Fernando Tererê celebrates victory. Photo by Jair Lacerda.

A Jiu-Jitsu hero who lost his way some years back, Fernando Augusto “Tererê” made his return to Brazil’s mats after a long layoff when he took on Barbosa Jiu-Jitsu rep Guilherme Carturam in a supermatch at Campeonato Nacional in São Paulo. There, Fernando rediscovered his winning ways in his classic style: hook-sweeping and finishing up with a choke.

In the following conversation with GRACIEMAG.com, Tererê addresses his match against Guilherme, how he came up with the submission, training with Fabio Gurgel, as well as the IBJJF European Championship in Lisbon, Portugal, where he says he will be taking to the mats in competition.

GRACIEMAG? How did the supermatch with Guilherme Carturam go?

FERNANDO TERERÊ: It was a tough one. I’m facing more and more different opponents. That’s a good thing, since I’m getting to test myself. I still respect all my opponents just like I just to; I’m just not fearing any of them.

You managed to win by choke. How did you make it to his back?

Right when the match started I managed to hook sweep him, and right after that I landed in his half-guard. At that moment, I started attacking with a choke from half-guard. With the pressure from the hold, he defended by turning his back to me. So I took his back and finished with a lapel choke. I’d been working on submission adjustments with Victor Genovesi and Elan Santiago so as not to miss any opportunities.

You spent a week training at Alliance São Paulo. How did that go?

It’s always great to catch up with Fabio Gurgel, especially when he takes you aside and puts you through the wringer. I always learn things when I’m around him. Fabio has a lot of wisdom to pass on to those who he likes, and I’m so glad to be one of them.

You’re returning to serious training with the team. How do you see your evolution coming?

I’m managing to evolve thanks to the people I have around me. My family, my trainers, training partners, my sponsor Casca-grossa Fightwear. I’m training really hard, three times a day. I want to be better than I was before–not just at Jiu-Jitsu, but as a person too.

You’ve said you’re going to compete in the adult division at the January 2013 European Open. How are your plans coming along?

Everything’s going great. I’m dedicated to competing in the adult age group, not to belittle the people my age. I spent a long time at the top of the middleweight division; I know there are a lot of great athletes at that weight but I’m fully dedicated to winning gold against them. Who know?

Anderson stacks for the pass during training at Black House academy. Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG.

Few guard passes are as classic and effective as the stack, a technique that even Anderson Silva makes sure to practice, as you can see in the photo above, taken by Gustavo Aragão.

Useful both in and out of the gi, the stack was also used to good effect by Xande Ribeiro in the World No-Gi Championship final against guard-specialist Leandro Lo.

So what do you do when someone pressures you like the aforementioned Xande and Anderson do? Today GRACIEMAG.com has a remedy for this problem for you.

Rule number one in keeping from getting stacked is to keep your hips flush up against the ground.

But how do you do that? Rodrigo Cavaca explains it.

“When your hips are on the mat, the opponent can’t come up with the room he needs. So what I do is sink a grip on each of his sleeves and push backwards so he can’t get his hands together to stack me,” says the coach for team CheckMat.

“When the opponent makes it to a position from which he can stack me, I grab his gi and start shrimping out my hips until I’ve got both feet on the ground. After that, I grab his belt with my left hand. I post on my right hand so I can draw in my hips and sit. I use my left arm to put pressure on the opponent’s shoulder and keep him from posturing up,” says Cavaca.

“I reach my right hand under his arm to grab the lapel on the opposite side. After that, I bring in my right elbow and move out my hip until I’ve got room enough to stick a hook in under his leg. With the hook and my arm holding the belt, I tip him over for the sweep. Then I release the grips and mount,” said the man who gave Marcus Bochecha his black belt in conclusion.

Did you enjoy that? Comment here.

Jean Jacques Machado in ADCC / Photo by Susumu Nagao

One of the attractions on tap for the October 14 Metamoris Pro event in San Diego, California, is the matchup between gentle-art professors Jean Jacques Machado and Nelson Monteiro, the two gentle-art idols from the early days of Jiu-Jitsu in Abu Dhabi facing off in a 20-minute match where only submissions count for the win.

Riding the wave of intrigue surrounding the match where neither points nor advantage points will be scored, the black belt Eddie Bravo, a student of the Machados’ from way back, brought up the way in which his teacher Jean Jacques overcame the lack of fingers on his left hand, living and touching proof of the adaptability so characteristic of Jiu-Jitsu.

“For those who don’t know, my master Jean Jaques Machado has no fingers on his left hand. That’s why his overhook is the best in all of Jiu-Jitsu. No one comes even close to his overhook. If he had fingers, he’d be grabbing the gi just like everyone else. Because he had no fingers he couldn’t grab anyone sleeve; he had to overhook everything. Over the years, he developed an Olympic wrestling overhook,” says Bravo in the following video.

“That’s why in Abu Dhabi, when everyone was trying to figure out what to do with the No-Gi game, we had all these legends in Jiu-Jitsu who were masters of passing guard and finishing, but they didn’t know what to do without the handles, and they were going up against all these wrestlers who were masters of controlling bodies without handles, but they didn’t know how to pass guard or finish. […] epic battles of nothing going on […] a sleeping pill. And then Jean Jaques came along and crushed everybody, finished everybody,” he elaborates.

Take note of the effectiveness of Bravo’s left hand, inspired by Jean Jacques, and watch how he uses it to bring the opponent to him, remove his base and hook sweep in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu.

Rodolfo Vieira tries to pass his rival Bernardo Faria's guard. Photo: GRACIEMAG archives.

USE THE HOOK TO SWEEP IN JIU-JITSU

One of the most powerful weapons of heavyweight kingpin Rodolfo Vieira is his half-guard pass by putting pressure down the middle. It’s so effective, he runs the risk of one of his training partners trying to use it on him. So the thing to do is learn some antidotes from GRACIEMAG, like this sweep sent in by black belt Vinicius Saraiva of Valença, Rio de Janeiro.

Check it out, test it out in training, and comment about it to us to let us know what you think.

Dedé Pederneiras shows the way to surprising guard passers in sport Jiu-Jitsu. Photo: Junior Samurai.

The opponent is pressuring strong and close to passing your guard in a bout of Jiu-Jitsu. What now? What to do? Relax! GRACIEMAG.com’s got you covered. André Pederneiras, widely regarded as the best Brazilian coach in world MMA, shows how to keep from getting flattened out—and even turn the tables on the passer.

TRICK TO CATCHING OPPONENT WHO TURNS ON ALL FOURS

Dedé points out that in performing maneuvers impeding the guard pass, it’s important to have the passer’s arm wrapped up. However, if the opponent is wise to this, he turns on all fours and grabs your leg, so Pederneiras teaches how to catch them by surprise and submit them right quick.