When it comes to Jiu Jitsu I tend to be a thinker and I tend to play the percentages. When training with unfamiliar people I have zero issues giving up positions in order to analyze pass / sweep set ups and submission chains. This made last week’s IBJJF New York Open and today’s Grapplethon very interesting and exciting geek out events. The New York Open was coach and observe mode while Grapplethon was roll and take notes based on actual experience. I won’t dive into the details too much but if you find that you relate to any of these observations there’s a YouTube for that. Shore up your “go to” or learn to attack against these observation points and you will instantly improve your overall performance.
Observation #1 – Knee cut pass was by the far the number 1 pass attempted. Of these attempts, the majority of them started with a poorly executed (hence defended) torrendo attempt. Stalled knee cuts ended up leading to observation #2. Top players, fix your knee cut or bottom players, place a priority on defending it.
Observation #2 Deep Half Guard and Single Leg X were the most played guard styles. Personally, I don’t play either one but I can see why many people make this transition while defending the stalled knee cut. Comfort passing these positions will instantly raise the level of your ability to pass and put your opponent at a serious disadvantage.
Observation #3 Purple belts like to berimbolo. The highest percentage of berimbolos were attempted at the purple belt level. In fact, this was the only attack / option attempted from DLR guard. If you are a purple belt, become efficient at defending the berimbolo and exploit your opponent’s weaknesses from DLR or force them back to Single Leg X and observation #2.
Observation #4 Newsflash – Chaining techniques does not only apply to submissions. If you plan to pass the guard of anyone above blue belt you need to chain your passes, pressure-speed, standing-kneeling. You must be able to do this effortlessly and efficiently. At a minimum chaining passes will put you in a better position to finish that second or third pass attempt vice hammering away at the same pass from your dominant side over and over and over.