No baú das lutas de hoje, GRACIEMAG relembra a vitória de Mir sobre Antoni Hardonk, no UFC 74, em 2007. O peso pesado finalizou o adversário com uma kimura da meia-guarda.

Relembre e estude!

Bruno Frazatto sinks a triangle at the WPJJC Trials in Gramado in 2012. (Photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG)

The first step to becoming an unpredictable Jiu-Jitsu player is to have a good guard pass and to be complete.

And a complete fighter has to have good submissions, especially good transitions to holds, to not let opponents get too comfortable even when they think they’ve successfully defended an attack.

One such example is the triangle.

When you sink the hold, the opponent’s natural reaction is to counter-attack with lots of pressure, making you decide to replace guard and start all over again. So how about an armbar as plan B?

The opponent withstood the triangle? Turn your hips sideways and dash for the arm, as black belt Dennis Asche teaches us to in today’s video:

Leandro Lo plays guard against JT at the 2011 Brazilian Nationals. (Photo by Gustavo Aragão)

How do you brush up on the art of sweeping? If you leave strengthening your guard only to training with sparring partners, you may be falling behind the competition.

The saying that a belt only serves to hold you pants up doesn’t hold water when you know about a plenty useful position, in case you’ve got time to do some homework or show up a little early for training.

As Steve Austin teaches in the today’s video, it’s a simple exercise. Just stretch the belt out with your feet and work on spider- and de la Riva-guard moves. You can even try it with the berimbolo.

As you can see, there are a thousand ways to work on your Jiu-Jitsu. Invent yours and share it with us here on GRACIEMAG.com.

Lucas Lepri of Alliance celebrating another win (photo by Dan Rod)

There’s no training today, but that doesn’t mean you can’t train your eyes and mind.

To help you in your Jiu-Jitsu studies, GRACIEMAG.com brings you a classic lightweight match that went down at the 2011 Pan.

Lucas Lepri of Alliance got the better of Soul Fighters’ Augusto Tanquinho and then rushed to celebrate closing out the division with his buddy Michael Langhi.

Watch and learn some tricks to sweeping any opponent at all.

Jan Blachowicz has seven submission victories on his ledger. (KSW publicity photo) 

On the coming 16th of March, the MMA promotion known as KSW (Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki) will set up shop in Warsaw, Poland’s Torwar Hall to hold its 22nd event. The big deal this time around, however, is that Jiu-Jitsu is the mainstay of one of the hometown heroes.

Local ace Jan Blachowicz (16w, 3l) is set to do battle in the main event. Though his opponent hasn’t been named yet, he’s good and likely to make whomever it is tap, as he’s riding a four-fight win streak and has seven submission victories to his name.

Another big name on the card is seasoned ADCC competitor Karol “Coco” Bedorf, a Polish black belt.

Check out some of the highlights from the stars on the card in the following video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX60pUQiq0o

Kaue Damasceno celebrates victory. (Photo by Mike Calimbas)

The new generation is coming and already showing what it’s bringing to the table. The latest leg of the WPJJC Trials took place last weekend in San Antonio, Texas, and there a star of this incoming generation was revealed.

Kaue Damasceno, a Nova União brown belt, was the big name of the under-92 kg brown/black belt division, as he beat a game Rodrigo Pinheiro in the final to secure his travel to Abu Dhabi for the main event. The Fábio Andrade student also shone in the absolute, where he stepped aside in the semifinals to let Bruno Bastos go through.

Check out Kaue against Rodrigo Pinheiro in the following video:

Mackenzie Dern celebrates victory. (Photo by Mike Calimbas)

At the WPJJC trials that took place in Texas last weekend, Gracie Humaitá black belt Mackenzie Dern once again showed her collectedness in transitioning between moves and in the final sunk a snug footlock on Gracie Barra’s Fabiana Borges.

Learn how it’s done from Wellington Megaton’s daughter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT0IQIYqXVA

Guilherme Mendes celebrating with his imaginary sword (GRACIEMAG archive photo)

These days, three-time world champion Guilherme Mendes teaches class alongside his brother Rafael in Costa Mesa, California. While training for the 2013 season, Gui Mendes was paid a visit by Luke Rockhold (10w, 1l), the champion of now-defunct MMA promotion Strikeforce, and ended up having a curious and plenty instructive roll.

Note how Luke starts out playing guard and the hipwork he uses to defend the pass.

What do you say, gentle reader? Is there something you learned from this explosive spar between champions of two different styles?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg6a6dJiV5w

A young purple belt with a slick triangle, Hunter Ewald was victorious alongside his father, Bruno, at the Abu Dhabis tryouts. (Photo by Mike Calimba)

Last weekend in Honolulu, Hawaii, another leg of the Abu Dhabi WPJJC Trials went down, and the winner was a veteran surfer who put on a show.

McKinley High School gymnasium hosted over a hundred competitors, all eyeing all-expenses-paid trips to compete in the United Arab Emirates at the main event in April. The standout in the brown/black belt division was Professor Bruno Ewald (Longman Jiu-Jitsu), who won the over-92kg division and the absolute. Bruno also got to see his son, the young purple belt Hunter Ewald, win the under-80 kg division.

After winning two gold medals, Bruno, who is the son of Brazilian economist Luis Carlos Ewald, commented on his hopes in Abu Dhabi.

“I know the main tournament is going to be tougher, but I’m going to show up in my best shape to take on the new generation. I really liked competing at the trials. What motivated me most for this championship was the chance to set an example for my son and students, and to show Jiu-Jitsu’s true essence, using technique against force to test myself in the adult division,” said the 40-year-old Royler Gracie black belt in closing.

Check out the champion teaching two armbar finishes in Hawaii.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vid9wythMeY

Xande Ribeiro avoids the half-guard sweep. (Photo by Alicia Anthony)

In Jiu-Jitsu, when an opponent manages to pry open your guard, he tends to end up in your half-guard, with just one leg between your two. What now? What do you do when he tries clutching your head and squashing his way past?

Your first stance should be to keep him from getting a grip on your lapel, as our GMA Nathan Adamson of Ribeiro Jiu-Jitsu teaches us direct from Seaside, Oregon.

So what do you think? Did the position make your half-guard all the more dangerous? Did it work with your game? Comment below.

Rodolfo secured his place in yet another installment of the Abu Dhabi WPJJC. (Flashport publicity photo)

At the WPJJC Trials in Rio de Janeiro last month, Rodolfo Vieira of GFTeam started out getting set back by a splendid takedown from CheckMat’s Pedro Henrique. The world champion was unflustered by this, of course, and ended up finishing with a choke.

Learn how the current absolute champion of Abu Dhabi does it:

Mathias Ribeiro playing half-guard against DJ Jackson at 2013 European Championship (photo by Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG)

The half-guard is today one of Jiu-Jitsu’s most ambiguous positions. In your opinion, is the one on top in a position of advantage? Or is it the one on bottom, who can take the back or sweep?

While our readers reflect on that, GRACIEMAG.com cuts straight to the lesson of the day, taught by Gracie Barra’s Professor Michael Reihner. To him, being on bottom in half-guard is halfway to winning.

Check out what he can get accomplished from there: