Photo: Personal Archive

At 23 years of age, Jeferson Guaresi is one of the strongest athletes from the new generation of Jiu-Jitsu. The black-belt from Unity Jiu-Jitsu proved he deserves this distinction as he won the IBJJF’s World Championship and No-Gi Pan in the last two months. These are medals at the highest level of the sport, especially in the black belt division.

With just two years of experience as a black-belt — a promotion given to him by Murilo Santana — Jeferson has accumulated 29 wins, nine of which were by submission. At the No-Gi Worlds, for example, he won four matches and scored two submissions against Rodrigo Lopes and Joseph Watson. In the medium heavy final, Jeferson played the strategist to beat Pedro Rocha, a fighter known for his guillotines. Jeferson spoke about his performance in a recent interview.

“The final was an interesting fight, because my opponent only had one move about which I had to worry,” he said. “It was a fight where I had to be very focused on not losing my concentration, but I knew my jiu-jitsu is up to date. It just came down to not messing up, and I’d walk away with the win. That was when I scored two points right away and then managed my advantage.”

Jeferson is an avid competitor who has won more than 100 medals in national and international tournaments — including gold at the IBJJF’s No-Gi Pan, No-Gi Worlds and European Championship — in the past eleven years, the time he has been practicing jiu-jitsu. He shared some thoughts on this journey:

“My goal in jiu-jitsu has never been just to be world champion; that’s a consequence of my training. In the course of this time, my goal is to help all who are parts of the sport. I want to make the sport grow more and more, and I want to help people achieve their goals. I want the practitioners of jiu-jitsu to be good people to society too. I’m greatly inspired by my master, Murilo Santana, who is a big influence on what I’ve become today. Rafael Godoi, my first teacher, is also an important part in my education as an athlete.”

Jeferson is considered by many to be the originator of the “thrown by” guard pass — a move that has earned him multiple gold medals in different competitions, including at the No-Gi Pan. Here’s a pioneer’s perspective on how the guard pass works:

“It’s important that you know how to create space to position yourself when it’s time to move. The guard pass I do is intricate and requires perfect timing and form; the secret is in the positioning of the hip and knee, responsible for preventing the guard player’s returning with the leg to defend. Then, I use one of my hands to control my opponent’s hip and advance my entire body to win the three points.”

To see how it works, check out Jeferson’s step-by-step tutorial in the following images.

By Erin Herle

[Continued from here.]

Drilling outside of class is like doing your homework. Working on technique, situations, your weaknesses are all important and can be done outside of class. We often don’t allow ourselves to play with weaknesses when training in class and the time allotted for technique is used for a new move, adding to the list of homework assignments to ingrain into your muscle memory.

Now that you have your training partners, the mats to train on and a time to meet up let’s put the timer to use with some lesson plan ideas.

Here are some examples of drills/specific training situations to help you run your class that Gianni Grippo has adjusted through trial and error in his own competition classes at Renzo Gracie Academy NYC:

3-minute rounds of choice drilling

Drilling a guard pass of choice with a partner / Photo by Erin Herle

Every person will pair with someone near their size if possible and drill a move of their choice. SwitchStay with the same move and if you choose to do more rounds with another move, keep them similar. Extend the move into a counter defense move, a submission into another submission and ultimately all bottom game or all top game. It makes it easier to implement and gain many repetitions.

3-minute rounds of chosen drill

Leg drag drills / Photo by Erin Herle

Dictating the move to drill is a great way to have everyone secure a staple move. This could be a very common move, counter, defense, motion, etc. There are guard passes, guard recovery, positional moves and defensive techniques that everyone must know so using this time to implement these required moves into everyone’s game is beneficial for all. Even if they aren’t fancy and are sometimes even boring, making time for them is important.

5-minute situational sparring

Working situational sparring from the back / Photo by Erin Herle

Training in a position and only that position is a good way to understand the mechanics and leverage of a situation. Being in both top and bottom side control allows both defense, maintenance and offense to improve. Start with a position and state exactly how everyone should start. If you are working on back mount should the person have hooks and a seatbelt grip or should it start from turtle and the person on bottom only needs to recover guard? Focus on who needs to do what, the goal, the grips and rules. When the timer starts, shake hands and roll normal speed within the position and rules. Switch between positions with same partners then switch partners for each round.

