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BJJ Study and Statistics Articles

Pass The Guard Like Leo Vieira

Don’t You Wish You Could Pass Like Leo?

By: Tyler Bishop
In 2005, the event that everyone was talking about was Rickson’s Budo Challenge. It was a tournament done in an unusual format, with a unique scoring system that primarily rewarded submission attempts over positioning. Naturally, young up and coming jiu jitsu nerds watched in awe of the likes Leo Vieira effortless passing the guard, but what is most amazing is how impressive this performance remains today.
With the resurgence of submission only BJJ tournaments, many should look at this past event for inspiration. This was not a submission only event, but the rules certainly inspired action. However, I did not write this article to talk about tournament formats, and point-systems. I wrote it to talk about the impressive passing acumen of Leo Vieira in his prime. The reason the rules are important is because they allowed Leo Vieira to cut lose, and the results were down right scary. In his first match Leo Vieira fought Barret Yoshida. Yoshida was well known (and still is) for his dynamic and aggressive guard. In this case, Leo was far more aggressive in his passing. Leo attacked Yoshida’s guard relentlessly. It wasn’t until I finally broke down the film – piece by piece  – that I could finally understand the genius and detail of Leo’s passing style this day.
x-pass leo
Leo’s first pass was a great X-guard pass – in which Yoshida appeared stunned. Leo attacked the sit-up guard by positioning his legs out of reach, attaching his grip to the knee, and his other grip to the collar. Before Yoshida could react, Leo stepped out of range, and onto Yoshida’s stomach. Leo kept both grips, solidified his base through his opponent, and scored his first pass of the day.
leg weave leo
Another one of Leo’s impressive passes that day was from the leg weave position. It seemed to catch Yoshida by surprise. Leo attacked the pass by threading his arm between the legs, stepping his leg out of half guard, then pressuring Yoshida to defend the same side pass. When Yoshida commits to the defense, Leo steps over the legs, and switches his hips while maintaining his leg grip. This allows Leo to establish another effortless looking pass.
grips leo
Finally – one of the most important details I noticed in studying this match from 8 years ago – is the ability of Leo to control space when passing. A large part of this control comes from one specific grip. Leo dominated the grips in this match, and that is why he passed the guard close to 10 times. But, it was the grip shown above that really gave Yoshida the most problems. Many guard passers will control the knees or shins. Leo controlled the very end of the pants, and used this to continually nullify and pass Yoshida’s guard. He was able to setup multiple passes from this grip, and ultimately went on to when the match by double digits.
In this day and age – where the guard player has such an impressive arsenal of attacks, it is good to study someone who has effectively shutdown this time of game before. Sure, guard games are evolving, and there is only one Leo Vieira, but is it possible that we are missing techniques and strategies that could be saving all passers a lot of energy? You tell me. Hopefully this was as helpful and insightful to you, as it was for me. You can watch the entire match of Leo vs. Yoshida below.
God Bless – Tyler
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZdkQ4yHw2o&w=560&h=315]

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BishopBjj News

Jiu Jitsu Rewind: European 2013, WPJJ -SD

Keenan Cornelius and Magid Hage  W/ Sick Moves

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8A6RXBrVhU&w=560&h=315]
By: Tyler Bishop
Poor Miyao brothers. Unfortunately, they are both the source of incredible highlights this weekend. On the bright-side, most of what we are talking about wouldn’t even be a story if they both weren’t held in such high regard. I don’t know what’s more impressive – passing Paulo’s guard, or putting Joao unconscious. Obviously a lot more than this happened at the Euro’s, but these matches got the community buzzing. Another big story coming out of the European Championship is the resurgence of Fernando “Terere”. His comeback was cut short by a DQ in the finals against Claudio Calassans, but that doesn’t make his story any less impressive. His student “FinFou” actually bowed out to him earlier in the competition to give him back a black belt he had once sold him when he was down on his luck. We wish Fernando the best in the future. It is certainly exciting to have him back on the scene.
Also, it’s important to point out that Magid Hage came out of nowhere to win the WPJJ-San Diego trials this weekend. Most people know the likes of Zak Maxwell and Clark Gracie, but this fella came out of left field. And, he found a way to submit  both the aforementioned competitors with a throwback choke from the bottom.
What do you think the stories will be coming from the Pans, WPJJ, and Worlds this year?

