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In another special week of Renzo Gracie Online Academy, Leo Tunico offers several tips for you to fight with the open guard, from both a defensive and an offensive standpoint, with multiple sweeps and one submission.

With firm grips, loose hips, lots of creativity and the entire repertoire of positions taught by Leonardo Tunico, you will be qualified to best even the strongest passers at your gym.

In your lifestyle lesson, catch a powerful motivational speech by judo champion Jimmy Pedro.

This week of Renzo Gracie Online Academy is organized as follows:

• Five open guard techniques.
• One lifestyle lesson.

Day 1: Monday

Lesson 1: Open guard concepts

Learn general notions of positioning and adjustments to safely fight with your guard open. Pay attention to how Tunico breaks his opponent’s posture with the hand on the collar, and also to the way he controls the distance with one foot propped on the passer’s hips, while his other leg makes circular motions to break eventual grips on his pants.

Day 2: Tuesday

Lesson 2: Sweep from spider guard

One way to fight with the open guard, without losing control over your opponent’s movements, is by controlling both their sleeves, using your feet on their biceps. It’s what we call the spider guard. Leo Tunico reveals positioning details for you to accurately execute one of the most basic sweeps from the spider guard.

Day 3: Wednesday

Lesson 3: Triangle from spider guard

Combine two or three attacks in a sequence — that is one of the secrets to making your spider guard truly efficient. In this lesson, Leo Tunico analyzes a common scenario. The guard player tries to sweep the passer, who momentarily gets unbalanced but does not fall. That does not mean the attack was useless, though. Tunico shows that in the middle of the movement, the passer made himself vulnerable to the triangle.

Day 4: Thursday

Lesson 4: Sweep from the sit-up guard

The adjustments of the sit-up guard require you to hug one of the passer’s legs and, if possible, control the sleeve on the opposite side. Pay attention to the stress Leo Tunico places on the need to break your opponent’s posture to be able to sweep them.

Day 5: Friday

Lesson 4: Lifestyle / The art of challenging oneself

Jimmy Pedro says that nothing can stop us but ourselves. In this lesson, he instigates you to leave your comfort zone and strive to realize your dreams. A true push of confidence and positivity to help you pierce the blockade of fear and laziness and go get what’s yours.

Lesson 6: Variation on the sweep from sit-up guard

Tunico shows that when we play the sit-up guard, our opponent tends to use their knee to press our body against the ground. Knowing this, he adds an effective counter-move and ends up on top.

Renzo Gracie Online Academy

In week 8 of Renzo Gracie Online Academy, André Monteiro teaches sweeps and finishes starting from the half-guard, a position many people only work on from a defensive point of view, doing transitions and recoveries. This is a strategic mistake, because the half-guard offers numerous support points, grips and levers for you to surprise passers with unstoppable attacks.

It’s worth noting that many competitors have risen to the top of the IBJJF World Championships with games based on attacks from the half-guard — as is the case of Roberto Gordo, Bernardo Faria and Celsinho Venicius. So get inspired by these great idols of the gentle art and take full advantage of this week-long training plan.

Week 8 of Renzo Gracie Online Academy is put together thusly:

• Five attack techniques starting from the half-guard.
• Kata guruma: Many think that the kata guruma requires power. But Garry St. Leger is here to show you that this mechanic is based on technical refinement and agility.
• Lifestyle: Hobbies can renew your energy and keep you motivated to train jiu-jitsu.

Day 1: Monday

Lesson 1: Sweep from the half-guard with the bridge mechanic

On top on half-guard, your opponent manages to hug your head and impose pressure. It’s an advantageous situation for them, as they can attempt a finish or move to side control. But with a subtle, surprising maneuver, you have a chance to invert the position and get on top.

Day 2: Tuesday

Lesson 2: Back-take from the pummel

Even if your opponent manages to foil the inversion attempt shown in the previous lesson, they will tend to open up space for you to apply the pummel and move to their back.

Day 3: Wednesday

Lesson 3: Use your lapel to go to your opponent’s back

When you’re working with your guard open, it’s recommended to use your flexed leg as a shield controlling the distance in relation to your opponent’s body. With this shield, you can push their torso in order to find space to pummel them and, with the help of the lapel, move to their back.

Lesson 4: Lifestyle – Hobbies

Relaxing activities can renew your energy and motivate you to train. Bruno Fernandes recommends hobbies that are completely unrelated to jiu-jitsu.

Day 4: Thursday

Lesson 5: Sweep when your opponent wraps your pummel with their arm

You pummel your opponent to try and move to their back, but they wrap your pummel with their arm, blocking the path. Understand how you can capitalize on this situation to unbalance them and land on top.

Day 5: Friday

Lesson 6: Choke from the half-guard

On top, your opponent gains the pummel with their right arm and tries to pass your half-guard by progressively spreading their weight. Learn a sneaky, efficient choke to surprise them along the way.

Lesson 7: Kata guruma

Many think that the kata guruma requires power. But Garry St. Leger is here to show you that this mechanic is based on technical refinement and agility.

Renzo Gracie Online Academy: Each week a new topic.

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You may have seen here at Graciemag.com videos of BJJ stars using the butterfly guard to take down big tournaments. It’s been done by Fernando Tererê, Vitor Shaolin, Marcelo Garcia, Renzo Gracie and others.

Very versatile and efficient, the butterfly guard frightens many passers — even experienced ones — who don’t quite know how to get rid of the position’s specific controls. But instructor Shawn Williams has you covered.

In a series of lessons produced exclusively for Renzo Gracie Online Academy, Shawn examines multiple techniques to help you catch that butterfly. One of them is this smash pass:

Shawn proposes the following for when the guard player intercepts and wins the double underhook:

In your lifestyle lesson, Sylvio Behring shares a way to control a would-be aggressor without ever touching them:

Don’t waste any more time.

Go to www.gallerr.com/rgoa and enroll in RGOA.

Oss!

Você já deve ter visto aqui, no GRACIEMAG.com, vídeos de grandes astros do Jiu-Jitsu utilizando as técnicas da guarda borboleta, para se consagrar nos principais campeonatos de Jiu-Jitsu. É o caso de Fernando Tererê, Vitor Shaolin, Marcelo Garcia, Renzo Gracie, entre outros ídolos.

Muito versátil e eficiente, a guarda borboleta apavora muitos passadores, alguns até tarimbados, que não sabem muito bem como se livrar dos domínios específicos da posição. O professor Shawn Williams, no entanto, tem o antídoto.

Numa série de aulas produzidas com exclusividade para a Renzo Gracie Online Academy, Shawn examina diversas técnicas para você transpor a guarda borboleta, como é o caso desta passagem amassando.

Caso o guardeiro se antecipe e ganhe as esgrimas com os dois braços, Shawn também tem a solução, veja:

Na aula sobre qualidade de vida, Sylvio Behring revela estratégias para você controlar um possível agressor, sem ter que desferir nem um golpe sequer.

Não perca mais tempo.

Acesse agora mesmo o site www.gallerr.com/rgoa e torne-se aluno do curso de Jiu-Jitsu mais sofisticado da internet. 

Oss!

Continuing with the theme studied last week, Renzo Gracie and Leo Tunico teach fundamental techniques starting from the open guard, further widening your range of options so you never again have to feel unsafe when your opponent opens your guard. You will learn that the space and mobility your opponent has when they open your guard can be used against them, as if the guard player were throwing bait to attract the passer toward devilish traps. In your lifestyle lesson, check out the testimonial by Olympic judoka Travis Stevens, who shows how you can benefit from the winning mindset of a high-performance athlete.

This week of Renzo Gracie Online Academy is organized as follows:

• Seven lessons about open guard techniques.
• One lifestyle lesson.

Day 1: Monday

Lesson 1: Back-take via collar drag

When your opponent opens your guard and bullfights in search of side control, you can control their collar, thus controlling their moves and attacking too. It’s what Renzo Gracie teaches in this special lesson about the open guard, shifting between chokes and collar drags. Note that it’s important for you to place yourself sideways at all times, providing your hips with mobility and also widening the angle that will make your collar pull extra powerful.

Lesson 2: Sit-up guard controlling the near sleeve

As you hug your opponent’s leg in order to play sit-up guard, you have multiple options to grip the passer’s gi: lapel, belt, sleeve on the opposite side, or the sleeve closest to you (same side as the leg you’re controlling). Tunico demonstrates a sweep that uses this last type of grip. Pay attention to the details of Tunico’s spin designed to unbalance his opponent.

Day 2: Tuesday

Lesson 3: Choke from the open guard

Renzo Gracie shows how the cross collar is a very effective support point for you to stay protected with your guard open. Note that Renzo uses the grip on it as a sort of shield, controlling the distance in relation to the passer’s body in a dynamic way. The second his opponent approaches more than necessary, Renzo grips his jacket with the other hand and squeezes. Pay attention to how Renzo gets his opponent’s neck close to his stomach. If the passer moves away rather than closer, Renzo uses the collar control to pull abruptly and then move to the back.

Lesson 4: Sit-up guard to single-leg

Leo Tunico draws attention to the possibility that your opponent may break your grips the moment you arrive on the sit-up guard. In this case, a great option is to move to the single-leg. Pay attention to the positioning details so that you can stand, and don’t forget to use your shoulder to take your opponent down.

Day 3: Wednesday

Lesson 5: Tripod sweep

Leo Tunico teaches one of the most basic sweeps from the open guard — one that is recommended for when your opponent tries to pass your guard standing. One hand controls the sleeve; the other controls the heel. One leg hooks the opponent’s free leg while the guard player pushes the passer’s hips with their other foot. After he fells his opponent, pay attention to the details that Tunico teaches for you to easily get on top.

Day 4: Thursday

Lesson 6: Lasso defense

One option you have to play with the open guard is the lasso guard. Leo Tunico tackles the defensive aspects of this position, revealing tricks for you to wrap one of your opponent’s arms with your leg and contain their passing attempts. Pay attention to the way Tunico grips his opponent’s sleeve.

Day 5: Friday

Lesson 7: Lasso sweep

Leo Tunico analyzes the lasso guard from an attacking perspective. When his opponent tries to get to side control without getting rid of the leg that’s wrapping his arm, he becomes extremely vulnerable to getting swept to the opposite side he’s attacking. Tunico draws attention to the importance of not losing the grip on the sleeve, among other details.

Lesson 8: Lifestyle/ Competition

Travis Stevens believes the training plan of a high-performance athlete can be applied to the life of anybody faced with a challenging goal. In this lesson, Travis draws attention to the fact that you need a clear, realistic vision of who you are and what your true potential is at each stage of your journey.

Renzo Gracie Online Academy

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The black belt from Gracie Barra faced Joshua Hinger, Atos, and invested all in the collar to get a choke from the mount. Check it out:

Bruno Frazatto attacking from back control in sport Jiu-Jitsu / Photo de Ivan Trindade

If you’re into mixing it up in competition, it’s worth keeping in mind that getting back mount is worth four points in sport Jiu-Jitsu—that is, when an athlete puts both hooks in at the opponent’s thights after gaining back control.

The basic escape for this recurring technique is well known. You have to protect your neck, bridge backwards and remove one of the hooks, slipping your hip out to the side where the hook was removed.

What about when it goes wrong?

GRACIEMAG.com took the back of three wizards of the gi, who were swift in intercepting the attack, and they asserted: nothing is more vital than to defend the neck with care.

Check out how they go about doing that:

1. SIMULTANEOUS MOVES ARE A SALVATION IN JIU-JITSU

“My pointer for you,” Vinicius Cruz (Carlson Gracie) begins, “is to move your arm, the arm of the hand on the side of the hand holding your collar for the choke, to the other side of the neck. At the same time, you need to remove the hook with your other hand, keeping in mind that you have to bare the weight of your hip down on the opponent’s leg, and creep your back out to the side.”

2. EVEN WHEN DEFENDING, MAKE YOUR OPPONENT UNCOMFORTABLE

“The important thing is to cause your opponent discomfort by baring your weight back on him, never letting him feel at ease. And defend your neck the whole time. Then it’s all about getting one of the hooks out and trying to flounder out,” recommends Thiago Maia (SAS-Ceará).

3. DON’T TURN YOUR NECK IN AGAINST THE LAPEL

To wrap up, Abraão Amorim (Evolution) put together a video showing how he escapes back control. He recommends never turning your neck towards the lapel pressing against it, and shows a hip move often used by Kron Gracie.

Both fighters put on a great performance in this electrifying battle, but Nick Diaz ended up taking advantage of his Jiu-Jitsu and finished the opponent in a gogoplata, choke from the guard. Check it out:

Nick Diaz will fight again this Saturday, January 31st, at UFC 183 in Las Vegas facing the Brazilian phenom Anderson Silva who is coming back from a injury (broken leg) and two losses against the current UFC Middleweight champion, Chris Weidman.

In the video below, learn 64 skillful leglocks applied in real fighting situations. Enjoy getting precious details. But remember: the leglock is only allowed in competitions from brown belts and up.

Leandro Lo against Otavio Sousa in the World’s middleweight final. Photo: Ivan Trindade / GRACIEMAG

In 2014, Jiu-Jitsu shook the world. The star players of the gentle art flashed during the entire season, from January to December – both men and women. This Dec. 26, GRACIEMAG presents you with a technical retrospective of competitive Jiu-Jitsu with five of the most striking techniques of 2014.

And you, dear reader, remember another great movement or submission? Share it here.

1. Buchecha’s single-leg over Rodolfo Vieira in the World’s absolute final

2. “The sweeper spin” by Leandro Lo against Otavio Sousa in the World’s middleweight final

3. Bia Mesquita’s legdrag over Nicolini in the World’s absolute final

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvjzDeTtuNo

4. Felipe Pena’s sweep against André Galvão at the World’s heavyweight final

5. Michelle Nicolini’s armbar in the featherweight final at the Worlds 2014

Bernardo Faria comemora. Foto: Ivan Trindade/GRACIEMAG

On Sunday, the two times world champion Bernardo Faria confirmed his favoritism in the ultra heavyweight division at Pro League in 2014, a professional league organized by IBJJF, and got the prize of $5000 in Long Beach, California.

In the final match, against the dangerous Luiz Panza (Checkmate), the Alliance black belt won with a choke from the back. Before the final, Bernardo Faria also submitted Gustavo Pires (GB) with a triangle.

In an interview with GRACIEMAG, Bernardo listed what he learned in Long Beach and commented the frenetic pace of submissions in the IBJJ Pro League.

GRACIEMAG: You seemed more aggressive, perhaps more confident in Long Beach. Was it a new Bernardo?

BERNARDO FARIA: I was very pleased with my performance and thank God I managed to win. But I do not think that was a new Bernardo. I’ve been managing to win my fights by submission, I remember the last World Championship I fought eight matches and finished four with a submission. In the last year’s World Championship, if I’m not mistaken, I submitted five; including, one of them was Panza. In this level is often not easy to submit, but I’m always trying. I believe my performance in the Pro League passed this impression because there were only two fights, there is this image of 100% of submissions, but only two happened [laughs]. I think I used the game that I always tend to do; I pulled half guard and started the fight there. Against Panza, we pulled guard together and I decided to go up because I do not like wasting too much time disputing who gets underneath. So I got on top soon.

In the 2014 Pan, he managed to get your arm. So, how was your head before the fight in the Pro League?

I got in even more focused because he had already won our last match. But it actually does not change much, because I know that every day is a new day, every fight is a new fight, and even if you’ve already beaten someone ten times, does not mean you will win eleven. So, we have to respect our opponent, regardless of what is in the past. Everyone when it comes to fighting is liable to win or lose, no matter who is the opponent.

What is that choke detail you used against Panza?

He is a very dangerous athlete, and I’ve been watching his fights since last year. I walked quite prepared for what he could do and thank God it worked. I tried to put my game and do my positions, yet Panza still managed to get me in some positions. I was calm and kept the pace, then waited for the right time to attack. Once I got to the side mount, I couldn’t lose anymore. I was progressing to the back and got the choke. In the back, I tried to stay calm and be tight, waiting for the right time when he opened his neck and I could snap the choke. It was hard but it worked.

The Jiu-Jitsu circuit has been losing a lot of fighters to MMA. Do you think the IBJJF Pro League brings more value to you?

I hope so. Finally they implemented this idea and I hope it keeps evolving with the proposal to reward athletes financially. I’m hoping that next year, for example, instead of four championships in this model, they do one every month. And, that they increase the prizes value even more each time ​​to pay the athletes because we deserve it. And, then who knows they decide to start giving reward at the Worlds? It is hard to see athletes from other sports dedicating themselves as much as we do, so I feel we deserve to be rewarded more than anyone.

Using the opponent’s strength and momentum, the athlete in the blue Gi places his foot on hip and instead of pulling guard he applies a Tomoe Nage.

Right after his opponent hits the ground, he attacks the arm and submits. Check it out!