4 Guard Survival Strategies For Small Players

There are a few uncomfortable realities in Jiu-Jitsu. Such as, Size does matter!

Smaller, lighter Gracie Barra Jiu-Jitsu students will immediately relate, having the uncomfortable and direct experience of being smashed under a bigger opponent. The game is simply different when you are the much lighter person in the roll, and your training partners outweigh you by 10 to 50 lbs!

That said, there are advantages that a lighter BJJ practitioner enjoys over their heavier, slower, and longer-limbed training partners. A smaller Jiu-Jitsu fighter most often enjoys a speed advantage. With shorter limbs, they can more easily find space to slip a hook in and start an escape, and many develop superior technique out of the necessity to survive.

If you observe the more skilled, lighter students in your GB Jiu-Jitsu school, there are a few guard survival strategies that they all seem to have in common, and they demonstrate the effectiveness of Jiu-Jitsu for smaller people.

We are focusing on the guard bottom position as that is where smaller students will most often end up in rolling. Sometimes, you don't have any choice but to play bottom against a heavier training partner. By spending so much time at the bottom, they become very effective at defending and winning from the guard.

The GB Online video catalogue features different guard series that show specific aspects of the bottom game that can help smaller BJJ students do like Grandmaster Helio Gracie famously said: "Survive..then win!"

Here are the 4 most important guard survival strategies for smaller, lighter Jiu-Jitsu students.

1- Great Hooks and defensive guard to stop the opponent from quickly throwing the legs aside and passing. You are going to need some strong hooks to be able to control your opponent from passing. The ideal guard game will also prevent the bigger opponent from applying their weight and smashing you.

The strong hooks of the Spider guard and Lasso Guard have helped countless smaller Bjj fighters in keeping the pressure off and controlling the guard passer. Check out these excellent video resources.

1A- Gracie Barra Lasso Guard

The Lasso Guard System with Professor Thiago Aso

1B- Gracie Barra Spider Guard
Keeping the Pressure Off: Spider & Lasso Guard by Professor Ana Laura Cordeiro

2- Using Leg Entanglements. Leg entanglements come in several different forms - Outside Hook guard or De la Riva guard, X-Guard, Single Leg X-Guard, 50-50 guard, and so on. These guards are great for slowing down standing guard passers. These leg entanglements are especially great for No-Gi, where the sleeve and collar grips have disappeared. 

The Single Leg X-Guard might be the most powerful tool for No-Gi guards for lighter players. This series, 12 Ways to Help You Win with Single Leg X-Guard by World BJJ Champion Professor Ana Laura Cordeiro, teaches you how to control and then attack much bigger opponents using and connecting the different leg entanglements.

3- Have a major submission threat from the bottom

Out of all of the possible submission attacks from the guard, there is one attack that is most successful for smaller students (who may have shorter legs and not as effective with triangles) - the Armbar from the guard. The female Jiu-Jitsu students who tap bigger training partners tend to be really skilled at the straight armlock from the guard.

When you develop a dangerous submission threat from the bottom, your opponents won't be so confident and fearless to take chances to try to pass your guard. 

The Armbar Arsenal by Fabiana Borges features multiple strategies and techniques for setting up and attacking the Armbar from the bottom.

4- Guard retention and replacement skills

Many Gracie Barra students ask about how to escape the dreaded stuck in the bottom-of-side control position. But if we rewind the tape, we see the problems started earlier, when their guard was passed. Preventing the pass in the first place and avoiding getting pinned under heavy side control is an overlooked guard skill. And learning how to recover your guard is one of the most important - if underrated - skills in Jiu-Jitsu.

Professor Ian Cardoso goes into depth on how lighter students can retain and recover the guard in the GB Online instructional series Your Guard Will Never Be The Same. Check it out.

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Professor Alexandre "Cafe" Dantas Top Half Guard Submissions

If a World Champion and 4th degree GB black belt asked you what you wanted him to show you, what would be your request?

GB Online did just that with Professor Alexandre Cafe Dantas asking the members "What position would you most like to see from Professor Cafe?"

