is known for his avoidance of a similar arm-in choke, the darce/brabo. In interviews he states that he doesn’t want to give up an underhook so he uses the anaconda with the knee pushing the arm to completely nullify his opponent’s ability to gain control.

A similar technique performed from this position is the rolling guillotine choke. The front headlock give Rafa greater control over his opponent, limiting his options. With the inverted guillotine your opponent can roll either way to defend before you’re able to bring your body back over theirs. The front headlock control shown here limits your opponent’s ability to turn away from the choke. Rader’s coach Rafael Lovato Jr. taught our team this technique after the Ribeiro Jiu Jitsu fighters dissected how Justin lost to Rafa in 2009. Unfortunately, Rafa had something new developed to use against Rader in 2011.

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Half-Guard Armlock

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In this drill, Rafael Mendes shows a transition that he unveiled at ADCC 2011 against Justin Rader, who has multiple appearances in the Mendes brothers’ highlight videos. In this drill, Rafa starts in half guard and grips his opponent’s triceps to his chest. This allows him to pull his leg over his opponent’s head, then pushing it through to the far hip to set up an armlock. An important detail is to use the leg to push the head down and away, creating space to push the leg through under the arm. This is why Rafa pauses with the leg over the head before continuing. My coaches Adam and Matt are both very good at this transition, meaning I’ve been the victim of this transition more than once.

This technique can be used to transition to an armbar, an omoplata, a Kimura, tornado guard, or even to the back, as Rafa demonstrated against Rader in 2011. In that match, Rafa used an omoplata set up from inverted guard to set up the armlock using this transition. As Rader went belly down to try to block the armlock Rafa effortlessly swung around to the back. You can watch the match here. Don’t blink.

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Legdrag Duck-Under

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A staple of the Mendes brothers’ passing game is the transition to a second pass from the legdrag. The brothers train to use the first leg drag as a means to invoke a reaction from their opponent, often forcing the opponent to pummel their leg over to create space. This drill practices chaining these techniques together into one fluid motion. The goal of this drill seems not focused on minute details, but the fluidity of the transition between techniques. When Rafa uses this transition in competition, he tends to use leg work to pin his opponent’s lower leg to the mat with his shins, as demonstrated in the gi, below. Variations of this transition are found in both Rafael and Guilherme’s DVDs from when they were brown belts, which can be purchased from Budovidoes.

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Peruvian Necktie

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The Peruvian necktie is closely associated with Jiu Jitsu black belt and former UFC fighter Tony DeSouza. The Peruvian national is credited as developing this modified guillotine choke from the front headlock by using his leg to apply downward pressure on the neck. I’ve personally never seen Rafa attempt this technique, although I have a vague memory of seeing Guilherme do it once. If anyone has any footage of either brother performing this technique please post it in the comments. It’s interesting to see Rafa working on the necktie, since he was clearly working on front headlock techniques as a strategy going into ADCC 2009 and 2011. To see a very nice Peruvian necktie in action, though, check out Lucio “Lagarto” Rodrigues rolling with Braulio Estima.

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Rolling Guard “Pass”

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I use quotation marks when describing this technique as a guard “pass” because I’m not 100% sure of what’s going on here. It appears that Rafa is rolling as a way to use his leading leg during the guard pass as a hook to push Eduardo Ramos’s legs away, setting up a guard pass or a back take. To do this Rafa reaches down for Eduardo’s hip as he somersaults his head between his legs, rolling through to clear his opponent’s legs. It’s an interesting technique and one I hope we see more of, if nothing more than to finally understand what is actually happening in the above animation.

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Ramon Lemos/Wrestling

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The instructor of the Mendes brothers, Ramon Lemos, is a mystery to many. Lemos has been associated with a number of Jiu Jitsu teams including Nova Uniao, Brasa and TT, and now is the head of Atos along with Andre Galvao. His two star pupils followed him through the multiple team changes, and are now the two most successful featherweight currently competing. Having an instructor that can guide you and occasionally lay a beating on you is imperative for the development of any Jiu Jitsu competitor, even world champions.

The Mendes brothers were known primarily for their guards as they came up through the belt ranks, although Rafa demonstrated that he has been working on his wrestling when he managed to counter everything his opponents through at his at ADCC 2009. Although again playing a more guard-centered strategy at ADCC 2011, Rafa has clearly been training takedowns and is willing to train in areas where he is at a disadvantage, as the above animation demonstrates.

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Reverse de la Riva

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The inverted position from the reverse de la Riva guard is one that has been discussed often at The Jiu Jitsu Lab. It’s one of Rafael Mendes’ signature techniques, albeit one now used by many competitors. The reverse de la Riva seems to be the Mendes brothers’ preferred de la Riva variation without the gi. It gives the user a great deal of control over a standing opponent that doesn’t rely on gi grips like the conventional de la Riva. The variation above is the standard route to the back take, which was demonstrated by Rafa on his Japanese DVD, shown here. The Jiu Jitsu Lab also released our breakdown of the inverted reverse de la Riva, found here.

One of the details that caught my eye is how Mendes uses his trailing leg as a hook to better control his opponent’s lead leg before pulling his knee through to consolidate the position. Unlike how I sometimes practice it, Rafa also circles his outside leg between his opponent’s legs, making sure to maximize his control.

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The second variation of the reverse de la Riva shown in the video has Rafa attacking the opposite leg, setting up a form of reverse X-guard. In this technique Rafa’s opponent is attempting to hide his far leg, forcing Rafa to circle under the lead leg first. This is also useful when your opponent is in combat base. Once under the leg, Mendes pushes with his hooks, elevating his opponent with an overhook on the far leg. It’s similar to how Cobrinha turns the inverted reverse DLR into a single leg, except Cobrinha tends to elevate the near leg instead. It’s an interesting variation that I haven’t seen very much. When watching the full video make sure to keep an eye out for the guy in the white gi pants, shown above. The look on his face as Rafa is armbaring and choking him repeatedly made it clear he wasn’t having a very good day.

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The Mendes brothers have used the reverse de la Riva a great deal in competition. The main strategy Rafa used in 2011 in his opening match against teammate Bruno Frazzato was to use the reverse DLR to tie up Frazzato’s legs, eventually coming up for the sweep (shown above). Two other competitors known for their use of the inverted reverse DLR are Cobrinha and Caio Terra. In the first animation below, long-time Mendes-rival Cobrinha performs a standard reverse DLR sweep on Justin Rader, while in the second Caio hits an unusual variation in the no-gi Worlds. Caio’s version has him turning outwards instead of into his opponent, nonetheless resulting in an inverted reverse DLR position. I’ve tried this variation a few times and find that it’s much more intuitive than it appears.

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After dissecting how the Mendes brothers train we can draw several conclusions that can catalyze our own training. If there is anything I missed or techniques and lessons you got from this video, make sure to let us know in the comments. I plan on asking the brothers about some of these ideas when I attend their seminar in Phoenix, Arizona in a few weeks. From what others have reported they will be going over many of the techniques shown here in great detail. The non-technical elements that we can learn from the Mendes brothers in this video are very important too.  There are several keys to the brothers’ success that we can keep in mind to maximize our own Jiu Jitsu training.

Repitition: Too often Jiu Jitsu students will drill a technique a handful of times before either stopping to chat or trying something different. Rafa shows that only through dedicated, mindful drilling will your techniques become autonomic. They also train at the speed that they’ll be using the techniques in competition. It’s important to drill slowly at first to get all the details, but the old adage is true: you fight how you train. And the Mendes brothers are clearly training to fight with intensity.

Transitions: As shown in the legdrag animation, it’s important not only to drill individual techniques, but the transitions between them. Having an automatic reaction to your opponent’s counters is the difference between good and great Jiu Jitsu. Too often we drill a sweep or a pass in isolation, creating small pauses in between our techniques of which our opponents can take advantage. By drilling transitions and counters as part of a technique we can smoothly flow through our positions while our opponents are expecting to rest.

Great Partners: A great training partner is someone who will not only push you in sparing, but who will allow themselves to be used as a dummy for your endless drilling and experimentation. Rafa and Gui Mendes are lucky to have each other to train with, but for those of you without a brother in the sport, make your teammates your brothers-in-arms through hard training together, and by occasionally letting yourself be the victim of hard drilling and crazy Jiu Jitsu experiments.

Great Coaching: This video shows how the Mendes brothers largely direct their own training, but with the input and steady hand of an experienced instructor to focus the athletes and provide details that make the difference when things aren’t working properly. You don’t have to take on the exact style of your coach, but they should be providing you with a solid base upon which you develop your own game.

Unorthodox Positions: The reverse de la Riva isn’t unusual anymore, but it is one of several techniques that the Mendes brothers developed to take advantage of their opponent’s unfamiliarity. Basic Jiu Jitsu often wins competitions, but practicing unorthodox positions until they are smooth and automatic is one method of out thinking your opponent. A lot of what the Mendes brothers do in competition and in this training video seem like scrambles until you observe how many times that movement is actually practiced. The Mendes brothers appear to drill multiple outcomes of their techniques making what is unorthodox for their opponent completely familiar to themselves.

Sex Appeal: I mean, look at that hair. Need I say more?

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“”Marcelo doesn’t talk in shades of grey. Everything is black and white.” Josh [Waitzkin] was with him at ADCC in 2007, and when he lost to Drysdale, Josh had talked to him about why. Was it that he needed more training against the darce (the choke Drysdale used, now much in vogue) or was it that he needed a game plan for long-armed opponents? Had Marcelo gotten too predictable with the single-leg takedown? “I need to be faster,” Marcelo said with a smile.” – Source: The Fighter’s Mind: Inside the Mental Game by Sam Sheridan. Pg. 195.

Robert Drysdale was one of the last people to defeat Marcelo Garcia by submission. In recent years it’s rare for opponents to score points against Marcelo, let alone cause the Alliance competitor to tap. Few victories were of large enough consequence to put a new Jiu Jitsu superstar on the map. But this is what happened in New Jersey in 2007 when Garcia stopped pushing against Drysdale’s hip with his left hand to defend the darce choke, and used it to tap four times. Drysdale had already won the World Championships in 2005 and as part of the famed Brasa team was a well-known rising star in the Jiu Jitsu community. But with this win Drysdale was put in an exclusive category with Roger Gracie, Jacaré Souza, Braulio Estima and Augusto Tereré.

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Marcelo Garcia vs. Robert Drysdale – ADCC 2007

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The absolute division of ADCC 2007 started out with Garcia defeating Mario Miranda, Rolles Gracie and Alexandre “Cacareco” Ferreira to reach the finals. Drysdale for his part overcame Big Mac, David Avellan, and Andre Galvao. When Marcelo and Robert met in the finals the rest of the tournament had winded down and spectators and competitors alike were waiting with bated breath to see who would be crowned the best submission grappler of 2007. Had I been there I think I would have assumed Garcia would take the title. His history of defeating larger opponents would probably have blinded me to the fact that Drysdale presented a unique and difficult challenge for the much smaller Garcia.

The match started off with the typical Garcia shuffle forward, hand-fighting into the clinch. Garcia stands peculiarly tall when he wrestles. He usually doesn’t shoot for a takedown without first engaging the arms, most frequently with an armdrag. His two primary takedowns are the armdrag single leg (i.e., against Leo Vieira in 2011) and the armdrag inside trip, although he also performs the armdrag double leg takedown occasionally. During the arm drag single leg, Marcelo tends to shoot low and circle around his opponent, which allows him to take the back. Marshal Carper, co-author of Marcelo Garcia’s new book, Advanced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Techniques explains Marcelo’s views on the armdrag and single leg takedown in the following excepts from his blog:

2. The arm drag is all about footwork.
Calling an arm drag an “arm drag” is misleading.  If you focus on dragging your opponent, ripping him from position to position, you will likely fail more than you will succeed.  Instead, an arm drag is better described as an “arm shift.”  You shift your opponent’s arm slightly across his body and move forward, connecting your shoulder to his shoulder.  You go to him.  If you are standing, this means stepping into your opponent.
3. The single leg is the most important takedown in jiu-jitsu.
As a slight disclaimer, Marcelo never actually says the above, but it is evident in his game.  Opportunities to execute single legs abound from all positions: from standing, from the butt scoot, from arm drags, from guard, and from guard pass counters.  Marcelo uses the single leg constantly, and it ties in perfectly with his arm drag system, creating a hyper-aggressive path to the back or to the top. – Source: Marshal Carper.

In this match Marcelo was determined to use the single leg to put Drysdale on his back. Drysdale, however, had his defences ready. During Marcelo’s first single leg attempt Drysdale swims his leg outside of Marcelo’s and achieves a front headlock with a deep overhook. While many takedown defences rely on the underhook to create space, the overhook can be used to set up counter takedowns (e.g., Uchi Mata) or counter submissions like the guillotine, anaconda and of course the darce choke.

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Marcelo Garcia – on armdrags

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Marcelo Garcia – on wrestling

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Marcelo shoots for a takedown early without setting it up, which gets stuffed. He achieves the takedown during his second attempt, switching from the single leg to a head-inside double leg. Garcia is unable to get his feet under him to stabilize position, however, which allows Drysdale to push away and perform a technical stand-up from guard to get back to his feet. Although this takedown attempt Marcelo was successful, ADCC rules state that he must maintain position for three seconds to achieve points. Marcelo also hesitated during the attempt, staying still for a period of time, which allowed Drysdale the ability to gain his balance and consolidate his defences. At this point in the match, though, it looked like it would be another amazing Marcelo victory over a much larger opponent. Only by paying attention to the warning signs during the initial takedown attempt would someone have cause for concern.

Two minutes into the match Marcelo uncharacteristically shoots for the single leg takedown without first off-balancing his opponent with an armdrag. The shot did follow a Russian two-on-one where Drysdale stood tall to defend, but there was too much distance between them, and too much hesitation between the setup and shot. Drysdale immediately sprawled and achieved his overhook once more.

