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
Chube Jitsu 