5-minute rounds of guard defense

Guard defense rounds with adamant passers / Photo by Erin Herle

The person who plays guard must defend their guard while the person on top tries to pass. The focus of this is guard recovery and defense while the person on top can work their guard passing without the threat of sweeps or submissions. Start with open guard so that the guard player must take what the guard passer gives. If the guard is passed, start over.

90-Second Losing Situation

Losing opponent must act quickly / Photo by Erin Herle

Mostly for competition-oriented people, this drill is important for acting quickly yet smart. The person in guard is down on points and must sweep or submit to win the match. With 90 seconds left in a match it can create a type of adrenaline or hastiness that will cause mistakes. With this drill focus on the application of sweeps and submissions and acting quickly when it is most important. The person on top can work the pass like normal but you are forced to play smart and pay attention to your base. If you are winning in a match, you should always keep working instead of stalling but you don’t want to cost yourself the match. Switch partners with this drill.

8-Minute Matches

Live sparring with 8-minute matches / Photo by Erin Herle

Include regular rolling into your routine like you would any other class as it can be the best way to apply anything you’re currently working. Also, more mat time is always a good thing. Try to work on what you have drilled and focus on your weaknesses. Remember, there is no ego in the gym and what happens in training stays in training. Don’t be afraid to work on what you need to work so that you can improve in all areas. If you compete, you’ll be more prepared and have more to work with in your muscle memory. Switch partners and have at least four rounds.

Submission-Only Match with 30-Minute Time Limit

Submission-only matches create submission-oriented people / Photo by Erin Herle

You can save this round for last or have multiple matches in one session. These types of situations, especially when tired after a training session, are great for focusing on finishing an opponent. Focus on gaining dominant positions and attacking. This works the defense and offense. The 30-minute time limit can and will be reached but is a good stopping point should anyone go the length.

Gianni Grippo’s planner with lesson plans and drilling notes.

Remember that these drills are examples. The time limits, the numbers, the details can all be manipulated but are a great jumping off point. A good way to run these classes is to determine a lesson plan before so you can state to everyone involved what the itinerary will be for each class. A planner or designated notebook will be efficient.

And the most important tip for your drilling Jiu-Jitsu classes?

Enjoy yourself!

Drilling is fun! / Photo by Erin Herle

This week, Renzo Gracie Online Academy (RGOA) carries on with the noble mission of perfecting your skill as a guard passer.

Among the techniques you will learn is one of Renzo’s favorites — this pass that begins standing and ends up terrorizing guard players.

Leo Tunico teaches extremely efficient passes, like this one where, with a quick step, he gets past the guard player’s leg and reaches side control.

In your lifestyle lesson, Sylvio Behring talks about how the study of self-defense techniques offers you emotional control and clear thinking in real scenarios of adversity.

Don’t waste time! Go to www.gallerr.com/rgoa and get access to all of the content of the Internet’s most sophisticated BJJ course.

Oss!

This week, Renzo Gracie Online Academy (RGOA) unveils many tricks to bring out your potential as a guard passer. Renzo Gracie and Leo Tunico guide you through multiple paths, revealing ways to get past your opponent’s legs and reach side control in good shape.

Check out, for example, this clever technique for opening guard, a true strategic gem taught by Renzo:

The week is filled with passes based not on physical power, but instead on sophisticated concepts, which will sharpen your perception regarding weight distribution, posture, balance, pressure, dominant grips and more themes inherent to the guard-passing game. Look at this knee-slicing pass taught by Leo Tunico:

In your lifestyle lesson, check out some healthy habits proposed by red-and-white-belt Marcio Stambowsky.

Don’t waste time.

Go to www.gallerr.com/rgoa and get unlimited access to the most sophisticated online BJJ course. Become a student of Renzo Gracie Online Academy (RGOA). 

Oss!  

Mahamed Aly shows one of his favorite guard passes. Daniel Amaral

Strong and talented, ultra-heavyweight Mahamed Aly was recently victorious at both the European Championship and the Brazilian ADCC Trials. In this video lesson, he teaches one of his favorite guard passes. We named this position “ballerina” because Aly forces the opponent’s legs to split, like the classical ballet dance move, and this way he pins his foe`s hips and keeps him uncomfortable. Pay close attention to add this to your game.

João Miyao has some no-gi tricks up his non-sleeve. Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG

Cícero Costha representative João Miyao continues to wow audiences with his loose BJJ game, whether in gi or no-gi. One example of this happened at the Chicago No-Gi Open early this month.

In the light featherweight final, João faced Alexis Barragan, whom he had beat in the gi earlier. But their no-gi match was tougher, with both athletes moving a lot. In the end João got the best of it as he imposed his strong game both on top and playing guard. Watch them go at it in this video.

Carlson Gracie at his Rio de Janeiro gym. Archives

Carlson Gracie Jr. teaches here, alongside Mauro Ayres, his father’s favorite guard-passing position. Jr. explains that, nowadays, the toreando guard pass is often used on top. Carlson used to use differently, however, as he kept his opponent’s leg flush and used his body weight to pass, often ending up on the back with a clock choke ready to go.

See it in this video.

Be like Rodolfo Vieira and get past terrifying guards like Leandro Lo’s. Carlos Arthur Jr./GRACIEMAG.

As much of a guard player as a BJJ fighter might be, there’s no way around it: Sometime or another, they will have to play on top and be faced with a number of guards and traps designed to send them flying, or at least make it a nightmare to get on the side. But what is the single hardest guard to pass?

The answer is simple: The hardest guard to pass is that which you don’t know. Where you’ve never been. Where you don’t have hours of experience to identify the dangers. With that in mind, Graciemag selected five video lessons about guard-passing — one for each type of guard.

Study and practice them. Let your sparring partner do their best adjustments on the guard they’re doing, and force yourself to beat that guard.

Closed guard – Marcio Feitosa

Open guard – Marco Barbosa

Lasso – Leandro Lo

Half-guard – Rodolfo Vieira

50/50 – Lucas Lepri

In an interview with Graciemag, the black-belt under Gigi Paiva remembered his first title, at the 1999 Worlds, when he faced none other than Zé Mário Sperry in the final.

“A curiosity from the 1999 Worlds is that I was already signed up as a brown-belt. I was going to fight at brown belt. 2 weeks prior I was still a brown-belt. I had never fought a Jiu-Jitsu world championship. Not even as a blue- or brown-belt. And one week prior, Gigi Paiva gave me the black belt. Then the Alliance heads told Gigi Paiva, ‘You’re crazy. Let him fight at brown to score points at weight and absolute at brown. It’s important for us to get points in the end and win the teams’ competition.’ Then Gigi said, ‘No. Leave the boy as a black-belt.'”

Leite went on to compare modern BJJ to the one practiced when he started out.

“In the old days we used to like watching the lightweight fights. They were more dynamic fights that had more positions in them. The game would alternate more. And today you take the lightweight fights, they close the 50/50 guard, staying there for 10 minutes. A boring, monotonous fight that no one likes to watch. 10 minutes of that. And today you take a fight between Buchecha and Rodolfo Vieira; they jump to one side and to the other, they try to finish it off all the time. So I think that’s changed a bit; heavyweight has become more dynamic than lightweight.”

In the interview, which you can watch entirely in the video, Leite also offered advice to new BJJ competitors and taught the guard pass that gave him his first world championship.

Keenan Cornelius is 24 today, February 25.

The Atos JJ black belt is know for one of the most creative games in Jiu-Jitsu today.

Still after his first black belt world title, Cornelius is also one of the most popular athletes out there.

We celebrate Keenan’s birthday with an exclusive video of him teaching a guard pass that starts with a De La Riva sweep.

Click to play.

Michael Liera Jr., now a black belt under André Galvão at Atos JJ, teaches a effective way to break the spider guard and get to side control.

Watch, learn and add to your game.

Black belt and GMA member Samir Chantre has a great way to pass the guard when the opponent has a DLR hook and the other foot on your hip.

Watch the video closely and add this nice technique to your top game.

Know more about Samir at samirchantre.com