In the months following this match the darce become one of the trendiest submissions in Jiu Jitsu (I know it’s also referred to as a brabo and a Shaolin choke, but I call the choke a darce. Deal with it). Everyone was clamouring to learn the technique that caused Marcelo to tap. Drysdale’s darce was comprised of the two main entries for the submission from front headlock, one after the other to counter Marcelo’s defenses.

First  Drysdale attempted the “gator roll” variety, where the overhooking arm is thrown deep under the opponent’s neck from front headlock as the opponent falls to the side, rolling underneath to lock his grip onto the bicep. It’s possible to finish here, but Marcelo defends well, pulling his body back and flattening out to relieve pressure. This puts Drysdale back on top with a fully locked in darce. Using the overhook to pressure forward, Drysdale rolls Garcia out of base, and begins to walk in towards the legs. His choke is deep with his head right on the mat. This way of finishing drives the opponent’s shoulder into their neck, while the blade of the wrist cuts off the carotid arteries on the other side of the neck. This version is not a neck crank, as some assert, but a legitimate choke. There are many examples of competitors being choked unconscious from a deep darce choke.

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Robert Drysdale – Rolling darce choke from guard

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Jeff Glover – Sliding darce choke against turtle

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Sean Spangler – Turning darce from front headlock

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Despite the effectiveness of the darce choke on this occasion, Marcelo asserts that arm-in chokes are not as efficient as submissions that attack the neck directly, and are difficult to use against larger opponents. Marshal Carper, again:

“The D’arce choke or brabo choke has received a lot of attention the last few years, and other arm-in chokes like triangles and arm triangles have long been staples of jiu-jitsu.  Marcelo, unlike many grapplers, does not believe arm-in chokes to be efficient, so he intentionally avoids all forms of them (including the arm-in guillotine).  Marcelo understands that this opinion is somewhat controversial, and explains that this is just the way his style has evolved to cope with large, strong, and technical opponents.  Marcelo wants 100% of his force exerted on his opponent’s neck when attempting a submission.  He does not want to fight the strength of a limb to get to the neck” – Source: Marshal Carper.

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Marcelo Garica – on arm-in chokes.

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As Garcia taps the few remaining spectators in the stadium in Princeton, New Jersey either erupt with joy or stare with shock, and what seems like the entirety of Brasa flooding the mats. Only with an athlete of the calibre of Garcia would a 220 lb (99kg) man defeating a 170 lb (77kg) opponent be worthy of this much celebration. Today, Garcia continues to dominate his weight category in both ADCC and in the Jiu Jitsu World Championships, while Drysdale has left grappling competition for MMA after losing to Jacare Souza in a subdued superfight at ADCC 2009. In his first professional MMA match Drysdale submitted Dynamic MMA’s Bastien Huveneers by arm triangle in a match that saw the lighter Huveneers come up from middleweight to test himself against the now-famous Drysdale.

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About a month ago, Emilio Carrero from The Samsara Blog and I sat down and had a conversation about Jiu Jitsu for his excellent Flow Podcast show. For some reason the idea of a person from Vancouver, B.C., and a person from Orlando, Florida who have never met face to face discussing Jiu Jitsu tripped me out, even though the basic technology to do this has been available since the 1900′s.

We discussed a variety of topics important to the Jiu Jitsu world including Rodolfo Vieira’s guard passing, Rafael Mendes and Atos, transitional positions, self-defense, steroids in Jiu Jitsu and ADCC 2011. It was weird being asked to come on the podcast, since I’m a random purple belt who is completely unknown in the Jiu Jitsu world, and I was very hesitant to do the show. But I think it turned out okay.

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You can listen to Episode 10 of The Flow Podcast online or download it from iTunes.

Click here to listen online or download Episode 10 of The Flow Podcast.

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Click here to subscribe to The Flow Podcast on iTunes.

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Logos in Jiu Jitsu don’t differ that much. An animal in a gi or a variation on a triangle seem to be the most common. Other geometric shapes can also be seen academy logos, particularly if they evoke Japanese mon. For gi companies there’s always the series of Brazilian, U.S., and Japanese flags to fall back on. Another common logo design in Jiu Jitsu is the two poorly drawn men grappling, which inevitably appears to the general public to advertise a club for aficionados of unfortunate subtext. I think my personal favourite bad logos include those that incorporate the head instructor’s tattoos, and anything with a dog in it (I have a soft spot for the original Carlson Gracie bulldogs, though).

This article is not about bad designs in Jiu Jitsu, however; that would be too easy. Our objective is to celebrate good design. A good logo should be simple, distinctive and instantly communicate what your brand is about. The need for simplicity comes from the requirement to be printed or sewn onto a variety of materials at a variety of sizes. Your team crest (incorporating Japanese kanji, the Brazilian flag, a bird in a gi grappling a snake also in a gi, and some random tribal barbed-wire) might look spectacular painted on the academy wall, but when your logo is embroidered onto a 4” patch it may lose some of the splendour.

Thankfully we have several examples of excellent logo design that are cutting through the clutter to remind us that design in combat sports can still be clean and intelligent. A word of warning – I’m not a designer by any stretch of the imagination so my rationale behind most of these choices is nothing more than, “Hey, that looks dope as hell.” But you will see a few themes emerge. One is simplicity; many of the logos below are black and white. Others incorporate a limited and distinct palette to the same effect. Another theme is communication. Many of these designs will give you a very clear understanding of what the team or company they represent is all about. Hopefully this list makes people think about how they portray their team and their sport/martial art of Jiu Jitsu to the public. If there are any excellent designs that I missed please post them in the comments.

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de la Riva - Many of the designs featured here are recent examples of minimalism. The de la Riva logo exemplifies the 1970′s design aesthetic; the logo is still minimalist, but the appropriated Japanese flag and the wavy, vaguely-serif typeface are both timeless and indicative of the era in which this logo was created. It is probably one of the best and most unique logos in Jiu Jitsu. The design’s invocation of the Hinomaru flag ties Jiu Jitsu to its roots; the rising sun represents the power and divine origins of the Japanese emperor. This logo is particularly interesting since de la Riva is part of the Carlson Gracie team, where angry animals are a prerequisite for team logos. Like de la Riva’s crest, most of the logos that are featured are circular. This is primarily an artifact of Jiu Jitsu team patches being circles, which was the main form of embroidered patches on the back of Jiu Jitsu athletes’ gis.

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50/50 – This is the perfect logo to represent the 50/50 guard. To me, the number looks similar to two Jiu Jitsu players stuck in the 50/50, with the forward slash mimicking the angle of the legs when playing this guard. The 50/50 is one of owner Ryan Hall’s signature positions, from which he often attacks the reverse heel-hook. 50/50 Jiu Jitsu also has a cool “graffiti” logo, but it’s hard to beat this circular crest as a means to represent the unique, mathematical Jiu Jitsu of Ryan Hall and Co.

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Abu Dhabi World Pro - The Abu Dhabi World Pro is one of the best tournaments in Jiu Jitsu. Competitors must win regional qualifiers, after which they are flown to Abu Dhabi at the behest of the crown prince. No it’s not the plot of a Bruce Lee movie, it’s just one of the best run Jiu Jitsu tournaments in the world. This logo incorporates the colours of the Emirates with a design that immediately communicates the worldwide inclusiveness of the tournament. The circle as a design element is something that we’ll revisit; it is a very important element of Japanese-inspired minimalist design that invokes the ideals of Zen Buddhism. However, the three pieces of the circle are also crescents – one of the most ancient symbols in the world. Crescent symbols originally represented the moon gods of Mesopotamia and now represent the Muslim world. The use of the crescents to form the circle is indicative of the blending of cultures that takes place at the Abu Dhabi World Pro.

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Marcelo Garcia – This is one of the cleanest and most unique logos in Jiu Jitsu, representing its subject well. The circle as a design element in Jiu Jitsu is one that we’ve already seen, and one that will come up again and again. Jiu Jitsu’s roots are in the Japanese martial arts, and the ideas espoused therein have been filtered through current design aesthetics to invoke calmness and completeness. This is why it works so well for a martial artist such as Garcia. This logo was designed by Jiu Jitsu competitor Hillary Witt as part of a contest by Garcia’s school.

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Alliance - “The Eagle is once again flying high” - Romero “Jacare” Cavalcanti. The Alliance logo is one of the most instantly recognizable on the competition circuit. The triangle and the animal totem are also traditional elements of Jiu Jitsu design but the bold, minimalist way that Alliance has incorporated them ensures a timeless design. The triangle is commonly used by the Gracie family to represent both the triangle choke and the idea of balance. I’m not sure what the eagle represents in the Alliance logo. Cavalcanti’s nickname refers to a common Brazilian crocodilian and his partner’s nickname is “the General,” so I guess we can be thankful that one of the most iconic logos in Jiu Jitsu wasn’t replaced by an alligator in a military uniform.

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Shoyoroll - I’m not talking about the “S” with three dots that is embroidered on the sleeves of Shoyoroll gi’s, but the more elaborate crest that appears on their patches and on the skirt of some of their gi’s, such as the Yank. Originally from Guam, Shoyoroll’s Bear Quitugua invokes his origins in many of the company’s designs. The bold script typeface invokes the graffiti aesthetic so fundamental to the brand identity. The circular logo with the company name wrapped around the outer perimeter is a very common design, often seen in hockey and soccer teams. The protruding text and the lightning creates a highly dynamic design.

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CheckMat - This is one of my favourite logos in Jiu Jitsu. Evoking the “BJJ as human chess” idea, the CheckMat logo is both subtle and bold. The king piece seems to stand out as an avatar for team founder Leo Veira. The serif font usually doesn’t work very well for sports logos, but the cerebral nature of the CheckMat brand makes it appropriate. It also gives the pronounced “T” an appearance of a cross – a reference to Christianity, which is very important to the team founders.

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Scramble - Scramble is one of my favourite Jiu Jitsu brands. And I can’t be the only one since the U.K.-based company is taking off all over the globe. Known for bold, colourful designs, Scramble is one of the few companies that can successfully incorporate Japanese characters and design elements into their logos. The katakana is the phonetic translation of the company name, and appears as a symmetrical reflection of the English characters below. Check out their “Be Water” rashguard, Tanren T-shirt, and Bushido Athletics 3/4 sleeve rashguard for more awesome designs from Scramble.

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DSTYR SG - Intelligent, irreverent, stylish. This is what I think of the DSTYR:SG blog, which is captured by their many logos including the one above. DSTYR:SG has become the go-to source for the latest videos in Jiu Jitsu with often-hilarious yet brief commentary by the black and brown belts who run the site. I love coffee, and love this T-shirt (which can be purchased at MMA Outlet).

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Albino and Preto – I don’t even care that the Albino and Preto logo is basically a rip-off of the Jameson Whiskey “stamp” logo (which I again ripped-off for the header image, above). This logo successfully incorporates Brazilian national colours in a fresh, bold design. It’s ironic for a company that means “white and black” to have one of the best uses of colour in their logo. Albino and Preto is probably the best-known Jiu Jitsu brand that doesn’t actually make anything.

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Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood – I don’t like the squished, rounded typeface nor the internal beveling of this version of the Jiu Jitsu Brotherhood logo, yet this design perfectly represents founder Nic Gregoriades. The light blue recalls the colours of Greece. Nic also uses an Uroborus, an ancient greek symbol of harmony and rebirth (similar to the Japanese circle/ring of many other Jiu Jitsu logos). The Uroborus suggests ancient brotherhoods seeking the secrets to enlightenment, perfect for the modern-day equivalent seeking the same through the practice of Jiu Jitsu.

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Denver Jiu Jitsu - I knew nothing about Denver Jiu Jitsu when I started this project, but was immediately taken with their logo. And isn’t that the point of a logo? To generate interest and attention with the fewest elements possible? Another take on the classic “stamp” crest, this design exemplifies a restrained colour palette, with a muted orange on a greyish brown background. I may just like the colours though, because they remind me of my little league baseball team. The shark, which is used as a symbol of Mestre Relson Gracie, startles the line between cartoon and realism. It reminds me of the saying, “The mat is my ocean, I’m a shark, and most people don’t know how to swim.” It’s been attributed to several people including Rickson Gracie and Vinicius “Draculino” Magalhães, but is nonetheless appropriate for Mestre Relson.

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Renzo Gracie – Renzo’s logo is one of the best examples of branding in Jiu Jitsu. While nominally part of Gracie Barra, the Renzo Gracie Association has branded themselves as a separate entity, making a name for themselves in both Jiu Jitsu and MMA. The blue colour suggests calmness and modernity, as well as a royal superiority which is also indicated by the laural wreath surrounding the stylized lion. Contrast this to the much more aggressive red and black colour-scheme of brother Ryan Gracie’s otherwise-identical logo.

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Jiu Jitsu Magazine - One of the few text-based designs in the list, the Jiu Jitsu Magazine logo is so well-aligned you could use it as a ruler. Incorporating the red band of the Jiu Jitsu black belt makes the design “pop.” The only element that I’m not crazy about is the awkwardly-angled line between the “T” and the “S.”

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ADCC - The Abu Dhabi Combat Club logo is one of the all-time classics in Jiu Jitsu. Instantly recognizable, this design incorporates an Arabic-style typeface with bold reds and yellows. The reference to the original venue of the tournament indicates the importance of tradition, particularly in an Emirate with an influx of hyper-modern buildings.

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Bad Boy - Another classic design from when Jiu Jitsu and MMA were one and the same. It might seem clichéd and outdated now, but the Bad Boy logo was one of the most important visual tools in the martial arts world in the 80′s and 90′s. If you saw those eyes glaring at you from a fighter’s ass you knew something crazy was about to go down.

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Miyao Brothers - The Miyao brothers are the next generation of Jiu Jitsu stars, with abstract guard games built around cutting-edge techniques such as the berimbolo and reverse de la Riva. This logo for OSS! Clothing is an example of the design evolving organically from the subject. I mean, they’re twins and their last name sounds like the sound a cat makes. They’re also the least tough-looking Jiu Jitsu fighters in the world (but don’t make a mistake – they will get on your back and brutally choke you, before slipping their glasses back on and hiding in the corner of the arena). All of these elements were taken by U.K.-based Jiu Jitsu illustrator Seymour Yang (Meerkatsu) and turned into something special, with the dual Japanese Maneki Neko and the kanji for “Jiu” and “Jitsu” on each cat’s chest, reflecting the twins’ partial Japanese heritage.

