BJJ Specific training is great for improvement


I love specific training for BJJ and I see it as the key for improvement. I am going to tell you what I do to make the most out of my training session by improving quality when increase quantity is not possible.

### Disclosure:

- what you’ll read here is my opinion based on my knowledge of the time of writing.
- you should always try things yourself and come up with your conclusions.

## My background in sports and BJJ start

I started BJJ in Late 2013, immediately after the end of the soccer season. I also did Muay Thai, kickboxing, and Boxing in 2012/2013, at the same time as soccer. Before martial arts, I played soccer my whole life, since I started to walk. When I started on BJJ, the most transferable soccer skills I brought across was the **specific training system**.

In soccer, you don’t play a full pitch match every training session. Most of the training sessions are small segments of the game or specific situations. Here are some examples: drill short passes, penalty kicks, crossing drills, corner kicks, high ball control, ball shielding for 1 minute, short pitch games with two touches allowed. Maybe once a week have a game in a full pitch, 11 on each side.

My favorite soccer drill was to take on one defender, dribble and shoot to the goal. I repeated this so many times and was able to perform the same moves naturally during the matches.

## The BJJ training in almost every academy

In most academies, you do 10–15 minutes warm up, drill some passing guard, or something equivalent. Then the instructor shows a position and one variation. Let’s take the Lasso guard sweeps for example. The instructor definitely shows you how to get to the Lasso guard — it can be a challenge sometimes to get to your desired guard. After that, you do the famous “two each side guys”, with or without a Brazilian accent. The last thing is the fun part: sparring! Probably the reason everyone is there for!

**Here is a question for you:**

During real-time sparring, how many times are you able to perform the two Lasso sweeps you drilled at the class minutes before?

If your answer is zero or near this number, I am going to tell you what I do.

This is why I believe if you do real-time drills, starting with the Lasso guard, sweeps are limited to the two you have just learned, you’ll become better for sure.

Some could say in a real fight, you need to get into the Lasso first. Sometimes this is the hardest part. Well, let's drill this specific part too. You could drill pull open guard and your goal is to get into Lasso guard no matter what. The goal of your training partner is you to prevent you from getting into the Lasso guard. If you achieve your goal, **you win!** Then start again from standing position, pull guard. Repeat 100 times.

We had similar drills in our competition class. On a regular basis, you may not have time to practice this during class. That’s where your friends come in handy.

I used to catch up with my friend **Yuri Marques**, go to an academy with mats available, and do those drills. Sometimes, we drilled for 4 hours in one day. Yuri introduced me to jiu-jitsu and I am going to write another post about that in the future.

## Let’s go to specifics

We have a competition class every Tuesday. Sometimes we do short and specific training. For example, 1–2 minutes in a position, if you escape, you go back to the starting point. It could be passing guard only, start on guard 50/50 and get out, start inclosed guard with a broken posture. Your goal is to restore posture, stand up and open the guard. Another good drill is to start from the back and escape while the partner tries to submit. There are so many different possibilities. This is definitely the best way to develop in my opinion.

You don’t have this kind of specific train session every week. So how can you make that happen for you?

## Training smart

I usually have two priorities:

1- practice what the instructor showed that class of what he/she is showing that week (Not that cool flying berimbolo you saw on Youtube).

2- execute my training plan. I always have a training plan. I know exactly what I am going to work on that day or week. During warm-up, I look around and select in my mind all my sparring partners. I usually experiment with lots of techniques. For example, I am currently working on passing guard and control the hips. I select some flexible white or blue belt with a very good guard and spend 5 minutes trying to pass the legs and control the hips. If I achieve my objective I win, otherwise, I lose (lose precious time). I allow a guard recovery and go back to my specific asap! There are only 5 minutes! I keep repeating the same thing and don’t need to tell anyone I am doing specific training.

### How white belts are helpful for your development

You drilled the insane “two each side” with a dead dummy. Now it’s time to do sparring. Make your training with white belts specific. You’ll surely be able to get to the Lasso guard and practice control first. Once you can get to the Lasso and control, you can try with the ones on your level (purple belts in my case).

Something I do offer is to find out what are my training partners' strengths. We had one blue belt Per L which had the impassable flexible guard game. Not enough, he started to play worm guard. That was awesome to see someone starting on BJJ over 40 and demonstrate outstanding skills in less than 2 years of training. As you might already guess, my training sessions with him was simply put me into his worm guard and try to pass. It was getting harder and harder to get side control. I had to revisit my goal. My new goal was to break or get out of this worm guard. If I achieve that, I go back to the worm guard until the roll ends. This is how I make my training specific and **don’t need to tell** my training partner what I am doing.

## Summary

You should always practice what your instructor is showing. It is also very beneficial to put some structure on your training. You should identify areas you to improve. Eventually, you should train your full game or train like a competition where you control and progress positions. Remember training is a place to get better, not to win or lose.

## Call to Action

Talking about a gameplan, go ahead to [check out the BJJ flowchart online tool](https://bjjnerd.vercel.app/flowcharts). You can build your gameplan like a flowchart, add details to positions, and links to videos.


Common dangerous situations in Brazilian jiu-jitsu




We have our 9-to-5 job and have BJJ as a hobby.
At the same time, we want to train hard and have longevity.
Most people quit BJJ because of injuries. They can be avoided if you recognize and familiarize yourself with the situations.

Some of these dangerous moves are illegal according to the IBJJF rules. Some are allowed in other tournament organizations. Don't expect your opponents to know and follow the rules. Never put your safety in someone else's hands. It is not worth the risk. You may win by disqualification and may not train for a while.

It's better to do everything you can to prevent the consequences of any dangerous situation.

### Situation & mistakes

#### Straight Foot lock
You turn to the wrong side. You should only turn to the side of the attacked foot, not to the other side.

#### Straight Foot lock turns into an Aoki Lock
This happens when the heel slips inside the rib cage. As a result, there is an inwards knee rotation just like an inside heel hook.
Aoki lock is disallowed by IBJJF GI and allowed in NOGI brown and black adults.
Consider tapping when you find yourself in a situation like that.

#### Takedowns

Several people get injured with takedowns. Don't try to stop the takedown with your arms. You should do a break fall. Make sure your chin is against your chest to prevent a whiplash effect.
Be careful with scissors takedown. They apply sideways force on your knees. They usually come when the opponent is defending a single-leg.

#### Knee on belly
Beginners would use both arms to escape the knee ride. You may be able to escape but you are leaving your floating ribs exposed. During training, unfortunately, some higher belts may use the knee ride as a form of punishment. They would stay there for a long time just to prove a point. Most of the time, to tell you that you are using too much strength. I am not saying I agree or disagree but that's the reality I've seen over the years.
Don't try to push their knee or do a powerful bridge and forget that the knee is right on your floating ribs.
It's your job to protect your floating ribs.

#### North/south Kimura

This is usually a quick move and can hurt the shoulder before you have time to tap. You would be usually holding the belt or the pants. Your opponent would rip the arm and perform the shoulder lock quickly.

#### Getting stacked

It can happen with double-under or single-arm-under passes, also triangles. Be ready to do a back roll over your shoulder - never over your head.

#### Standing Guillotine

Your opponent is not allowed to throw you to the side of your head (IBJJF rules). Again, don't expect people to follow the rules.

#### Ear injury

Some would not consider this an injury but I do. It keeps you away from training for up to two weeks. Most of us have plenty of professional reasons to not desire a cauliflower ear.
However, I understand that's part of doing BJJ. Ear damage can be minimized when you use the correct escape techniques.

It usually happens when you try to escape a triangle or guillotine by pulling the head out using strength.

#### Slam

It can happen in closed guard, back control, or triangle. The easiest thing is to let it go. It is not worth the risk. If you really want to get the tap for a triangle, try to hold the opposite leg so your opponent can't stand up for the slam.


#### Jumping guard

This technique is allowed for blue belts and above (IBJJF rules). When you start to roll standing, make sure you have your knees always slightly bent to prevent overextension.

#### Knee reaping

When someone knee reaps you, don't try to fight back against the reap. You are going to hurt your knee.
You should be able to identify the position and decide what to do, including tapping.

If you practice NOGI, knee reaping is a lot more common these days as Grappling has become more and more popular.

For GI practitioners, you should understand and know how to be safe inside the position.

Notice that knee reaping is not necessarily prohibited. It's ok to reap as long as the foot is free.
My goal here is not to explain the knee-reaping rules but to bring to your awareness the potential dangers of the position.

Knee reaping is a legit way to get a sweep or a submission on the non-reaping foot.


#### Heel Hooks, kneebar, Aoki lock, and Toe Holds

Apart from the straight foot lock, all other leg attacks are not allowed until the brown belt.
However, if you find yourself on the receiving end of any of these leg attacks, consider tapping.

Most of the leg injuries happen when the person is not familiar with the position. Sometimes they wait for the pain to tap.
Unfortunately, for some leg submissions, when you have pain your ligaments are already ripped.

I recommend training leg locks from the early stages of your BJJ journey so you get familiar with the position.
You should be able to identify the potential submission and refrain from doing any "intuitive" moves.
You could do the proper escape or just know the time to tap. This awareness comes with training and feeling the position with reliable training partners.


#### Passing the half-guard lockdown

The lockdown puts rotation pressure on your knees. You should identify and respect the position. Don't try to pass using strength or intuitive movements.
You are going to hurt your knee.
The worth-case scenario is to accept the sweep and figure out later a way to counter the lockdown.

### Tournament Rules

You are probably thinking you never going to compete on ADCC so I don't need to care about it.
Well, don't forget people watch these Grappling tournaments. They may try the moves with you.

* [IBJJF rules guide](https://ibjjf.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBc0lDIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--885bb86850aeab00dad812b0ec9d8dd81af42627/RULES%20UPDATE%20GUIDE-%202021%20ENGLISH%20-%20Google%20Docs.pdf)
* [Grappling industries rule set (Refer to "ALLOWABLE TECHNIQUES")](https://grapplingindustries.com/rules/)
* [ADCC)](https://adcombat.com/adcc-rules-regulations/)



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*Don't put your safety in someone else's hands.*

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Green Raw Juice: The secret to great health


You are what you eat. Food is your medicine. I am going to show you how I make my Green Raw Juice. It has changed my life forever. When you go natural, you can't get wrong.

## Why Did I start

I had a severe neck injury in 2012. I've never felt so much pain. I lost movements of one arm. I had nerve pain 24h a day. A housemate recommended me this book:
How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy, by Paul Chek: https://www.amazon.com.au/How-Eat-Move-Be-Healthy/dp/1583870121

This book changed my mind about holistic health. One of the recommendations of this book is raw organic food.
I tried an organic diet for a few weeks and felt great. One of the additions was the Green Raw Juice.

## The juice

I drink the Raw Juice in the morning as soon as I wake up. I've made it part of my routine. The process will be slow at the beginning but you'll get faster over time.

I'll split the ingredients into 4 groups to make it easier to understand

### 1. Vegetables

Here is the list of raw vegetables. I prioritize the ones I wouldn't eat raw, for example, broccoli and beetroot.

- Spinach, kale, broccoli, beetroot, celery, parsley, zucchini, cucumber, coriander, etc.

### 2. Fruit
- Apple, pear, grapes, mangoes, pineapple, watermelon, etc.

### 3. Fiber
- Flaxseeds, linseeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, LSA, Psyllium Husk

### 4. Top-ups
- Ginger, Turmeric,
- Mint, Basil

## How to prepare

A Nutribullet or good quality blender makes the drinking experience pleasant. Alternatively, you could use any blender but you will need to use a fabric strainer to extract the liquid. Note: I've seen people grating the vegetables and squashing by hand to make the juice. This process is great when you have no electricity available, for example.

- Pick one or more vegetables, fill up about 40% of the Nutribullet cup.
- Pick one or more fruits, add 40% of the cup.
- Choose only one Fiber at a time.
- Choose only one Top-up at a time. If you add Turmeric, go ahead and add a bit of black pepper.
- Add water up to the limit mark

Try different vegetable/fruit ratios. You'll find what works best for you. Don't fool yourself by adding 95% fruit and 5% vegetable. There is no shortcut.
If you've never done it, try this combo to start simple: Spinach, apple, any fiber, any top-up.

I don't mind if the juice taste is unpleasant. It increases my sense of accomplishment. Go for the health benefit, not for the taste. Find what works best for you.
Some people put the juice through a strainer. It dramatically improves the taste but most of the fiber goes to waste.

## Pro tips
- Do not drink coffee or any other acidity food within 45 minutes after the raw juice.
- Be generous with Ginger and Turmeric. Remember that great health saves you a lot of money in the long run.
- Psyllium Husk expands its size when mixed with water, which makes you full.
- Rotate the Fiber so that your guts don't get used to only one type.
- Add spinach with and a bit of citrus fruit to increase the iron absorption.
- Mangoes can disguise any taste vegetable, including broccoli.
- Sprout the seeds. I've recently started to sprout the seeds. I soak them for 8 hours and drain for another 8 hours.

## Raw food or traditional medicine?

Those days, people search for a miraculous pill for a quick fix.
Doctors prescribe medicine but they won't address your lifestyle. You are in control of your choices.
You should see the Green Juice, or raw food, as a foundation, not as a replacement for traditional medicines.
Take a holistic approach towards your health. You'll notice you need to visit doctors less frequently over time.

## Take away

Sometimes it takes us a huge trauma to change our mindset. However, the alternative options should be the first option to start.
I've been drinking the Raw Juice for over the last 8 years. I don't drink just juice. I drink confidence every day. I feel invincible.
I haven't been sick for over 8 years.

![](/images/blog/raw-green-juice/spinach_broc.jpg)
Raw juice in action

So, tell me which kind of Green juice do you make?


How to improve your BJJ training with lower belts


Everybody thinks you need many higher belts in your gym to become better in BJJ. While it may be great to have many purple, brown, and black belts in your gym, not everyone would have this luxury. If this is your case, read on.

This was also the case of Rafael Lovato Jr. Here are some of his best tricks to improve your jiu-jitsu training with lower belts. Here is what he has to say:

- You are only allowed to submit lower belts from mount or back position. This makes you learn control while lower belts learn to escape and survive.
- Take notes from a training session, ask someone questions if you couldn’t deal with a guard situation. Look back in the future to compare to what you are currently doing.
- Have goals for the week, month. Plan sweeps or submissions you are going to do this week.
- Look back for reasons you lose a position in the competition. Analyze videos and try to figure it out yourself.

Here is his full video from Rafael Lovato Jr:

[![](http://img.youtube.com/vi/56mS3ve6-7k/0.jpg)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56mS3ve6-7k 'Rafael Lovato Jr Interview - How I Developed My Jiu-Jitsu in Isolation')

## My additional tricks to improve with lower belts:

- Don’t tap them out too fast. Why? You will have to start the sparring again. I know is it tempting but don’t do it.
- Catch them on second or third chained submission. Even if you have an armbar, allow them to defend, switch to omoplata, allow them to lift their head a bit, then finish with a triangle. Take the same approach to any other sequence.
- Spend a lot of time with only one sub or position. When I was [preparing for the worlds](/blog/post/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master), I trained triangle from the guard for months. I started with white belts. Get the triangle, cross the legs, control the posture but NO squeeze at all. I used to spend almost a full 5 minutes rolling session just doing that. I experienced several types of reactions people could have. This made me learn multiple counters as well as being comfortable getting stacked. It will feel like drilling but with a live person reacting. This is in my opinion the best way to learn combined with [specific training](/blog/post/bjj-specific-training-is-great-for-improvement).
- Repetitions. See how Judo people train. They repeat thousands of times one move. See what you can learn from other martial arts and sports. Repeat with no resistance just for muscle memory but you really need live sparing with minimal resistance. That’s why late white belts and early blue belts are very important for learning.

## Summary

You can improve the quality of your training sessions in a way that you and the lower belts learn together. Sometimes is not about training more but training smarter. I’ll be writing more about improving the quality of your training session. Stay tuned!

Osssssss!

Leonardo Correa


My approach to teaching Brazilian jiu-jitsu by using the ecological approach and constraint-led approach


Ecological approach and constraint-led approach (CLA) are not new to sports. In soccer, I am glad I lived long enough to see the old obsolete ways of training and survived to enjoy more effective ways to train. However, Ecological or CLA is new to BJJ. In BJJ, imperative and non-transferable warm-ups and drills had been the only way we were "forced" to train. A common misconception is that CLA is hands-off and less work for the coach. I'll show you it's the opposite. It takes a lot more effort to plan and coach in this new style.

Here is an example of how I facilitate (not teach) two different classes on different days so you have an idea of my approach using constraints, narrowing solution search space, and allowing plenty of exploration.


## Class 1 - Learn ways to open closed guard in NOGI

Before getting into the main goal of the class, I start with a quick game to warm up:


Warm-up game: Guard retention. The guard player can't grab. Can only frame and pummel the legs to recover guard. The top player tries to pass. A top player can't use a pressure pass.

Intention for the bottom player: keep the top player in sight in front of you between your legs and use your legs and arms to prevent the top player from reaching side-control.

Intention for the top player: Try to pass the legs and reach the chest-to-chest position or create an elbow-knee disconnection (I know this last item is an outcome of passing the guard but I sometimes provide it as a cue).

The game is continuous for both players, and there is no way to win.

My intentions and expected behavior with the warm-up game (not verbally mentioned):
- Warm up the neck, hips, and core for the bottom player
- Bring cardio up for both players
- Constraints are there to encourage the top player to use passing methods that require lots of mobility, such as outside-the-leg passing.

### Game 1: Open NOGI closed guard

The bottom player starts with the guard closed. The top player starts with one arm grip and a vertical posture. I do warn about the possibility of lower back injuries if they try to lift the bottom player and leave their knees outside of the bottom player's hips. I verbalize it and keep watching out all the time.

Intention for the bottom player: Off-balance, sweep. Conditioned situation: The bottom player is winning by two points and there is one minute left in the match. This encourages the bottom player to keep closed guard.

Intention for the top player: explore ways to open the bottom player's legs, don't get caught up on submissions or sweeps

#### My observations
- Top players make mistakes such as standing with both feet near the bottom player's hips. Usually, the bottom player grabs both feet and gets a sweep.
- Top players "forget" good posture and get stuck inside a triangle
- Top players "forget" to frame allowing the bottom player to do a sit-up and reach double under like a Koala bear. Then the bottom player releases the legs and switches to a double-leg takedown

The class lasts for 75 minutes. We do free sparing for the last 25 minutes.