Jiu-Jitsu students' most popular answer was the Half Guard. Not only did Professor Cafe agree to share his favorite Half Guard techniques, he doubled the techniques and taught BOTH Top and Bottom Half Guard techniques - each position with its own video series.

This week Professor Cafe focuses on submissions from Top Half Guard. He demonstrates that you can attack nearly every part of the opponent's body - neck, arms, shoulders and legs from the Top Half Guard.

Check out Professor Alexandre "Cafe" Dantas Half Guard Submissions from the Top here

Typically, as Jiu-Jitsu students, we are taught to pass the Half Guard to advance to Side Mount. That is one of the main strategies certainly, but as Professor Cafe shows in the Top Half Guard submission video series, it is not the only option.

Professor Cafe takes advantage of the top position in applying pressure to the opponent and making them uncomfortable. When the bottom fighter is uncomfortable, they fatigue rapidly, and expose themselves to submission attacks when they try to escape the pressure.

Professor Cafe shows the following chokes, Armbars, Kimura, and Knee Bar variations from Top Half Guard:

1. Knee Bar from Top Half Guard

2. Spinning Knee Bar from Top Half Guard

3. Arm Triangle - Darce Choke From Top Half Guard

4. Kimura Counter To The Under Hook 

5. Kimura To Straight Armbar 

6. Brabo Choke From Top Half Guard 

7. Gift Wrap From Top Half Guard

8. Straight Armbar - Ude Gatame from Deep Half

9. Kimura Counter Kimura From Top Half Guard 

See all of the Top Half Guard submissions from Professor Alexandre "Cafe" Dantas in Half Guard Submissions from the Top

Perhaps the best part of Professor Cafe's teaching style is his emphasis on the easy-to-miss details that make all the difference in the success of the technique. It's possible that you have seen many of the techniques before, but dismissed them as not being a good fit for their game because of a lack of immediate success when you first tried them. 

You may have been missing a key detail in the mechanics or timing of the technique, that when fixed, suddenly makes the technique work on fully resisting opponents.

In the Top Half Guard submissions, Professor Cafe shares many of the crucial, black belt details that may not be obvious the first time that you see the technique.

What is your go to submission from Top Half Guard?

Want full access to the complete library Gracie Barra BJJ instructional technique videos? Sign Up HERE to get started.

The wait is almost over -- the instructionals you've asked for are coming soon!

The GB Online community voted to have Professor Alexandre Café teach attacks from the Half Guard. Prof Café taught ten attacks from Half Guard Top and ten more attacks from Half Guard Bottom.

Attacks from Half Guard Top will be coming out this Monday, April 29th.

GB Online is excited to announce the outstanding performance of two of our instructors, Professors Alexandre Café and Lucas Norat, at the IBJJF Pan Ams held last weekend.

Professor Alexandre Café, a fifth-degree black belt, won the super-heavyweight division of the Master 3 category, securing his seventh gold medal at the prestigious tournament since 1998. This remarkable achievement is a testament to his unwavering commitment to the art and his ability to compete at the highest level.

Meanwhile, Professor Lucas Norat, a black belt, brought home a bronze medal in the heavyweight division of the Adult category, showcasing his hard work, talent, and skill in the sport.

We are immensely proud of their accomplishments. They serve as an inspiration to our community, motivating us to push ourselves further and strive for excellence in everything we do.

Congratulations Professors. We are honored to have you as part of our GB Online team and look forward to your continued success.

No-Gi takedowns for Jiu-Jitsu by Professor Pedro Marinho

Wrestling takedowns and hand fighting for Bjj.

If you vowed to work more on your standup game after your last BJJ competition this week on the GB Online Blog, we have some help with takedowns for you.

Professor Pedro Marinho is one of the top professional no-gi grapplers in the world in 2024 and recently taught a No-Gi takedown seminar at Gracie Barra headquarters in Florianopolis, Brazil.

The Arm Drag

The focus of the no-gi takedown seminar was the wrestling hand-fighting technique known as the Short Arm Drag for BJJ. The rules and points are different between Olympic wrestling and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu but the Arm Drag is a central technique to both sports.

The Arm Drag isn't a takedown by itself, but it is a critical part of the standup game. Getting a takedown on an experienced opponent isn't as simple as shooting in on a double leg takedown and scoring 2 points. You need to get past your opponent's defense by hand-fighting and closing the distance. That's where the Arm Drag comes in.

Professor Pedro Marinho teaches the gripping details and footwork for the Arm Drag and the bodylock takedown from the clinch in the seminar videos. But there is more to the takedown game than just knowing a few moves.

Professor Pedro demonstrates how he applies several important principles to his takedown game in the seminar. Check out the  No-Gi takedown seminar

Distance 
Professor Pedro says that the distance between the two opponents will determine what takedown you use. If you are too far away from the opponent when you go to enter into your double leg takedown, the opponent has sufficient time to sprawl and defend.

Have a Takedown System 
Professor Pedro teaches that it's not often that you can enter directly with a takedown and be successful. The majority of your attempts will be defended by your opponent and you need to know what move to follow up with. Connecting your different takedowns creates a system and allows you to flow seamlessly from one attack to the next.

Your favorite techniques will form the center point of your system. We say your system because, as Professor Pedro says, each individual will have specific techniques that work best for them. Professor Pedro loves the Knee Tap and Front Headlock, but you may prefer a Single Leg or Trips.

The system Professor Pedro shows in the seminar is based on the initial Arm Drag entry, and Professor Pedro chains follow-up techniques depending on the opponent's reaction...which leads us to our next takedown principle.

Attack the opponent's reaction
If you have watched the excellent GB3 with Professor Flavio Almeida, you will be well acquainted with the Jiu-Jitsu principle of "Attack the Reaction." In the course of teaching the seminar, Professor Pedro shows how he sets up each technique by attacking something and anticipating the opponent's defensive reaction.

Professor Pedro knows the finite number of possible ways the opponent will react and takes advantage of the timing and shift in balance by the opponent and attacks in the opponent's weak area. The smart Jiu-Jitsu student will study the opponent's reactions to their favorite techniques and use the opponent's defensive reaction to execute the takedown.

Some of the techniques covered in the No-Gi takedown seminar by Professor Pedro are Arm Drag, collar tie, Russian 2-on-1, Whizzer, Uchimata, Bodylock, Front Headlock, Guillotine choke, Armbar, and Kimura from Side Control.

Want full access to the complete library Gracie Barra BJJ instructional technique videos? Sign Up HERE to get started.

Week 6 (Apr 21 - 27, 2024):

In Week 6, we're studying:

➡️HEADLOCKS

➡️HIP THROWS OR HAND THROWS

➡️BACK OR TURTLE

World-renowned Black Belt, Prof Alexandre Café @alexandrecafebjj is visiting GB Arcadia on Feb 23rd for an exclusive seminar sponsored by GB Online. 🤩

Open to all GB students, all belt levels. 💪 GB Online is covering the cost of all registrations, so it’s FREE to attend! 🎉

An active subscription to GB Online is required to participate. Limited spots available, so act fast!

🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ Reserve your spot now at the link in bio @graciebarraonline. 🔗

Do you ever feel like you're not getting the most out of your Jiu-Jitsu training? It can be easy to get stuck in a rut and lose motivation. But don't worry – these three tips can help you stay focused, engaged, and excited about your Jiu-Jitsu journey:

1. Have clear goals. Setting specific, measurable objectives can help you stay on track and measure your progress over time. Maybe you want to compete in a tournament, or maybe you simply want to master a particular technique – whatever it is, write it down and keep it in mind during your training sessions.

2. Connect with your Gracie Barra community. One of the best things about Gracie Barra is the sense of camaraderie and support that comes with training with others. Whether it's your training partners, your instructor, or your fellow students, make an effort to connect with and learn from those around you. Not only will it make your training more fun, but it will also help you stay accountable and motivated.

3. Ask questions. Jiu-Jitsu is a complex and multifaceted sport, and there's always more to learn. Don't be afraid to ask your instructor or training partners for help when you're struggling with a technique or want to know more about a particular aspect of the sport. Asking questions shows that you're engaged and committed to improving, and it can help deepen your understanding and appreciation of Jiu-Jitsu.
   
   

Have you tried any of these tips in your training? What strategies do you use to stay motivated and engaged? Share your thoughts in the comments below.