One of the most popular open-guard options in the book, the De la Riva was developed by a student under Grandmaster Carlson Gracie in the 80s. His name was Ricardo de la Riva, and he noticed that if he used one leg as a hook, partially wrapping his opponent’s leg at the knee, he would be able to neutralize the movement of the legendary guard passers of his team — almost all of whom were much bigger and heavier than his skinny self.

The technique worked out, gained traction in BJJ tournaments, and to this day it’s been studied by countless BJJ students. It’s the case of Renzo Gracie and Christian Xaropinho, two specialists of attacking with the DLR, as you can see from the next two videos.

Note how Renzo uses the cogs of the DLR to surprise the passers with a lob sweep, ending up on the mount.

Xaropinho sweeps using the passer’s own weight the moment his opponent tries to reach side control by diagonally crossing his knee.

BJJ teacher Wellington Megaton proposes an optimistic reaction in the face of adversity. To illustrate his thesis, he remembers the day thieves broke into his home and took all of his savings. But they didn’t take his optimistic lifestyle, meaning he predictably got over the episode.

Don’t waste any more time. Go to www.gallerr.com/rgoa and get access to over 20 weeks of content made available so far at Renzo Gracie Online Academy.

Oss! 

Uma das opções de guarda aberta mais populares da cartilha do Jiu-Jitsu, a De la Riva foi desenvolvida por um aluno do grande mestre Carlson Gracie, na década de 1980. Ele se chamava Ricardo de la Riva e percebeu que, se usasse uma das pernas como gancho, envolvendo parcialmente a perna do adversário na altura do joelho, seria capaz de neutralizar a movimentação dos renomados passadores de guarda de sua escuderia, quase todos muito maiores e mais pesados do que o franzino Ricardo.

A técnica deu certo, ganhou fama nos campeonatos da arte suave e até hoje vem sendo estudada por diversos praticantes de Jiu-Jitsu ao redor do mundo. É o caso de Renzo Gracie e Christian Xaropinho, dois especialistas em atacar com a guarda De la Riva, como você pode notar nos dois vídeos a seguir.

Repare como mestre Renzo utiliza a engrenagem da De la Riva para surpreender o passador com uma raspagem balão, terminando o movimento na montada.

Já Xaropinho raspa utilizando-se do peso do próprio passador, no momento em que o oponente tenta chegar ao cem-quilos, cruzando o joelho na diagonal.

Na aula sobre qualidade de vida, Wellington Megaton fala sobre a “arte de levantar e seguir em frente” após sofrermos algum tipo de revés.

Não perca mais tempo!

Vá ao site www.gallerr.com/rgoa e tenha acesso ao conteúdo completo do curso de Jiu-Jitsu mais sofisticado da Internet. Seja aluno da Renzo Gracie Online Academy (RGOA).

Oss!

Leticia Ribeiro won a gold medal in the black belt division of the Worlds six times from 2000 to 2012.

The leader of one of the strongest female teams in Jiu-Jitsu history, the IBJJF hall of famer is celebrating another birthday this wednesday, Feb. 24.

Learn this clever sweep using the spider guard grips and the DLR hook to land your opponent on the ground and reach side control.

Click to watch and learn.

Gianni Grippo is one of the most inventive black belts of the new generation.

Featured on the cover of GRACIEMAG #219, the 2015 Pan featherweight champion teaches a sweep that starts in the inverted DLR and goes to the X-guard.

Watch closely and add it to your game.

In the upcoming issue of GRACIEMAG, Master Ricardo de la Riva shares insight on his infamous “de la Riva guard,” giving you, the reader, a unique opportunity to learn the intricacies of the position.

The black belt sits down with GRACIEMAG editor Raphael Nogueira and imparts a complete dossier on the position that neutralizes and surprises passers of all belts.

“For Jiu-Jitsu practitioners to understand the ins and outs of the de la Riva guard, they need to experiment with an assortment of different variations, assimilate the different positionings, understand the mechanics involved and the passer’s defenses, and time their attacks right,” de la Riva explains in Issue No. 191.

With the help of instructor Rubens Antonio Albuquerque, professor de la Riva breaks down six positions that will help practitioners in their Jiu-Jitsu game. A must-read for anyone eager to learn top-shelf technique.

Take a look at what else Issue No. 191 has to offer its readers!

BUSINESS: Think big, be bold!

The owner of an MMA academy he says brings over $1 million per year and author of the compelling book Black Belt Psychology, Marcos Avellan shares pointers on how to make it in the martial arts world.

CHOKE MMA: An afternoon with the ever-so-busy UFC women’s champ, Ronda Rousey

In the first installment of our monthly “Choke MMA” Feature, GRACIEMAG.com assistant editor Erik Fontanez sits down with Ronda Rousey and talks with the UFC champ about the pressures of being the face of women’s MMA in a piece entitled “Armbars before breaks.”

TOP 5: Calasans’ Faves

2013 Europeans champ, black belt Claudio Calasans teaches us the five positions that have proved decisive over the course of his career. These are holds that played a big part in him earning the top-tier-competitor status he enjoys today. The reader can try and apply his moves after reading this informative article.

CHALLENGE: Welcome to the jungle

Lloyd Irvin gathers 13 of the world’s best brown belts for a no-time-limit event where only submissions count, and the result are kept under lock and key.

UFC: 5 prophetic questions for 2013

Our editor Marcelo Dunlop asks what mysteries will unravel in the UFC in 2013, and what the reader can expect to hear buzzing in 2014. We attack these and other inquiries that should get answered as the year goes on.

Subscribe to your favorite Jiu-Jitsu publication by clicking the link below!

Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” / Photo by John Lamonica/GRACIEMAG.com

A four-time world champion of both Gi and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu, Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” has got a full agenda.

This week he was called on to help Fabricio Werdum coach his team on the second season of the TUF Brazil reality show, shooting of which will only begin in 2013. The black belt will join the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Rafael Cordeiro, Felipe Werdum and Kenny Johnson on the coaching staff.

Before getting to watch the Jiu-Jitsu professor from Team Alliance every Sunday on Globo channel, though, anyone in Brazil can get to learn from him live and in person.

Cobrinha will be teaching seminars in the State of São Paulo, the first of which is coming up on the 14th, at the São Carlos Judo Association. Entry costs BRL 50, and all the proceeds will go to a social project under team Bushido. The program attends to the needs of 80 underprivileged children, helping them to gain social inclusion through the practice of sports.

On November 17, Cobrinha will be teaching his tricks at Espaço do Corpo Academy in São Paulo City. The cost is BRL 80.

For further information, call (16) 9711-3209 and speak with Mauro Pacífico, or call (11) 2606-9250.

For a taste of what’s to come, check out Cobrinha and his lethal de la Riva guard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-fU-O-9QCs

Diogo Almeida against Davi Ramos at Copa Pódio Middleweight GP / Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.com

The São Paulo International Open is coming up August 25-26 at José Correa Gymnasium in Barueri, greater São Paulo. The fledgling IBJJF tournament looks set to draw in a number of big-name gentle-art competitors, and August 16 is the deadline for getting in on the action.

Of the Jiu-Jitsu stars and up-and-comers gearing up to go, black belt Diogo Almeida of Ryan Gracie academy has already confirmed he’ll be doing combat at the tourney. “I expect the best. I’ll be fighting at home and will have the crew from Almeida JJ project rooting for me. I want to throw some strength around,” said the Celso Venicius student.

“Training is grueling. Twice a week I train MMA and Jiu-Jitsu with Celso, Viscardi and Udi Lima. The other days I’m in Itaquera with the black belts Caio Almeida, Kitner Moura, Jorge Azevedo, Bolo, Ricardo Almeida and Gaúcho. I do lots of specific training every day plus physical conditioning with André Aliveira,” added the fighter.