***


## Class 2 - Pass the guard from the chest-to-chest half-guard position (Another class, another day...)

Warm-up game: Manage distance from the guard and keep the head safe. The bottom player needs to use their legs to keep the distance and prevent the top player from touching or smack your head.

Intention for the bottom player: Manage distance and keep your head safe from punches.

Intention for the top player: Try to close the distance to smack the head.


### Game 1: Try to pass the half-guard with head and top shoulder control

Intention for the bottom player: Recover full guard and reclaim inside hands and leg positions.

Intention for the top player: Use the starting grip to pass the guard to side-control, mount, or take the back.


I've run these games multiple times. I really wanted them to work on the high tripod passing style. So I added a new constraint: It can only pass straight to mount. I intended to encourage or limit their possibilities where the only viable solution within this constraint is to use a Tripod passing style. Then during their exploration, they will learn that they must elevate their hips and use the secondary leg to increase the chances of passing straight to mount as well as keeping a really good pin on the upper body. This is just one example where I manipulate the constraints in order to achieve or extract a desired behavior from the players.


### Game 2: the same as game one but with double-under

Sometimes I start with the double-under so they know that's a good grip they should search for.


## My style:

- I usually give a good starting position or a good starting grip.
- I like giving one person a full round to continuously explore the position instead of changing the top/bottom. So I like one person performing or exploring for the whole round. Then we switch.
- I allow lots of explorations but my games start from a more specific or narrow position.
- I am still learning. I am continuously updating my methods based on what I learn or the class feedback. Now I finally understand what **[Greg Sounders](https://www.instagram.com/gdsouders/)** means when he mentions that his games are relative to his training room. In our gym, people want to do at least 25 minutes of free sparring. They also don't like too short games. I felt like I had to adapt games from 2 minutes to 5. So we have fewer games but with longer and continuous focus.


## Common misconception about the ecological approach

A common misconception about the ecological approach is that coaches let the students figure out everything. In this case, a mistake is to think I would say: "OK, get into a closed guard on your knees. Now go ahead and figure out how to open this guard.".

Another common misconception is that if we let them figure it out on their own, their solution may not be scalable. Yes, we need to be careful with them building bad habits. As a coach, we still know and understand what good and scalable ways to open guard are. The way I learned to open guard is by using methods that we stand up. This is also seen in high-level competition.

Remember the initial position I gave the top player?
I created a situation where I narrowed down the solution search to stand-up methods without telling them to stand up or any imperative instruction. At the same time, I give plenty of exploration time and allow mistakes to happen and be corrected.

## Before we go ...

I am not the only coach in the gym. Other coaches use a prescriptive approach. Every second or third class I show a technique just like the traditional way.

Yes, it is possible to have enjoyable and live resistance activities for the whole class. Thanks for reading.


Passing guard to the “wrong” side


I strongly believe competitions teach you great lessons, as long as you are open to critically analyze your performance and make improvements. Here is something that happened to me and I am sure I am not the only one.

Let’s go straight to the point: I am a purple belt (in 2018) and my passing guard to my left was at white belt level. It threw me completely off track and I didn’t know why.

## My beginning

I didn’t spend much time in the white belt. As a blue belt, it was all about guard game. Then welcome to the world of purple belt. That’s when I started to explore guard passing, takedowns, transitions, control, and submissions.

## The competition

The first time I competed with a very well-defined gameplan included De-la-Riva, Lasso guard, with a transition to Omoplata. I built a diagram for my gameplan with all details for positions. If you would like to know more about this tool, here is the website: https://bjjnerd.vercel.app/

In one of my fights, after a sweep, I ended up in my opponent’s open guard. He controlled my right foot, and with my limited knowledge, the option I had available was to pass to my bad side (left one). This “bad side” was so bad that I couldn’t break a grip on my right leg. I was totally unfamiliar and uncomfortable in my “bad” side. I won that fight in points, thanks to the lasso sweep. People often say you learn from your losses. I say you learn from wins and losses.

From my first training session after this competition, I set up a training rule for myself: Only pass lower belt guards to my left side. I struggled to adjust my body to the “wrong” side. I noticed after a few weeks I was comfortable performing the same moves. I continuously applied my rule for at least 3 months.

Now I feel comfortable taking my guard passing to the next level and start to get more dynamic, change sides, apply a mix of pressure and speed.

## Take away

Make sure you drill and practice techniques for both sides. Put your ego aside and get uncomfortable at training. Then feel at home at competitions.
What does passing guard on the wrong side look like for you? Share your experiences.


I am a regular person and achieved my BJJ black belt in under eight years of training


I am a regular person and achieved my BJJ black belt in under eight years of training, starting when I was almost 32. This is noteworthy given the challenges that come with age, family responsibilities, and potential injuries. Fortunately, I managed to avoid significant injuries throughout my journey.

I received my black belt from **[Vicente Cavalcante](https://www.instagram.com/vicentecavalcanti_/)** in Nov/2023. I'll tell you about my journey and what made me achieve this level faster than an average person.

### Disclosure:

The 8 years exclude:
- over six months traveling the world in 2014.
- the two years of COVID lockdown. My family and I spent almost two years in lockdown.


## My BJJ history

I started training in late September 2013 in Melbourne with Alex Santos (ASBJJ).

I was promoted to blue belt in April/2014 (after 6 months as a white belt). A week after my promotion, My partner and I traveled the world for 7 months. It was a well-worth time to put my training on hold.

[pics]
![](/images/blog/general/blue_belt_promotion.JPG)


During my blue belt time, I was mainly focused on trying all possible guards.
It was a time to sample everything, just like we do on buffet lunches.
I even entered several competitions with specific strategies to apply a guard I was working on. In 2017, I entered several NOGI Grappling competitions. It was the early stages of leglocks. My gym prohibited all leg locks. I had to cross-train with 10th planet South Melbourne to be able to learn and train leg attacks.


![](/images/blog/general/purple-belt-promotion.jpeg)

I was promoted to purple belt in Dez/2016. I wasn't sure what to do as a purple belt. No one tells you anything. Late on my purple belt journey, I realized that it was time to remove all the techniques I've collected and focus on the ones that worked for me. It was a time for my game plan evolution and revolution. I constructed my game based on my favorite techniques: Lasso guard, triangle, and DLR.

I practiced these techniques and variations in live sparring for ages. I did no-resistance drills too but most of my practice was in live sparring with lower belts.
I tried my game plan on local competitions. It felt so nice to nice to not have to think of the technique and have them automatically flowing.

In Sep/2019, it was time to take my jiu-jitsu to the highest level for a regular amateur practitioner: The IBJJF Worlds Masters in Las Vegas.

I entered a division with 59 people. I had 6 matches including the final. Unfortunately, I didn't the gold. I entered the open weight division, being the lightest person on the bracket. I reached the final. I lost again but now by split decision. I was still pretty happy with the 9 fights in one day at the highest level, double silver, and a brown belt promotion.


![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/brown-belt.jpeg)

At Brown belt, I had a chance to compete less than a week after I arrived from Las Vegas. I also filled in for an injured competitor at an invitation event called Iron Brown just about three weeks after I received my brown belt.

Pandemic
I spent the whole 2020 and 2021 at home in Melbourne COVID lockdowns.

I returned again to train BJJ in Gold Coast in March/2022. It took me about a while to fall in love with BJJ again. I found in the NOGI my motivation to train again. I still did GI about 50% of the time.

When I visited Brazil in November 2022, I trained mostly Luta-livre. This is a Brazilian style of submission wrestling. After weeks of commitment and hard work, I was promoted to purple belt in Luta-livre by Viktor Ninja, Vemcer Project, Rio de Janeiro. I am very thankful to represent BJJ and Luta-livre.

Now the greatest moment, the time we dream of when I wear that white belt for the first time. In Nov/2023, in less than 8 years of continuous BJJ training, I received my black belt from Vicente Cavalcanti.

![](/images/blog/general/black_belt_promotion.jpg)


## Factors Contributing to Fast Progress:

### Transferable training experience from soccer
As soon as I started BJJ, I noticed something wrong with the classes. Instructors would show the correct technique. We were not allowed to make any variation. Everything had to be done the prescribed way.

Leveraging my soccer background, I introduced variations into training, focusing on specific training and repetition without repetition, always with live resistance.


### Competition
Regular competition accelerated my development. I actively competed, sometimes multiple times a month.
![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/podium-absolute.jpeg)

### Injury prevention
I've been practicing sports since an early age. I eat and sleep well. I started training GI and NOGI during my first years of BJJ training. I remember experimenting with different guards or positions all the time. This added variability to my training. As found in research, the CLA approach decreases or makes us less susceptible to injuries. I need my hands to work daily. The NOGI training helps with that.

### Consistency
When my kids were little, I still trained at least twice a week. That allowed me to keep my head in training. I wasn't making a huge progress but I kept my training habits. My mind never stopped. I probably increased my training visualization.


### Training mindset, open mats, and live spiring

**Simple motto:** Train smart and train hard. What I mean is to make more effective use of my available and limited time to train.

I never enjoyed dead drills. But I still had to do them. I used live sparring to create my specific training, which I believe is the key to learning fast. After reading the book "How we learn to move" by Rob Gray, I realized that I applied a Constraint-Led Approach (CLA) to my live sparing, even without my training partners knowing about it.

In my first year or so, I used to catch up with a friend and train positions for several hours a day. We troubled shooted positions and took it for a test in the gym.

I never miss an open mat session. I am the first to arrive and the last to leave. Live sparring has been the place where I constructed and applied my training style, mostly based on CLA and deliberated practice. I didn't quite know the science behind ecological dynamics but It seems like I was heading in that direction without knowing the underlying method.

How did I create my CLA training in life sparring?

I intended to increase my mileage within specific areas of the game, all in live sparring. For example, when I was refining my triangle attacks, the thing I never did was dead-ass drills. This kind of drilling is a waste of time and energy. It has no action-perception connection. It must be live.

So I started to get into the triangle but not squeeze at all. Hold the triangle 50% or 70% locked and stay there. This gives my opponent time and space to escape in any way they can. It took me no long to identify and anticipate the most common triangle defenses: stacking, head posture, just hold, etc.
The other person had no idea of my intentions. Slowly I learned to counter the most common triangle escapes.

I repeated the same process for armbar problems to disconnect their arms. The same for the Lasso guard game development.

## Conclusion
Live resistance training, rooted in a Constraint-Led Approach, has been crucial for my accelerated learning curve in BJJ. The continuous evolution of my game plan and the deliberate focus on specific areas during live sparring contributed significantly to my journey.


Rickson Gracie live with Marcelo Alonso, PVT


Rickson Gracie spoke with Marcelo Alonso on his Youtube channel live stream on May 25, 2020. They talked for almost 2 hours (Portugues-BR). I am writing a summary on the most relevant topics related to jiu-jitsu:

- Competition and the ruleset
- Modern grips
- New vs old school
- Becoming the number 1 Gracie
- Aspiration to become a great instructor
- BJJ philosophy and invisible jiu-jitsu
- His life today
- Thoughts on UFC

They spent a lot of time talking about the "vale-tudo" era back in the 80's, 90's. That's a fascinating part of MMA history, however, it is not the focus of this article.

#### What does "vale-tudo" mean?

Vale Tudo refers to any unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century. The precursor of modern MMA we see today.

Marcelo Alonso is a professional journalist and has been covering BJJ and MMA when this was all called "vale-tudo" back in the days.

### BJJ competition and rules

Nowadays athletes study the rules and take advantage of the gray areas to win fights. That is ok no problems. Athletes don't go to tournaments to take risks.
They want to use the rules to win, not to submit. Athletes have to fight about 8 times in one day so they save energy for the next fights. This encourages athletes to save energy.
According to Rickson, 9 or 10 fights are boring because no one wants to take risks.

In his opinion, there should be no rules such as time limit, advantages, or points. This explains why Gracie family is no longer interested in MMA. They truly believe BJJ essentially needs time to set up moves and a 5 minutes round adds serious limitations to jiu-jitsu fighters. Rickson emphasizes the Gracie family doesn't need to prove anything anymore. Their job is done. MMA has evolved and everybody trains multiple martial arts. He appreciates the evolution and athleticism of the sport.

