BJJ Drills for Top and Bottom

Drilling…We might love to hate it, or hate to love it.

Let’s be honest guys, drilling BJJ techniques is not easy. Most of the time, it’s much easier, not to mention more fun, to just roll live with our fellow students.

However, the reality is, we aren’t going to fine tune our BJJ skills with just rolling live all the time. We NEED drilling to be integrated into our training. Drilling our techniques is what sharpens our skills. It helps us make leaps and bounds and progress in our BJJ skills.

Drilling does not have to be boring though. Sure, live rolling is fun because of the spontaneity, the adrenaline rush, and the “off the books” wins and losses, but drilling can be augmented to be just as fulfilling and enjoyable as live rolling.

From what I have seen, most people do not spend enough time drilling. Heck, I am guilty of this myself. Although drilling may not be as fun as rolling live against someone, it’s arguably more beneficial for your BJJ game.

Here is an example of a great drill that we perform at our academy:

One thing to notice:

Notice how this drill is not beneficial for just one player. It is beneficial for both!

Not only does the top guy get to work his side control and his transitions from there, but the bottom guy also gets to work his side control escapes and guard retention abilities. When you bang this drill out for a solid five minutes, it’s not easy at all. (For more of these, check out our youtube channel)

The main idea here is that both the top and bottom players are getting the chance to build solid muscle memory. When it comes time to either transition from or escape from side control in a real tournament match, the muscle memory attained from this drill will instinctively kick in and more likely than not, you will have an advantage because of all the time you spent in either position.

Here is another sweet drill for both the top and bottom player:

This drill involves a little bit less movement, but is equally beneficial.

Most of us have experienced this situation, especially at the lower belts, where you achieve side control, but your opponent is able to drive his knee through the middle and recover the closed guard.

This “re-passing” drill offers a counter to the all too common shrimp to closed guard that we see all the time.

Again, not only is this drill great for the guy on top, but it’s also great for the guy on bottom. The bottom guy definitely takes a beating from this drill, and you would too if you were trying to shrimp and recover closed guard for a solid five minutes against a partner who continues to re-pass your guard.

These drills are just two simple examples of how drilling can drastically affect certain areas and aspects of your BJJ game. Remember that a good drill involves skill building for both players, and that there are many possibilities when it comes to formulating a specific drill.

Try using these drills during an open mat time or whenever you may get the chance. You will be pleased with the long term results, and you will find that drilling can be more exciting than you thought!

-N

Galvao and Rodolfo: Guard Passing Machines

Andre Galvao and Rodolfo Viera are two masters of passing the guard in BJJ competition…

If you take a look at these two BJJ fighters and how they play their games, it’s pretty easy to see that a lot of their success come from their ability to demolish the guards of their opponents.

Sure, there are plenty of guys out there who are great at passing the guard, but Andre Galvao and Rodolfo Viera stand out to say the least.

Galvaos’ Passes:

Watch any of Andres‘ matches, and you can get a pretty good picture of his style of passing.

-He likes to isolate the hips so they are rendered immobile

-He uses a lot of grips on the knees

-He likes to move around and even behind his opponents when he passes

Check out this match between Andre and Clark Gracie. You can see just how strong Andres’ guard passes are, and how much pressure his style of passing can cause. Here it is:

On numerous occasions, he is able to move around Clark Gracies’ legs in order to get the pass. Later on in the match, you can see Andre trying to work in some knee cut passes. The knee cut pass is another favorite of mine. (Check out this article for more details on how to execute it properly)

By watching the match, you can tell that his best guard passes come from pinning the hips and knees, driving weight into his opponent through his head and shoulders, and moving around his opponent. A really heavy, yet mobile passing game, one which I truly admire.

Rodolfo’s Passes:

If you watch some of Rodolfo’s matches, you will see that he too has a menacing guard passing game. Here is a match between him and Victor Estima. Some truly awesome guard passes:

Here are some of Rodolfo’s key techniques:

-He hits many “mid-range” guard passes.

Most BJJ fighters tend to either crowd their opponent and smash them to pass the guard, or play a very distant game in order to close distance fast to pass the guard. Rodolfo is able to pass from the “mid-range” area, which is extremely impressive and displays his immense passing pressure.

-He moves around his opponents to pass.

Just like Andre, Rodolfo likes to play a passing game where his moves around his opponents, not through them. This is not to say that his passing game is strictly moving around his opponents, but if you watch his matches, you can see that he has a ton of success by doing so.

-He passes with his opponents legs facing him

A lot of Rodolfo’s guard passes include a back step, which then leads to him passing the guard while his opponents legs are still facing him. He then drives his knee to his opponents hip to consolidate the pass. Many guys are having success with guard passes that involve facing your opponents hips away (leg drag, double under, etc…), but Rodolfo does the opposite, and looks awesome while doing it.

Both Andre and Rodolfo have their own unique style of passing, and a lot can be learned from watching their matches.

Even if you are much lighter, or even heavier, than both of these fighters, these techniques and guard passes are great to observe and study.

I hope that this article has inclined you to work on your passing game, because you should!

As a treat for you guys, here’s a match between Andre and Rodolfo. I won’t spoil it, but it is one that is definitely worth watching!

Now go pass someone’s guard.

-N