Categories
BJJ Study and Statistics Articles

It's Science: Submission Only BJJ

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb6VY3U8S-Y&w=560&h=315]
That’s right, we’re back with a brand new edition of “It’s Science”. In this particular case, we did a small – very limited – sample of the popular new prevalence of submission only jiu jitsu tournaments. We wanted to look at the high level black belts and break down some of the numbers that may go otherwise unnoticed. For this study the only events we looked at were Gracie Worlds 2012 and Metamoris Pro. We only included matches that ended in submission, and tracked only a few stats we thought were significant. The results were very interesting.
We found that even though no points were awarded, that the competitors who accessed the first IBJJF recognized points would win 70% of the time. We also noticed that an overwhelming majority of the submissions were initiated from a top position. This again was very intriguing since a guard pull occurred in 70% of the matches ( with the puller winning on top 5 out of 7 times). Armlocks and chokes accounted for 80% of submissions leaving shoulder locks and leg locks with a measly 20% combined. Finally, in the instances that a takedown did occur, the competitor who scored the takedown won in every observed match.
The raw data is below. We recognize that this is an extremely limited sample. But this does help establish some initial baseline trends that will have to be studied in further detail as more of these events begin to take place. It is also fair to mention that matches included in this study ranged from 140lbs to 220+ lbs.
itsscience

Categories
BJJ Study and Statistics Articles

Pan Championship Competitor Case Study

tbpanstudy - 1
The 2013 jiu jitsu season is finally here. At BishopBjj.com, we want to pick up  were we left off last year. We completed the first 2 scientific case studies of jiu jitsu competition ever, and this year we want to take it a step even further. We are currently seeking 15-20 participants for a IBJJF Pan Championship competitor case study. The study will be used to provide scientific insight into three areas of jiu jitsu competition including: training habits and personal performance, training habits and match outcomes, preparation methodology and overall success. It is imperative for this study that we take a look at all walks of life, so that means white belts, blue belts, purple belts, brown belts, and even black belts are needed.  We are looking for variety from our participants (i.e. different training schedules, part-time athletes, full-time athletes, etc.). We believe that this may be one of the most talked about pieces of media inside of jiu jitsu in 2013 when it is completed.
The criteria to participate in the study is listed below:

  • Must be 100% confident that you will attend and compete in the 2013 IBJJF Pan Championships.
  • Must be willing to complete a quick and easy journal on training habits once a week (provided by BishopBjj.com)
  • Must be willing to provide detailed accounts of your personal performance, match outcomes, and overall successes following the event
  • It would also help if you could provide video of your matches at the 2013 Pan Championships

What you will receive for participation:

  • An advanced copy of the study – which will provide an empirical insight into what competitors habits and outcomes appear to be inter-related.
  • Free training habit journals that can aide in gameplan building and performance tracking.
  • Free early-access to our 2013 Pan and Worlds jiu jitsu studies.
  • National recognition on the award-winning BishopBjj.com

To apply, enter your information below and will get back to you asap:
[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Belt Level’ type=’select’ required=’1′ options=’White,Blue,Purple,Brown,Black’/][contact-field label=’Sex’ type=’select’ options=’Male,Female’/][contact-field label=’Typical Weekly Training Volume’ type=’select’ options=’1-3 times per week,3-5 times per week,5-7 times per week,7+ times per week’/][/contact-form]

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BishopBjj News

2012: A Jiu Jitsu Year In Review

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzIOlzVrhyQ&w=853&h=480]
2012 was a great year for BishopBjj.com because it was our first year in existence, and it would be hard to imagine that it could have gone much better. We’ve had over 100,000 unique visitors since March, and our YouTube account is nearly double that. We can’t wait to see what the New Year brings. Make sure to watch our buddy Phil’s deep thoughts after the video above!
Our studies, research, and unique perspective on jiu jitsu has attracted the attention of some of the people we respect the most in this industry, and for that we are truly humbled. We want to make sure to thank the people that have helped make this site so great this year. Everyone listed below deserves your attention if you love jiu jitsu.
Neocell Sport
– The only reason we can train twice a day everyday is because of NeoCell Sport. We genuinely believe that.
BudoVideos (Budo Jake and Budo Dane)
Science Of Skill
The Jiu Jitsu Lab
BJJ Eastern Europe
Jiu Jitsu Mag
Gracie Humaita St. Louis
Royler Gracie
GracieMag
DSTRYR
Subculture USA