### Modern grips

Grips should be dynamic in a way to you can do something useful. When grips are just to hold or tie up the opponent they won't help you in a real fight situation or MMA (he says "vale-tudo"). My opinion: Gracie family members still keep Helio Gracie's views alive. BJJ was created to save you in a real-world situation. This is why they value the self-defense aspect of BJJ.

Rules should encourage athletes to take risks and prevent stalling.

He suggested removing any room for referee's interpretations to prevent different standards. Also, create rules to make BJJ more offensive.

### New school vs old school

BJJ new school is different from the old school.
Old school every fighter was prepared for a "vale-tudo" fight as well as competition. The preparation is only one.
Nowadays a BJJ world champion is not ready for a real-world situation. Some fighters are good in Gi but look like a "fish out of water" in NO-GI.
They focus too much on techniques that are not efficient in a "vale tudo" fight.
Some athletes rely on one grip to keep the fight stuck. This is not good for a "vale tudo" situation in his opinion.

He is ok with any new techniques that add efficiency to BJJ. He is not ok about new techniques created whose main purpose is to stall the fight - this is where he draws the line between efficiency. If one can use it in "vale-tudo", it is efficient and he really respects, such as leg-locks.

He is extremely happy about the BJJ evolution. He acknowledges that leg-locks are extremely efficient for BJJ.

It is noticeable: Rickson never uses any pejorative or negative terms to refer to the "new" school or techniques that he does not consider essential for BJJ. He is very respectful towards anyone, which is an example of a great character.

In another video, Rickson talks about leg-locks back in the 60s', '70s. The Gracie family was never against leg-locks, opposite to what people said. They only used leg attacks when nothing else worked during a value-tudo match. It was their last resort. Rickson even had to use a leg-lock in one of his "vale-tudo" fights. They stopped doing heel hooks because there was no good medical treatment for knee injuries. At that time, one heel hook could cause the end of a fighter's career.

## Reaching the top

Rickson talks in detail about his relationship with his master, mentor, cousin/brother Rolls Gracie.
Rolls used to submit him multiple times in the beginning. However, things slowly changed and overtime, Rickson was able to close this gap. One day in Petropolis-RJ, after a long and tough session, Rickson was able to finally submit his master Rolls Gracie. They looked at each other, Rolls hugged Rickson and said: "well done my brother, well done".

According to Rickson, Roll knew that Rickson was the best. From that time on, Rickson never again trained hard with Rolls and never tried to submit him anymore.
Rickson still paid huge respect to Rolls until his death and still does it.
This is when and how Rickson became the number one fighter of the Gracie family.

## The word of wisdom

Back in the days, Rickson Told his dad (Helio Gracie) I would like to be a great instructor. Helio said:

"ok my son. To be an excellent instructor, learn the positions very well. Make sure you understand what the students need. You need more than techniques. You need to add value to their lives. Your job is half to teach techniques and half to make people better in general. Make an aggressive person able to control their instincts, make weak people confident, etc"

Rickon also considers it important to teach people invisible things like breathing, efficiency, good base, etc, find alternatives in any situation in your life.

## New philosophy

He has been thinking over the last few years about what's best for the future of BJJ.

He is happy about the evolution for sure. He wants to make BJJ more accessible to disadvantaged people, who are not there to do daily tough sparring. He understands some people want a war every day but most people don't. This is the segment he would like to explore.

People can learn BJJ with "no trauma". He wants to take away that "alpha-male" philosophy.
Make more "gentle" to learn BJJ. Get smashed every day is not for everyone.

He wants to decrease that violent training style in favor of a new learning methodology. He wants to give as much time students need to develop their techniques, with no pressure to fight or compete.

He will focus on breath, concentration, strategy, internal peace, and many of his invisible concepts - basically BJJ for everyone, for your whole life. BJJ for the dentist, doctor, musician, and fighter. Use BJJ as a tool to improve the quality of life for everyone.

His point is really about the stats that 9 in 10 people start BJJ and stop within 6 months (the source hasn't been mentioned but we know that happens).

## His life today

He has retired, no longer training like a competitor and his body aches all over. He doesn't miss the competitive aspect of BJJ. Rickson wants to direct his efforts towards this new jiu-jitsu philosophy. Nowadays he doesn't need to use his physical jiu-jitsu but instead, uses the so-called "invisible jiu-jitsu" to deal with real-life problems.

Rickson is not interested in discussing and proving whether new techniques work or not. His body doesn't allow him to "prove" it to young fighters (Kron for example) that technique A or B doesn't work. He put all of this behind.

Rickson seemed super motivated to disseminate this BJJ philosophy. He is currently working on an online training methodology to implement it. He will publish the "breathe" module for free. He considers it the most important skill you could have and since it helps you in any life situation. From a fight to a work meeting.

## UFC (Bonus)

There was never any offer from UFC. There were some talks to face Coleman but it didn't go ahead. He would only fight with no time limits because Coleman was very strong. The longer the fight lasted, the better for him against larger opponents. The main MMA event at the time was the Japanese Pride. That's where the best fights were.
UFC had Royce Gracie representing the family so he didn't need to join the UFC.
Nowadays he is happy about how MMA has evolved as a sport. However, the rule set doesn't align with what the Gracie family considers essential to Jiu-Jitsu. That explains why we have no one representing the Gracie family, apart from his son Kron.

Rickson and many "old" school fighters used to fight for their team and their pride. They represented the BJJ flag against other martial arts. They always represented the Gracie family - never for money.

I can definitely tell you that's 100% true. I lived in Rio most of my life and remember the dark days of BJJ in the late 90's. This is another topic.

Thanks for reading!

## Credits and links:

Marcelo Alonso is a professional journalist and has been covering BJJ and MMA when this was all called "vale-tudo" back in the '80s.

All credits to journalist Marcelo Alonso: https://twitter.com/alonsopvt?lang=en
Portal Vale-tudo: http://www.portaldovaletudo.com.br

Original Video (Portugues): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O884rWiU8UA


The journey to the BJJ Worlds Master


The IBJJF Worlds Master is the highest level you can find those days. It requires special preparation if you want to perform at your best. In this post, I’ll write in detail about the journey to compete at the worlds 2019. I competed in the **medium-heavy purple master 2 (also open weight)** and return with two silver medals 🥈🥈. I hope this article is useful for people competing at a high level as well as those who are just looking at getting better at jiu-jitsu in general.

At the beginning of each year, I set a goal to compete at the Worlds master. Unfortunately, life gets in the way and I had to postpone for two years, 2017 and 2018. The first year my son was 1 year and a half, the second year we moved house. I wasn’t in a good mindset to compete. Actually, I took three months break in late 2018. Despite the challenges, I always trained and prepared for the worlds since I received my purple belt in Jan/2017 but I committed to the worlds in March 2019. I entered local competitions in the adult division. I never expected to win these tournaments. I intended to participate in high-level competitions. I live in Melbourne, Australia and I am 38 years old.

*If you do the same as everybody else, you’ll be just like them. Do more but more efficiently. Success is routine. Anyone can do it.* - Leo Correa

Now I am going to breakdown the preparation into sections.

## Specific training

I spend a lot of time thinking of jiu-jitsu and trying to figure out the most effective ways to train. I like to improve the quality of my training sessions. Using previous experience in other sports such as soccer, I tailored every training session specific to my goals. I walk to the mat knowing the kind of positions I would like to use during sparring and stick with them. I obviously practice the positions our instructor shows us but I have my plan too.

I arrive about one hour before the class, practice moves in my gameplan. Sometimes I stay after class practicing a bit more.

I make my sessions specific without telling my training partners. Here are some examples (I still do most of these things):

- Pass lower belt guards to my “wrong” side so I get used to changing sides during the pass.
- I am not allowed to submit any lower belt. This forces me to train transitions from everywhere as well as train mobility.
- I am not allowed to sweep and submit. This makes my guard retention better
- Lock a triangle but not squeeze. Let people stack and throw you everywhere. I did this for 3 months or more. Started with white belts, then moved to blue. By the time I started to do triangle on purple, I had hours in that position and could predict many reactions.

No matter what my opponent does, I am focused on my own goals and determined to stick with them. I usually do 80% of my sparring sessions with lower belts so I can execute my gameplan more often before I take it to people at my level. I find the sparring session with higher belts don’t flow very well and this is not good for either of us.

Free sparring is only good to make you tough. Specific training sessions are the secret to improve fast in my opinion. You still need free sparring to apply techniques together.

In soccer, how much time do we spend playing full pitch matches? Probably 10% or less. I used to do at least 300 passes, short and long ranges in one training session in soccer. I definitely brought this concept across to BJJ.

## Food

I eat well most of the time. Let’s say I eat well 85%. Something non-negotiable is my **green raw juice** in the morning. I am going to write a post about this but in summary, I drink daily: spinach, broccoli, ginger, turmeric, chia seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, beetroot, kale, and so forth. I have been doing this for 8 years. The raw food diet with good quality meat seems to be the most beneficial in my case.

## Physical preparation

I didn’t want to replace one BJJ session with weights training. I don’t like weights. I ride a **bicycle** to work 4 times a week — about 80km per week. The essential training in my case (guard player) is the grip. See below.

## Grip training

This is the most important training for guard players. I did 9 fights at the worlds, I lost my cardio in some fights but never lost my grips. I was able to make a grip and retain my guard even when I was so tired to the point of seeing everything spinning. I did pull-ups with and without the GI, wrap the GI in a foam roller and hold a choke for 20 or 30 seconds. I like grip training because you can do it in 15–25 minutes. I usually do **immediately before** the 2 hours training session (including one-hour sparring).

## Gameplan

I spent hours thinking about a plan. I wrote down all positions I knew. Then I narrowed it down to the ones I could do well. I ended up with a primary guard (plan A), secondary guard (plan B), one sweep from each guard, two submissions from the guard, two ways to pass the guard, one sub from the back and mount, two takedowns. At the world's level, you have no time to think. **If you stop to think, you are falling behind**. I put my gameplan in a **flowchart** graph and practiced for hours. I was able to execute moves automatically during the matches. Gameplan and strategy are essential. You must know what you are going to do during the competition and practice that religiously before.

Here is my gameplan (https://bjjnerd.vercel.app/):

![BJJ gameplan, Worlds master 2019](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/gameplan.png 'BJJ gameplan, Worlds master 2019')
_BJJ gameplan, Worlds master 2019, built with https://bjjnerd.vercel.app/_

**Note:** Image above represents my competition gameplan. This is a permanent “work in progress” and you should always practice as many positions as you can, as well as having an open mind to learn new techniques and improve the ones you already know.

### Strategy

My strategy since I first competed has been to score first. I usually pull guard. It can be an advantage or a sweep. Being ahead in points gives me a mental advantage to control the match. It forces my opponent to take risks so I can capitalize on situations to score further or get the submission.

Statistics proves that about 70% of competitors who score first have their hands raised at the end of the match.

## Drills or sparring?

Short answer: both. I recommend “live drilling” with lower belts. As I said in the specific training session above if you want to get better at back control, how often are you going to take the back of someone at your level? Once you are in the back, how long can you stay there? For example, when you can take the back of lower belts pretty quick and stay there for 4 or 5 minutes. This way you are just training back control. I know it is tempting to submit them but don’t do it. This will force you to learn control and they learn to escape.

## How often I trained

I trained BJJ about 6–10 hours a week, including drill sessions I organized with friends. My training schedule: 2 hours on Tuesdays (1-hour competition class), 2 hours on Saturdays (1-hour competition class), Thursdays or Wednesdays 1 hour, and Friday mornings 1 hour. Besides, I did 1-hour drills before Tuesday classes, occasionally 2 hours of repetition on Sundays. I also did grip training and pull-ups when I took my son to the playground.

When I was not training, I was always thinking of ways to adjust positions and improve my gameplan.

## Cut weight or not?

I usually weigh around 82.5–84kg. I could’ve tried to cut to middleweight but decided to stay medium-heavy for the worlds. I was committed to figure out my BJJ identity, narrow down positions, improve and adjust them. I couldn’t focus on cutting weight at all. My official weight on the day was 84kg with the GI. The division goes up to 88.5kg. Next time I’ll try to cut to middleweight for Master 2 brown belt.