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BJJ Heroes - The brushed-on circle invoking Zen calligraphy, the red bar from the black belt, even the drop shadow. The elements of this design are completely clichéd, yet their execution somehow makes it all work. Like the other designs on this list that incorporate the circle, this logo tries to evoke the idea of the martial artist as one seeking enlightenment. The final chapter of The Book of Five Rings by famous swordsman  Miyamoto Musashi is called “the book of the void.” The void is what this circle represents, “By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist.” Those who have understood this principle, like Musashi, are heroes to future generations of martial artists. Our reverence for these individuals is an idea subtly evoked by the BJJ Heroes logo.

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In 1906 an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto identified that 80% of all of the land in Italy was owned by a mere 20% of the people. Pareto’s work may have had little impact outside of the field of economics had it not been for Joseph M. Juran, a prolific management theorist who rediscovered Pareto’s ideas in the 1930’s and applied them to quality management under the memorable phrase, “the vital few and the trivial many.”

Juran’s work, in turn, has been appropriated by a host of self-help gurus seeking to help people better deal with time management in an increasingly complex world. A notable interpretation of Juran’s ideas can be seen in the New York Times best-seller The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss (as an aside, here’s Ferriss being thrown on his head by everyone’s favourite Jiu Jitsu and MMA trainer Dave Camirillo).

As a skeptical person, I find myself often chafing against anything marketed as a “principle” or a “rule” that will make our lives easier and better. And this idea seems too simple and intuitive at first glance to warrant deep investigation. But despite its popularity with self-help readers and Oprah viewers (not too much separation on the Venn diagram there), is “the 80/20 rule,” also known as the Pareto principle, something that can help us with our everyday life? More importantly, is it something that can help us get better at Jiu Jitsu faster?

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If Marcelo Garcia does it, it’s high-percentage.

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To answer the question we have to examine how the Pareto principle works. Similar to turn-of-the-century land ownership in Italy, the idea is that in many systems there is inequality between causes and effects. Real-world examples include that 80% of all complaints will come from 20% of customers, and that 80% of sales will be made by 20% of staff. In the martial arts world, the theory is that 20% of all techniques account for 80% of success, therefore 80% of training should be built around those 20% of techniques.

This concept may seem obvious to most people. That there are high- and low- percentage techniques is not revelatory to anyone. Yet there does seem to be a need to reign in Jiu Jitsu practitioners desire to practice the latest gimmicky or flashy moves they’ve seen on the internet (with blogs like this one being the main culprit in propagating potentially lower-percentage moves).

An additional criticism of this approach is the ability to, through diligent practice, turn any technique into a high percentage maneuver. If at any one decision node in Jiu Jitsu a student can drill the less probable technique to the point where they develop the sensitivity and skill to make it as high-percentage as the more obvious and expected technique, does this contradict the idea of the 80/20? Adherents to the Pareto principal would say no. If it takes you significantly longer to make the less probable option as successful as the high-percentage technique, than this is time you could be using to work on additional techniques in your repertoire.

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What percentage of his time did Roger train his cross collar choke? 

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But what are these 20% of techniques on which we should focus? The Mendes brothers are winning World Championships with “advanced” techniques such as leg drags and berimbolos, so surely these techniques should be included. Yet Roger Gracie is winning even more championships with “basic” Jiu Jitsu like collar chokes from mount. Where does the list start and end? There is little agreement on what constitutes the fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu. It is an ever-evolving art with techniques that are increasingly diversified from its self-defense origins. When flipped on its head, the Pareto principle actually gives us the answer. By studying the most-frequently used techniques used to win high-level Jiu Jitsu competitions we can create a hierarchy of techniques sorted from highest to lowest percentage of successful application.

According to John Danaher, the enigmatic instructor at Renzo Gracie NYC, high percentage techniques are those that have the greatest effectiveness for the least amount of exertion, and have the greatest attempt to success ratio (ASR). According to an account of Danaher’s recent NYC seminar from the folks at Submission Control:

In John’s mind, for a technique to be defined as a “high percentage” move, the technique must adhere strictly to the following three principles: 1) the technique must work for anyone at any proficiency level, 2) the technique must work for anyone who is competing at any weight class, and 3) the technique must work for any body type (Source: Submission Control).

Danaher provided an empirical breakdown of what he considered high-percentage techniques from the annals of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu history, including the cross collar choke from mount and butterfly, lapel choke from the back, and an armbar from mount when the opponent defends the collar choke. Of course Danaher used only Japanese terminology for each technique, in keeping with his appreciation for the historical context of modern day Jiu Jitsu.

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Gianni Grippo shows us that Jiu Jitsu is quickly evolving. Can you keep up? 

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There is no single list of high-percentage techniques, making this concept often vague in the constantly evolving world of Jiu Jitsu techniques and strategies. Most can point to the common submissions seen in MMA and BJJ competitions: the rear naked choke, armbar, triangle choke, etc., as examples of high-percentage moves. But when one must consider every possible sweep, guard pass and transition it becomes exponentially more difficult to rank, requiring much deeper analysis of Jiu Jitsu.  This type of analysis was described by Lloyd Irvin in his appearance on The Fightworks Podcast on July 11, 2010:

“I have a chart, that has a list of the highest percentage submissions, transitions, set-ups in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu history, looking at all the world championships, looking at all the Pan Ams, looking at all the high level black belt tournaments. What transitions, submissions and sequences work the majority of the time. We work only those things.” (Source: Fightworks Podcast transcript)

From Irvin’s analysis of successful Judo and Jiu Jitsu athletes, the percentage of techniques used to win at the highest levels of the sport may be significantly less than 20%. For example, he cites that many champions like Márcio “Pé de Pano” Cruz usually have one go-to technique that they attempt to utilize in every match. For Pé de Pano it was the omoplata, but this differs for each athlete. So a decision must be made: do you as a Jiu Jitsu practitioner focus on the statistically most prevalent techniques or lesser percentage techniques that will catch your opponent off-guard.

In the 2010 World Jiu Jitsu Championships the most frequent submission by an overwhelming percentage was the bow-and-arrow choke from the back. Should you put the majority of your time into perfecting the bow-and-arrow or attempt a unique pathway, like rolling into a leg lock from the back in order to surprise an opponent? If one was to follow the Pareto principle, the answer would be to spend 80% of your drilling time on the back focusing on the choke.

The problem with focusing too heavily on the Pareto principle, however, is that our high-percentage techniques still only get us to 80%. For athletes who really want to excel, a different percentage is required: the 10%. In a Men’s Health article in 2008 by Mike Zimmerman, David Beckham’s coach at LA Galaxy revealed what he called “the difference maker.”

“Just about every soccer player reaches the same level of cardio fitness. But it’s the extra things you do — that last 10 percent — that can separate one player or one team from another. David understands this better than anyone.” (Source: Men’s Health)

For Beckham, it was his focus on explosiveness and power in a game where 90% of the play is based around cardiovascular fitness. As a Jiu Jitsu athlete, where is your extra 10% going to come from? It could be working on your explosiveness and anaerobic fitness like Beckham in a sport that is highly isometric. It could be improving your takedowns even though the vast majority of Jiu Jitsu takes place on the ground. It could be working on transitions from the bow-and-arrow to the armbar in case 10% of opponents are able to escape the choke. Just don’t lose sight of where the majority of your success will come from.

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Cobrinha knows that choking from the back will always be high-percentage. 

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The 80-20 rule is not set in stone. There are no properties of these numbers that make them unique. Instead it is a general guide that allows us to look objectively at our Jiu Jitsu practice and focus our energies where they will have the most benefit. It may be that 90% of the success in your Jiu Jitsu comes from 15% of techniques. There’s no reason this ratio must add up to 100, even though the principle appears more intuitive if this is the case. Additionally if the 80-20 rule has merit, it also means that 4% of techniques can account for 64% of one’s success in Jiu Jitsu. Without getting too caught up in the mathematics behind this phenomenon (a log 4 power law), athletes should take note of the Pareto principle as incentive to focus on the fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu.

Fundamental techniques are important even if they are amorphous. Take a look at your own game and the game of your coaches. Watch competition footage of athletes with a similar body type and game. From these reference points it is possible to develop a list of techniques that you consider fundamental to your own development. To get the most of this approach, it’s important to be realistic about the type of scenarios you will encounter. If you only face opponents who pass on their knees, learning fancy reverse de la Riva techniques might not be the best use of your time. Instead spend the majority of your time developing a solid arsenal of high-percentage techniques from the positions that you commonly face. Only then is it advisable to work on the extra 10% that will allow you to excel over your competition.

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Justin Rader had faced Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles when the Lovato student was a brown belt. It was a major highlight for the young competitor since it showed that, although he lost, he could hang with the best in the world.

Rader’s base is difficult for anyone to contend with; it’s been honed on the wrestling mats since he was four years old. The last time they were paired up Cobrinha had a surprising amount of trouble sweeping the brown belt. This match, which took place in Long Beach, California, during the finals of the 2011 No-Gi Worlds Pena division, was much different.

Check out the video below for the match, which I narrated. If you dig the commentary let me know and I’ll continue to do it for future matches, otherwise I’d be happy to not have to hear my own voice ever again! Of course a full written breakdown is below as well.

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Match Breakdown – Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles vs. Justin Rader – No-Gi Worlds 2011

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Right away, Cobrinha’s strategy of using the reverse de la Riva guard to set up back takes and singles was highly refined. Cobrinha is able to consistently spin under Rader using the inverted reverse DLR making this a much more dynamic match than their first encounter. One of the reasons that I wanted to take a closer look at this match was to see how Cobrinha employed the reverse DLR against an opponent with a solid base. Cobrinha is able to invert by primarily using overhooks on Rader’s legs. The overhooks give Cobrinha a great deal of control, and he is able to switch to an underhook when he decides to elevate Rader’s leg to attempt a single leg takedown. By elevating Rader’s legs in this position Cobrinha is able to exert control over Rader’s ability to generate power to escape.

Check the video below for The Jiu Jitsu Lab breakdown of the inverted reverse DLR.

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Jiu Jitsu Lab – Inverted Reverse de la Riva 

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Rader attempts to escape Cobrinha’s inverted reverse DLR position by turning towards the outside leg. Following the inversion from the reverse DLR it’s common to have one leg inside and one leg outside the opponent’s legs. Some people try to pull the outside leg in for a “waterfall” style back take – as shown here by Rafael Mendes. This can be difficult without a gi, so Cobrinha keeps one leg outside and uses his over and underhooks to keep Rader’s legs isolated. This allows Rader to turn towards the top leg and potentially free himself from the position if he is able to remove his oppnent’s control over his opposite leg. He is unable to do so, however, and continually gives up position in his attempt.

The Lovato black belt is determined to use a guard bypass technique – the rolling front headlock. Sometimes used as a guillotine choke set up, the rolling headlock is a great way to avoid a difficult guard and achieve some control. Rader is attempting to get low and press forward, nullifying Cobrinha’s guard and controlling the grips. From here he’s looking to loop his arm around his opponent’s head. This leaves both competitors looking to the ceiling momentarily, and it takes a great deal of sensitivity and control to feel which way your opponent is turning and beating them to it while maintaining the front headlock. This technique was shown to us by Rader’s coach, Rafael Lovato Jr., and there are some key details involved with gaining control over your opponent. Unfortunately Rader has difficulty implementing them against a veteran like Cobrinha.

Cobrinha’s defense to the rolling front headlock is to roll with Rader, preventing the latter from getting control over his head. By rolling with the attacker Cobrinha is able to come up beside him, often gaining an underhook or collar tie. From this position Cobrinha either attempts to hit a single, take the back, or leap into a triangle. The triangle doesn’t come close here, but the back take from the underhook works beautifully starting at 5:13 of the above video.

As Rader hesitates slightly, sensing that maybe he can get on top, Cobrinha has used his leg to block Rader’s leg, allowing him to prevent Rader from turning in. This creates a short scramble where Cobrinha is able to use his underhook to latch onto Rader’s back. As Cobrinha senses that his second hook is blocked he immediately locks in a tight Kimura grip. Not only is the Kimura grip from the back great control, but it allows him to transition to a nasty armlock when Rader rolls to defend. It’s almost a reversal of Rafael Mendes’s amazing transition on Rader at ADCC 2011.

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Photo: Dan Rod from GracieMag. 

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Unfortunately this match was also controversial, as Rader and Lovato pointed out the inconsistent enforcement of the guard pulling rules. Following the match, Lovato took to Facebook to discuss the scoring. He pointed out several times when Cobrinha sat down again after standing for an incomplete sweep. There was some confusion about whether Cobrinha was able to sit guard again following a sweep attempt. Although the IBJJF did a fantastic job with their new rulebook, the no-gi rules are not posted online so it’s difficult to clarify.

Lovato asserts that the guard pulling issue was enough to throw Rader off his game, giving up a stalling penalty when attempting to highlight Cobrinha’s lack of engagement. Additionally, as Rader shoots in for a frustrated takedown, Cobrinha sits guard again. Based on the IBJJF rules, according to Article 1, Rule 3.6 – “Athletes who begin a takedown movement before the opponent pulls guard shall be awarded two points or an advantage point for the move.” The convention is that Rader should have received two points, but he was not awarded points or an advantage for the guard pull.

Getting back to the amazing Jiu Jitsu on display in this match, the highlight for me is right at the end of the match, when Rader is getting frustrated. He attempts several guard passes, leaping from one to the next in a desperate attempt to regain his deficit. Cobrinha defends and waits for his opportunity. It comes when Rader over-commits to his pass and gives up an omoplata. As he postures out of the omoplata as he has previously, Cobrinha is able to entangle his legs and work his way up to a deep waist control, from which he immediately springs into a back take that ends out of bounds. Cobrinha is exceptionally good at taking advantage of every opportunity without hesitation, something I’ve been told I need to work on in my own game.

The match ends with Cobrinha up on points. Both competitors displayed amazing Jiu Jitsu, but the Alliance veteran is able to dethrone the reigning champion and reassert his spot as the second best featherweight in the world.

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Photo: Dan Rod from GracieMag. 

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The smash pass: not only does it sound cool, but it is arguably one of the most effective and efficient ways to pass the guard. There’s some confusion about what constitutes a smash pass, however. I’ve seen knee-to-nose and other passes labelled as “smash-passes” because they put weight on your opponent. Simply put, you know you’re performing a smash pass anytime you are directing your opponent’s knees together on one side of their body.

There are several entries into the smash pass including the now-famous leg drag. This feature won’t go into detail about the leg drag since it is one of the most-discussed guard passes on The Jiu Jitsu Lab, although there are two nice leg drag videos show below. When I first started this blog there was little to no information about the leg drag online. Under a year later there is an abundance of “leg drag” material out there, not all of it any good. But the leg drag is only a small piece of the guard passing puzzle. More specifically, it is a good example of how a smash pass can be utilized in a specific scenario, primarily when in de la Riva guard or when you can’t stuff your opponent’s leg between your own.

Thankfully there are several excellent smash pass tutorials cropping up online that can help alleviate any confusion. Additionally, two DVDs from “Little” Tony Pacenski provide systematic guard passing instruction that includes many ideas that can be labelled as smash passes. I’ve been drilling material from Seminar Series Vol. 2 Sao Paulo Approach to Passing the Guard.

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Tony Pacenski – Smash pass against the closed guard

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Tony Pacenski – Smash Pass against reverse de la Riva guard

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This instructional includes footage from a seminar Pacenski taught in Philadelphia and additional footage elucidating Pacenski’s guard passing system that he developed through his training with Rodrigo Medeiros, the Mendes brothers and others. It is apparent that Pacenski has a background in education, as his instruction is very clear as each technique builds into the next. I highly recommend either it, or Pacenski’s Faixa Preta Series Vol. 4., which goes over much of the same material, as a basis for understanding the smash pass.

In all of the material covered today a few general principals of the smash pass become clear:

1. Posture – squatting low, elbows tight to your knees, head up and back straight.
2. Always on the toes – this postural tip deserves its own point, it’s that important for…
3. Driving forward – to take away your opponent’s options, it’s important to pressure into your opponent without bringing your weight over top of them so they can sweep you. You can do this using…
4. One foot in – many smash pass variations begin with one leg between your opponents. Keeping a lapel grip will control their upper body and prevent them from sitting up. To keep your leg tight to your opponent’s inner thigh, keep your knee high and use…
5. Baby steps – small steps forward will help keep your opponent from creating distance they need to initiate an attack.
6. Twist the spine – using a cross face or with your head next to your opponent’s get them looking away from the pass. Bring their lower spine offline by…
7. Redirecting the legs – use your body to drive the legs away and pin them with your body. The best way to redirect the legs is…
8. Lateral movement – practice your footwork to be able to quickly transfer your weight side to side. This allows you to efficiently use your body weight to move your opponent’s legs instead of relying on your strength.
9. Windshield wipers – to deal with unwanted hooks put your knee on the mat and swivel your instep over your opponent’s ankles. This will pin their legs and allow you to complete the pass. Not always needed, but a great skill to have.
10. Don’t rush – this point is covered in more detail in this article, but make sure that you securely smash your opponent’s legs before attempting to progress to side control, mount or the back.

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See how each of these points comes up repeatedly in the videos below. For example, Chris Visentin of Queens MMA provides a good introduction to the core concepts of the smash pass in his video series.

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Chris Vinentin – Smash Pass against open guard

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Chris Vinentin – Smash Pass against reverse de la Riva guard

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In the first video Vinentin describes the weight distribution needed to make this pass work very well. Notice his emphasis on using lateral movement to smash his opponent’s knees to the side. This is the basic variation and a good starting point for this style of passing.

In the second video, Vinentin shows how the same approach to passing the guard can be used to shut down the reverse de la Riva guard. He applies a Rodolfo-esque passing strategy by relieving the pressure of the inside hook and starting an X-pass style manoeuvre before smashing his opponent’s legs laterally again.

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Rafael Lovato Jr. – Guard passing – kickback pass and smash pass

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Several of the guard passing details that I do are from Rafael Lovato Jr. Points like having your leading foot in line with your opponent’s belt to prevent the de la Riva or butterfly hook are key details that I learned from Lovato. All of these details and more are included in the above video, which is a longer video about some of the options that you have with this pass. It’s a bit different that the other videos shown here in that it starts with the kickback pass. During the smash pass Lovato uses a pant grip to keep the knees together, a detail that I admittedly don’t use but one that I’m going to try after seeing this video. Like most good instructors Lovato focuses on having good posture and alignment during all steps of this pass.

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Albert Hughes – Leg drag pass

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Nathan Mendelsohn – Knee slide pass and leg drag

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The smash passes above all require that your opponent’s leg be inside of yours. What happens when they don’t comply? This is when the leg drag pass can be effectively utilized. I managed to find two good leg drag video that has yet to be featured on the The Jiu Jitsu Lab. I don’t like the grips that both Albert and Nathan use here, preferring the opposite hand placement. But it’s hard to argue with two absolute studs, so try this variation and see for yourself. I prefer the grips that Rafael Mendes frequently uses – with the knee grip inside to prevent you from jamming the pass with your own arm.

I do like, however, the way Mendelsohn shows the interplay between the knee-slide and the leg drag pass. These passes work together very well and constitute the main branches of my own passing. It’s great to see such high quality leg drag videos online when less than a year ago there was a major dearth in information regarding this pass.

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The very best in online material, however, is Martin Aedma’s video series not-incorrectly titled Guard Passes from Hell. Most people’s first exposure to Aedma was Christian Graugart’s original video that was included in our very first post on the leg drag pass. There is more to Aedma’s system than just the leg drag and he went back and re-taped his system to include a brilliant discussion of the principals behind the smash pass. If you haven’t yet check out his blog, martinaedma.bjj.ee, it’s full of Aedma’s awesome approach to grappling that he calls Wrestle-Jitsu.

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Martin Aedma – Estonian guard passing from Hell – Part I

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Martin Aedma – Estonian guard passing from Hell – Part II

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Together that is 45 minutes of guard passing material. After watching all of the video in this entry, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Here are Martin’s tips for passing the guard:

So the Rule is : Hips, Legs, Positioning

Hips

This means that you want to pull/press your own hips against the hips of the Guard player while playing in that Posture. Squatting down, leaning in while pulling with the grips. You want to smash your own hips in. This will limit the hip movement for the bottom guy and that’s something you want to achieve.

Legs
Smash the leg(s) to the side. Thing to know here is that you want to use your chest to do that. Chest gives you an “extra arm”, you can press heavily with it and at the same still pull in with both arms. This is something people miss quite often in they’re passing game.

Also a little pointer to help out with the leg smashing is to tilt the hip. When you want to push one leg down on the side with your chest then first push the other leg down on that side with your arm. This will limit the range of motion for the top leg and help you with the leg smash. (Watch the video for better description)

Positioning
Finally, when the hips are close and the legs are on the side, Position yourself in a way that you can develop heavy pressure while having good balance. Simply put it means that you should try to end up in Legweave or Leg Drag control position (those were covered in last post) because they do exactly that – give you the ability to develop pressure and maintain balance.

Additionally, you can refer to the following “Strategy Guide” to take you through some of the key smash passing options. And remember, if you’re stuck in a crazy guard that you just can’t pass remember to press Up, Up, Down Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A. It’s gotten me out of some pretty sticky situations before, so it’s worth a try here!

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Jiu Jitsu Laboratory Awards 2011

Competitor of the Year (gi): Rodolfo Vieira

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2011 was unquestionably Rodolfo’s year. Rising to prominence in 2009, big things were expected of the young GF Team standout. This year Rodolfo lived up to all expectations taking the Pan-Ams, World-Pro and Worlds at both weight and absolute. Opponent’s like Bernardo Faria,Rafael Lovato Jr., Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida and Antonio Brago Neto  just couldn’t keep up with Rodolfo’s guard passing and athleticism, making it clear that he will be a force in the gi for many years to come.

Runners-Up: Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, Rafael Mendes

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Competitor of the Year (no-gi): André Galvão

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André Galvão’s path to the very pinnacle of Jiu Jitsu was a roundabout one. Winning every tournament in existence on his way through the belt ranks André appeared unstoppable – until he ran into the immovable object that is Marcelo Garcia. Then, after a series of disappointments including a rough start to his MMA career and being on the receiving end of 2009′s submission of the year at the hands of Braulio Estima, Galvão came into 2011 re-energized and re-focused, winning the Pan ams and giving a near-flawless performance at ADCC 2011. His weight and absolute victories at ADCC over the likes of Pablo Popovitch, Gunnar Nelson and Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares make Galvão the standout without a gi in 2011.

Runners-Up: Rafael Mendes, Rafael Lovato Jr.

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Female Competitor of the Year: Gabrielle Garcia

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Leading up to these awards I asked the knowledgeable folks at one of the major grappling forums who they thought should win the major categories. I agreed with almost all of the feedback with one exception. It seems that almost no one wants to give Gabrielle Garcia her due. Many feel that due to her size and strength Gabi has an unfair advantage. But Gabby didn’t make the weight classes, and it’s impossible to argue with her results: ADCC champion, World champion, Pan Champion. 2011 was the year of Gabi in the female division.

Runners-Up: Luanna Alzuguir, Michelle Nicolini

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Lifetime Achievement Award: Marcelo Garcia

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What do you do when the best keeps getting better? Marcelo Garcia is still young (depressingly, he’s the same age as I am), but his career accomplishments seem to belong to a much older competitor. Garcia would have already been a Jiu Jitsu hall-of-fame member many times over even if he sat out the 2011 competition season. But thankfully for fans of Jiu Jitsu he did not. Taking the Worlds middleweight and ADCC lightweight divisions, Marcelo displayed a rare dominance over opponents such as Leo Vieira, Kron Gracie, Victor Estima and Lucas Leite. This performance makes Marcelinho the only four-time ADCC champion and a five-time World champion.

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Rookie of the Year: Leandro Lo

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Rookie of the Year is awarded to a recently-awarded black belt that shows potential to be one of the best in their divisions. One of the most exciting prospects at lightweight, Leandro Lo had some major victories in 2011 that put him on the short-list of potential future champions. Most recently Lo won the Copa Podio Lightweight Grand Prix in December 2011, with victories over Denilson Pimento, Ed Ramos, and Cláudio Caloquinha. Beating world champion Michael Langhi in April of 2011 put Lo on the map. His exciting style and frequent tournament victories are expected to keep him there.

Runners-Up: Davi Ramos, Zak Mawell

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Additional awards include: 

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Competition of the Year: ADCC 2011; Runner-Up: Abu Dhabi Pro Jiu Jitsu Cup 2011

Academy of the Year: Atos Jiu Jitsu; Runner-Up: Alliance/Marcelo Garcia NYC

Instructor of the Year: Fabio Gurgel; Runner-Up: Lloyd Irvin

Guard of the Year: Rafael Mendes

Guard Passing of the Year: Rodolfo Vieira

Never in a Boring Match Award: Claudio Calasans

Adamantium Legs Award: Robson Moura

Maybe Next Year Award: Romulo Barral

Impossible to Dislike Award: Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu

Biggest Team Jump: Ryan Hall to Alliance; Runner-Up: Durinho Burns to Team Vitor Belfort

Invisible Man Award: Roger Gracie

Most Obnoxious Jiu Jitsu Trend: Pre-order gi’s; Runners-Up: Double guard pulls, leg-reap DQs

New Academy We’re Most Excited About: Xande Ribeiro LA

Team to Watch Out For: Cicero Costha

Comeback of the Year: Dean Lister; Runner-Up: Lucio “Lagarto” Rodriguez

Most Improved Player Award: Jeff Glover

Most Annoying Technique Name: Berimbolo; Runner-Up: “Kiss of the Dragon”

Biggest “Fuck-Yeah” Moment: Augusto “Tanquinho” Mendes defeating the Atos team at Abu Dhabi Pro 2011

Match of the Year: Rodolfo vs. Calasans – Worlds 2011; Runner Up: Rafael vs. Guilherme Mendes Abu Dhabi Pro No-Gi 2011

Submission of the Year: Rafael Mendes – inverted omoplata to armbar to back, RNC on Justin Rader ADCC 2011

Submission-Escape of the Year: Vinny Mag escaping Werdum’s armbar ADCC 2011; Runner-Up: Marcelo Garcia escaping Kron’s guillotine ADCC 2011

Sweep of the Year: Ary Farias – inverted de la Riva reverse X guard sweep on Fernando Cosendey – 2011 World Pro

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Media/Online Awards

Magazine of the Year:  Jiu Jitsu Magazine, Runner-Up: GracieMag

Website of the Year: MG in Action; Runners-Up: Budovidoes, BJJ Heroes

Blog of the Year: BJJ Globetrotter; Runner-Up: Aesopian

Podcast of the Year: Fightworks Podcast; Runner-Up: Flow Podcast

Video of the Year: Stuart Cooper -ADCC 2011; Runner-Up: Mendes Brothers Highlight

Fightwear/Apparel of the Year: Scramble

Instructional of the Year:  “111 Half Guard Techniques” - Caio Terra; Runners-Up: “How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent” – Emily Kwok and Stephan Kesting

Most Awesome Jiu Jitsu Fans Award: Tie: Readers of The Jiu Jitsu Laboratory, Fans at ADCC 2011, Nottingham

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Note: As 2011 winds down I want to thank everyone who has read, shared and commented on The Jiu Jitsu Lab. You guys and gals are what makes this whole thing fun. On a personal note I would like to thank my coaches and teammates at Dynamic for another great year of training. – David

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