Diego also recollected his campaign in the Copa Pódio Middleweight GP.

“Shoot, Celso got mad at me for dropping three points in my match with Pedro Mello. That’s why I didn’t make it to the semifinal with Dimitrius Souza. That was the big mistake. The other matches were surprises. I couldn’t expect much; they were all aces. (I got carried away when I tried stalling in half-guard and got penalized. That’s why I didn’t go through.) I want to face Ricardo Bastos some other time. He’s tough,” he recalled.

“With Davi Ramos it was awesome. What a tough match! Celso was hollering at me telling me to have faith with 10 seconds left in a match where all I did was defend the whole time. Then he turned on all fours from the pressure from the pass, and I slapped on my best finish—a collar choke from the back.”

Watch the bout below:

Diogo also addressed what else he’s been practicing for upcoming competitions. “After my match with Ricardo Bastos, Saulo Ribeiro suggested I use my legs more; that’s why I practiced a lot of spider- and de la Riva guard. I’m going to do a lot of guard at this São Paulo Open, if just to test it out for the Abu Dhabis qualifiers in Natal. If I do something wrong, they’ll still have to get past the half-guard (laughs),” he said in closing.

Do as Diogo Almeida is doing, sign up for the IBJJF tournament.

For further information and to sign up, click cbjj.com.br.

Note how he takes the hooks out of play and gets his opponent sideways before blocking his arms and making it to side-control.

Ricardo Cavalcanti, our GMA in Las Vegas / Photo: Carlos Ozório/GRACIEMAG.com

Ricardo Cavalcanti is a GMA of ours at Carlson Gracie Las Vegas, in the US state of Nevada. The Carlson Gracie black belt not only teaches regular classes at his academy, he circles the world sharing his knowledge through seminars. In September, he’ll be teaching his techniques in the Northeast Brazilian city of Fortaleza at Ação e Reação, a social outreach project he adopted as his own.

The scholarly Jiu-Jitsu professor took the opportunity to treat GRACIEMAG.com readers to some positions for sharpening up their Jiu-Jitsu. In the following video, Ricardo demonstrates how to sweep from De la Riva guard, after which he shows how to make it to the back from 50/50 guard.

It’s Thursday, the first day of the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, and the team has been restless. To take the edge off, GRACIEMAG.com scoured the internet for five combinations that will enrich your sweep vocabulary. Comment below to let us know which one you liked best.

1. Robson Moura teaches sweep from De la Riva guard

2. Zé Radiola teaches spider-guard sweep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nsnHgwbtWU

3. Ruy Frade & Glauber Gruppi “Binho” (students of Diego Gamonal) teach sweep from the feet

4. Carlos Alberto Líberi teaches hook sweep with lapel

5. Daniel Vianna teaches spider-guard sweep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEcakDxYqds

Max and students in Finland / Publicity photo

At this year’s Jiu-Jitsu World Championship there will be some beasts from Finland making things rough on the competition. The Northern European nation will be sending a delegation of combatants to the biggest event of the season. A Jiu-Jitsu and judo black belt, Max Trombini, who produced champions like Eduardo “Português” Santoro, is there to help with the preparations.

“I taught an awesome seminar here; it was packed. Some representatives of mine, Paivi Levonen, Teemu Aittamaa and Daniel Azevedo, competed at the Finland Open and earned trips to the Worlds. Daniel and Teemu closed out the absolute,” remarked the teacher at team Cia Paulista, who sent GRACIEMAG.com some videos from the seminar in Finland.

“First I teach a kata otoshi, a takedown technique. Next I demonstrate a finish from De La Riva guard. The other link has my students who teach under me Teemu and Paivi.

Takedown part one

Takedown part two

Sweep from De La Riva guard and finish

Sweeps and choke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qynrdtrPSM