## Mind preparation

This can be different depending on each individual. If I train and prepare well I don’t get nervous. I practiced my game plan so many times that I felt like I was just executing the moves during the competition. I arrived in Vegas on Tuesday 20th August 2019 and competed on Saturday 24th. Every day I visualized my gameplan. I couldn’t think about anything else. I have to admit I was anxious for the first fight. I put a lot of effort into this and I didn’t want things to end in 5 minutes.

## The marginal gains

Here are my *100ish things I improved by 1 percent*.
### That green and yellow belt

This probably won’t make sense to anyone but for me, it was something very important. I prepared so much and I strongly think that any little thing can give you an edge at this level. I compete with a white gi. I always go to the right side of the table — the referee’s left side. What difference does this make? Well, if my opponent is also wearing a white gi, he has to wear the extra green and yellow belt. That way it's guaranteed that I never need to wear an extra belt. You're still wondering wtf? We have to re-tie the belt multiple times during a fight. As I have only one belt, I can use those extra seconds to breathe and think of my strategy for the rest of the fight, also save my grip and energy. Does this really make any difference? For me it does, It’s also about cognitive loading — less to worry about. I don’t expect many people to agree but it worked for me, especially at times when I was so tired in the middle of the fight.

### Water with salt

In between matches, I drink water with salt. It helps with the hydration.
I usually carry my himalayan salt in my gym bag. I do the same for the competition classes but only drink before and after the session. The celtic salt is also great.

## Be prepared to change strategy

I usually get one sleeve grip to pull guard safely. However, sometimes you need to change your style according to your opponent. Before the quarter-final match, my team-mates warned me about my opponent sweeping everyone on single-leg-x guard. With this information, I didn’t want to be two points behind trying to pass a guard. I decided to pull guard immediately with almost no grips. This way I avoided his strongest game and I was so confident I could sweep anyone with my Lasso or DRL guards. I ended up getting a triangle very early in that match. Remember I have done hundreds of triangles during my preparation.

Second open weight fight, my opponent pulled guard immediately. I had to switch my mind to a passing mode, that wasn’t my “plan A” at all.

## Summary

*Find 100 things you can improve by 1 percent.* - Book "Legacy", by James Kerr.

I finished second place 🥈 in the purple medium-heavy (6 fights) and second 🥈again in open weight division (3 fights), all in one day.

Regardless of the result, the preparation makes you better.

If you do what everybody else is doing, you are likely to become just like them: one more in the crowd. If you want to be the best, you must do more than everybody else, preferably train smarter, not harder.

You can watch all my fights here at Flograppling (you need an account): https://www.flograppling.com/search?q=leonardo%20correa%2C%202019&page=1&limit=10


I felt like all my competitors had strong jiu-jitsu skills to win the tournament. There are no easy fights out there.

Thank you for reading. Thanks to my partner Larissa to support this crazy plan, thanks to Daffa, Z, Henrique, Guilherme, and Lane for countless hours of extra training, thanks to team-mates at ASBJJ, thanks to coach Alex Santos.

Please leave a comment with your experience and tips for the competition. I am always open to learning. I didn’t get the gold so I am surely going back to the Worlds in the future.

Here are some pictures:

![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/podium-weight.jpeg)
Podium, Second place, medium-heavy, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/podium-absolute.jpeg)
Podium, Second place, Open weight, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/weight-01.jpeg)
Round of 64 (first fight, I got no bye), medium-heavy, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/weight-02.jpeg)
Round of 32, medium-heavy, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/weight-03.jpeg)
Round of 16, medium-heavy, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/weight-04.jpeg)
Quarter-final, medium-heavy, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/weight-05.jpeg)
Semi-final, medium-heavy, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/absolute-01.jpeg)
Quarter-final, absolute, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/absolute-02.jpeg)
Semi-final, absolute, IBJJF Worlds 2019 Purple Master 2

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![](/images/blog/the-journey-to-the-bjj-worlds-master/brown-belt.jpeg)
Me and my instructor Alex Santos, ASBJJ Melbourne Australia


Someone told you: you are using too much strength, not technique


*"You are using too much strength"*

I've heard this so many times. I am sure you've heard this too. Now you have no idea what to do.
You are a white belt (sometimes blue) and don't have many techniques in your toolbox.
Obviously anything you do will involve strength because that's all you have.

## Scenario

Someone I train with said that wanted to pass my guard. His name is Bob, white belt. Think with me: I am a black belt, trained, and competed a lot. He is a white belt. Do you really think that in a real combat situation or competition, he would be able to pass my guard consistently? I am not saying that this is impossible but it wouldn't be normal.

Sometimes I relax the guard because I want to train guard recovery or side-control escape. Perhaps I put myself in a terrible position and work my way out.

However, most beginners don't primarily focus on learning. Back to Bob's scenario, his intention is just to pass my guard. I can't see any technique, just strength and desperation to pass at any cost.
Unfortunately, the higher belts must make him pay.
The training could be a lot more productive if they come intending to apply the techniques, or at least try.

## Let's try something different

I would like to invite you to try a different approach. Let's not try to pass the guard anymore. Your focus now is on applying the techniques.

You still don't know what to do.

Let's find out if you know any passing guard technique to apply.

Think of any passing guard that you learned during the classes.

Here are some techniques, if they ring a bell: Knee slice, X-pass, back step, toreando, rugby style, over-under, Sao Paulo pressure pass, Barbosa pressure pass, and so on.

Go ahead now and explain to me (or to yourself in your head) at least one passing guard technique. I don't expect the level of details as a black belt. Just explain exactly the way you've learned.
Explain step-by-step, grip by grip the passing guard technique.

If nothing comes to your mind, try to repeat what you've learned in the classes. If you still not able to execute one technique, you have only strength in your toolbox.

***

Here comes a piece of advice. Attend the classes as usual. When your instructor shows a guard passing technique, use it during sparring. It sounds simple but you are not using the technique you've just learned. Do you still wonder why the higher belts don't give you an inch? Don't try to beat the higher belts. This is your ego getting on the way. Leave this for the competition classes. There are times to go for the kill.
I love it when I see people trying to execute the technique they learned during the class. I do everything to help without saying a word. It's natural.


Learning never ends

Blog articles: