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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.

Plus: Takedowns, Self-Defense, Lifestyle tips, Documentaries, Interviews, etc.

Invest only 9.89 per month on your Jiu-Jitsu and get full access to all the knowledge that forged thousands of champions. Enroll now and join the planet’s most complete and modern online BJJ school.

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.

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In this week of Renzo Gracie Online Academy, you will continue studying the offensive half-guard. André Monteiro teaches a new repertory of attacks so that you can booby-trap the path of the passer. Check out infallible techniques for sweeping, finishing and also to go to your opponent’s back.

Week 9 of Renzo Gracie Online Academy is organized this way:

• Five techniques of attack starting from the half-guard.
• Lifestyle: The habit of giving yourself small rewards will keep you motivated in your training.

Day 1: Monday

Lesson 1: Double attack: choke + arm drag

If your opponent manages to foil your choke attack, then use an arm drag, ending up on their back.

Day 2: Tuesday

Lesson 2: Sweep controlling both legs

One of the recurring paths for an opponent to try to pass your half-guard is by shifting to the inverted half-guard. Check out a valuable technique to block this pass, capturing both of your opponent’s legs and applying a sweep.

Day 3: Wednesday

Lesson 3: Sweep controlling both legs and spinning to the other side

In BJJ, it is very important for you to have a plan B or a plan C in case your initial strategy fails in the middle of a match. It’s what André Monteiro teaches in this video, considering the possibility of his opponent neutralizing a sweep.

Day 4: Thursday

Lesson 4: Sweep with the lapel pulling the knee

Your opponent’s lapel can become an ally when you want to sweep and stabilize the position on top. See how André Monteiro wraps his opponent’s leg with the lapel, obtaining a great support point to unbalance him.

Day 5: Friday

Lesson 5: Sweep with the lapel when your opponent tries to pass by crossing the knee

If your opponent tries to pass your half-guard by crossing their knee, then use their lapel to surprise them. Wrap the passer’s leg with the cloth, break their posture by pulling them by the collar, and project them forward by pushing their body with your knee.

Lesson 6: Lifestyle/ Give yourself little rewards
Staying motivated to train in the long run — it’s one of the biggest challenges a BJJ fighter will come across. Bruno Fernandes offers a great tip to deal with this: give little rewards to yourself after you accomplish a goal, like going to the gym thrice a week for a whole month.

Renzo Gracie Online Academy: Each week a new topic.

Plus: Takedowns, Self-Defense, Lifestyle tips, Documentaries, Interviews, etc.

Invest only 9.89 per month in your Jiu-Jitsu and get full access to all the knowledge that forged thousands of champions. Enroll now and join the planet’s most complete and modern online BJJ school.

Watch the duel to absorb lessons on how to apply pressure and sweep.

In 2011, Marcus Buchecha and Leandro Lo went on a collision course in Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil, at a Jiu-Jitsu contest that granted prizes to the winner. After a battle of sweeps, Buchecha overscored the skinny Lo. Check it out:

Check out how both black belts use their distance and space to sweep, pass, defend and submit. And some other stuff:

Learn with Marcio Feitosa

Tomorrow, Wednesday May 22 you can watch a live webinar with Marcio Feitosa. In case you aren’t aware, he is a three-time world champion who has been competing for over 20 years. He is currently the head instructor of the Gracie Barra headquarters in Irvine, CA where he extends his decades of knowledge that he leaned from Carlos Gracie, Jr. himself.

You can catch Marcio Feitosa teaching live tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. PDT. He will be teaching how to pass guard while avoiding sweeps from your opponent. Don’t miss out on learning from his 4th-degree black belt who has been a pioneer for Jiu-Jitsu and the Gracie Barra team.

You can confirm your spot now by clicking here.

And check out our GOOGLE+ page for more opportunities to learn through webinars in the future.

And check out this video below to see how he is able to use his base and complete a pass in competition: