Categories
"It's Science" Videos Live Technique and Perspective Videos

The Open Guard Ecosystem For Jiu Jitsu

It is often said that the guard is the secret to jiu jitsu. Well, often secrets are hard to keep. In the case of the open guard, many of the techniques have extrapolated out over time into incredibly complex systems due to the collective improvement of jiu jitsu over the same span. So where does it end? What has the open guard become, and how should someone navigate it in light of these new evolutions?
Paulo-Miyao
Imagine every jiu jitsu player as a unique jungle. Each jungle has it’s own climate, flora and fauna, and treacherous ends. The open guard has evolved well beyond a set of specific techniques, and is now a lot like the jungle. It is a full-fledged ecosystem consisting of a blend of multiple singular positions. We are all built differently; however, certain elements of the open guard are present in all of us. It is up to each guard player to build their jungle accordingly.
The key is making sure that your ecosystem does not lack a critical component for life. For example, you may have trees, beasts, and a warm climate, but if you don’t have fresh water nothing will survive.  Open guard is a lot like this. If you have developed a strong understanding of spider guard and lasso guard, yet lack competency in de la riva and x-guard you may find your ecosystem insufficient at times. Although it is not required that you be perfect at all forms of open guard, it is necessary to understand the basic components of all positions so that your system can fully-develop.
guardpass6
In fact, the key is not to fully-develop every open guard position; rather it’s most important to understand how to properly return to the positions you are most comfortable with. For example 80% of your open guard may consist of setting up single leg x-guard; however, it may be necessary to use spider guard to set it up, or use de la riva to defend against certain passes. Without this extra 20% your tailor made guard may have difficulty gaining momentum. So what are these key positions to understand (these are the bases – obviously there are a lot variations)?

  • Spider Guard
  • Lasso Guard
  • X-Guard
  • De La Riva Guard
  • Reverse De La Riva
  • Sleeve and Collar Control Guard
  • Situp Guard

The best open guard players typically select one or two of these guards and build close to 80-90% of their open guard game around those specific positions. However, as mentioned above without a full understanding of each position there will likely be some form of deficiency. So which is right for you? What should you build your open guard ecosystem around? Let’s start with a few examples that may help you.

Players with a strong Spider guard ecosystem base:

Michael Langhi
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3UgRERk66c&w=560&h=315]
 

Players with a strong Lasso guard ecosystem base:

Keenan Cornelius
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkTtoCe7Fgk&w=420&h=315]
 

Players with a strong X-Guard  ecosystem base:

Marcelo Garcia (duh)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLQh2aEP93Y&w=560&h=315]
 

Players with a strong De La Riva guard  ecosystem base:

Rafael Mendes
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81rn5hu7asA&w=560&h=315]
 

Players with a strong Reverse De La Riva guard  ecosystem base:

Caio Terra
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCSx1FJFMHk&w=420&h=315]
 

Players with a strong Collar and Sleeve guard  ecosystem base:

Kron Gracie
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-mbhx_Auks&w=560&h=315]
 

Players with a strong Situp guard  ecosystem base:

Ruben “Conbrinha” Charles
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u32CfxW63mE&w=560&h=315]
 

… But as mentioned above, the ecosystem is continuing to evolve. New guard players like Leandro Lo are forcing the community to re-evaluate some of these open guard positions.

Leandro Lo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzDHkoZeO8A&w=560&h=315]

Categories
BishopBjj News

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Bishops…

bishop power couple
http://www.bjjpix.com/index.php/en/11-jiu-jitsu/406-st-louis-s-power-couple-the-bishops
Our friends at BjjPix recently conducted a fun interview with us (link above)  where we discussed everything from how we got started and winning world championships, to who wins when we spar. For those that have enjoyed all the material we have put together, this should provide some insight as to where it all comes from.
Special shout out to Emilio Carrero for doing great work on the interview.

Categories
Guest Article

The Takedown Blue Print

DVD cover with 1 disc
We don’t promote a lot of outside material here, but this new takedown for BJJ series is on another level. It also has some serious credibility behind it.
The Takedown Blue Print is a new series by Olympic Judo medalist  Jimmy Pedro and Olympic team member Travis Stevens.
Whether you are a BJJ practitioner looking to improve your throws or a high level Judo practitoner looking for help from the very best, 4x Olympian Jimmy Pedro – The Best US Judo Competitor ever and 2x Olympian Travis Stevens will show you in tremendous detail how to take your opponent down.”
Throws such as
– Osoto Gari
– Ouchi Gari
– Ippon Seoi Nage
– Drop Seoi Nage
– Sumi Gaeshi
– Foot Sweeps
– Tai Otoshi
In addition, Travis and Jimmy teach you to deal with the most troublesome BJJ competitors including
– Wrestlers
– The guy who grabs double lapels
– the guard puller
It you can’t take your opponent down, you are not a complete grappler and this DVD will help you get there.
Here is a sample technique against a guy who grabs double lapels:  http://www.mediafire.com/download/o1vrruth5yzlc38/Successful_Take_Downs.mp4
People are really liking this throw  by Travis at Copa Podio as well:  http://takedownblueprint.com/semifinal/
We seriously recommend checking it out, and upping your takedown game.