BJJ LEG DRAG

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an extremely effective form of Martial Arts, and with its many comprehensive technical systems, there are always developments happening in the sport. The main objective in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu match is to compete for control by using dominant grips, takedown maneuvers, transitional components, guard passes, positional control, and all to inevitably win the match by submission.

What this article covers:

• How to Use the Leg Drag
• The Evolution of the Leg Drag
• Achieving Submissions from the Leg Drag
• How to Defend the Leg Drag

There are a multitude of ways to achieve all of these aspects, and commonly an athlete that has a comprehensive top game can usually outmaneuver a technical guard player. This is because a top game athlete will use less energy to maintain control, and set up submissions, compared to a guard player that uses a lot more of their energy systems. 

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Using a solid top game involves developing an athlete's takedown efficiency, and their guard passing ability. There is a highly diverse range of different guard passes that athletes can master, and many of these were developed from the stack pass. In the early days of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, guard passing was at its optimum peak, as athletes would use iconic systems like the toreando pass, the stack pass, and the over under jiu jitsu pass. These iconic passing systems led other athletes to utilise an exceptional bjj guard pass called the leg drag pass, and this effective movement was notarised by legends of the sport like Leo Vieira, Vitor Shaolin, Fernando Terere, and more predominantly later on by the Mendes brothers.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GUARD PASSING PRINCIPLES 

There are many effective elements that all athletes can adopt into their guard passing attack systems. First of all balance, and posture are among the most important aspects of beginning any type of guard pass. Understanding how to stay in a postured base is crucial to a strong attack system, and even more important for staying in a safe position. This will help athletes from having their balance compromised by a guard player, and will allow them to focus on concepts like securing grips, and controlling their opponent. It is common knowledge that an athlete that leans too far forward, or too far backwards is going to have their balance compromised, which makes them easier to sweep, and gives the guard player an easier avenue to thread their legs into other attacking guard systems.

Another important concept of passing the guard is pressuring the hips, and isolating a leg. All athletes must use pressure to maintain a guard player's hips to the mat, as this is their most offensive weapon from the seated position. An athlete can use a staggered grip, with one in the hips, and one hand slightly toward the midline, and this is to avoid an opponent cupping the back of their elbows, and easily breaking down their posture. Isolating the leg is just as important, as this can stifle a guard player from retaining the full guard, and most guard passes will become easier with one leg trapped to the mat. This is evident with a lot of guard passes, as commonly the athlete will pin a knee to the mat, so they can execute passes like the knee slice, the back step, or the over under pass.

There are other important concepts like using definitive control positions like the bjj headquarters position, as this is an extremely diverse control point that athletes can use to generate guard passing attacks. In this position, an athlete can easily monitor which guard systems their opponent is putting into play, as they look to stifle, and neutralise any attack. Using this position will allow an athlete to instinctively use guard passes to match the reaction of their opponent. What makes the headquarters position so efficient is how an athlete will start to administer submission holds half way through their transitions, and this is an important concept in passing the guard. Usually an opponent will be too busy defending a submission, to worry about the intricacies of what the legs are doing in the guard pass. This will leave an opening for athletes to execute guard passes like the smash pass, the stack pass, the toreando pass, or the x pass.

HOW TO USE THE LEG DRAG

The leg drag pass is an old school effective tactic used by many practitioners back in the early 1990's. Athletes like Leo Vieira, Vitor Shaolin, and Fernando Terere used this pass with an extreme amount of success during their Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitive careers. A leg drag pass is predominantly used from an open guard situation, as an athlete will begin by securing grips on both ankles, or Gi grips on the pants. From here they will move their opponent's feet to one side, as they step their leg out to the opposite side, securing their outside leg across the thigh of the athlete's inside leg. Now the athlete can extend their knee toward the mat, pinning their opponent’s opposite leg to the mat, as they turn the corner and move into a side control position, or a modified side control where they can go straight into attacks like the gift wrap, the kimura, or the head arm triangle.  

The more simplistic version that can still be highly effective is for an athlete to simply grab their opponent's ankles, and throw them to the side, as they pass to the opposite side. Sometimes this can be extremely annoying to deal with for a guard player, as the athlete can use this technique in a powerful way. For the more advanced athletes, this leg drag pass can get a lot more technical, as the guard passer will use tactics like pushing their opponent's ankles down, and waiting for them to lift up, and using that to execute the leg drag. Another way to use the leg drag is to move the ankles to the side, and waiting for their opponent to move their legs back to the centre, and then stepping in to use the leg drag pass. This is a deflection style of pass, with an athlete moving to the outside of an opponent's legs, while redirecting their legs, and forcing them to their side, to stop any form of guard retention.  

THE EVOLUTION OF THE LEG DRAG

The leg drag is one of those old school tactics that has been around for a long time. This movement dates back to old Judo practices, and was used in the early days of Gracie Jiu Jitsu. There was footage of Royler Gracie, and Marcos Aurelio competing in the first ever World Championships, where early forms of the leg drag were utilised. As the art evolved, so did many positions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which included the guard passing arsenal. Athletes like Leo Vieira, and Vitor Shaolin used these iconic passes, adding their own flair, and expertise to the position. As the art continued to evolve, so did many of the guard principles, creating a multitude of different guard systems. This brought about a need for more extensive guard passing like the stack pass, the double under hook pass, and more extensive versions of the leg drag pass.  

This pass was seen with more comprehensive grips, more ways to redirect the leg, and more extensive controls to stop any guard retention techniques. The Mendes brothers are credited for huge innovations within the leg drag pass technique. The brothers single handedly brought back this iconic passing system, after its brief hiatus from competitive grappling. After the success of Rafael, and Guilherme Mendes on the world stage of grappling, many practitioners would follow suit, and begin implementing this highly effective style of controlling an opponent, and passing their guard. New age grapplers like Mikey Musumeci, Gianni Grippo, Keenan Cornelius, and the Miyao brothers are all extremely potent with their own forms of the leg drag pass. 

Many of the modern day Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athletes have taken the leg drag pass from its simplistic ways into a much more complicated movement. The old days of simply redirecting the leg, and using that to pass their opponent's guard, have turned into a much more detailed way to enter into an opponent's guard, and use leg drags as a way to pass the guard. This is evident with many modern day athletes using their own legs to leg drag their opponents. This revolutionary style of leg drag pass has become extremely popular in the mainstream form of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Nowadays the leg drag is used for more than just passing the guard, as athletes will leg drag their opponents straight into leg entanglement positions, in order to secure leg lock submissions.

ACHIEVING SUBMISSIONS FROM THE LEG DRAG

The leg drag pass is an extremely popular way to pass an opponent's guard, and this is because it will leave an opponent in a bad position with their hips facing away. This can leave an opponent open to a multitude of different attacks, and the most common ones will happen from the side control position. The leg drag pass will always create an avenue into the side control position for an athlete, and this is where they can administer different submissions like the head and arm choke, the kimura, and the arm bar. Using the gift wrap set up, off of the leg drag pass is a perfect way to go from one good pass, into a system that allows an athlete to secure a range of different submissions.

Leg locks are always achievable from the leg drag pass, and this is because an opponent’s legs are highly accessible to an athlete. Once an athlete has their opponent's leg secured across their thigh, they can simply reach over and grip onto their toes, creating a figure for lock, with their forearm behind the foot as they cup onto their own wrist. This is a toe hold submission that can be quite brutal, especially from the leg drag position. Another highly successful leg lock that can be achieved from the leg drag pass is the knee bar. This can be achieved easily, as all the athlete needs to do once they have the leg secured across the thigh is step over the leg, and fall back into a position where the knee is facing the athlete, as they begin to hyperextend the knee joint.

Another highly successful maneuver from the leg drag is the heel hook from the ashi garami position. In the modern era of grappling, the heel hook has become one of the most dangerous submissions in the game. Securing the ashi garami is simple, and involves an athlete to pinch their inside knee against the inside of their opponent's leg, as they use their outside leg to wrap around the outside of their opponent's leg. From here they only have to sit into this leg entanglement position, as the leg is already positioned for an inside heel hook. To finish the submission the athlete will pinch their legs together, controlling their opponent's leg, as they attack the heel with their forearm. Once the athlete has a grip, they can link their hands together, and begin to twist the heel towards the outside of their opponent's body, creating a significant torque into the knee joint. 

HOW TO DEFEND THE LEG DRAG

Like most defenses in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, using early prevention methods are crucial for athletes. This is evident so athletes don't get caught out of position, and get easily passed. An important concept to remember is to keep an athlete's hip always centered, because if they use too much sideways angle it becomes extremely easy for their opponent to execute the leg drag pass. Being centered with an athlete's hips, means that if the opponent does manage to secure the leg drag, then the athlete can easily use their other foot to cross over, and plant off of their opponent's hips to free their leg, and create a squared up position. Using subtle hip movements to angle their hips slightly towards an opponent is vital for an athlete, and will enhance their ability to keep their legs in the fight.

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Another way that an athlete can defend the leg drag is by initiating a foot lock. Commonly with the leg drag pass, an opponent will try to close off an athlete's knee, giving them no space to recover their guard. This is why the athlete will look to secure a collar grip to push their opponent's shoulder backwards, so they can open their knee, turning it towards the outside. The sole reason for this movement is so the athlete has enough space to free their other leg, and pummel their shin to the inside of their opponent's leg, creating a reverse de la riva hook. This will allow the athlete to have some protection from their opponent, as their hook can act as a blockade. From here the athlete will pull their opponent forward, as their other leg pushes them to the side. Now the athlete can stretch out their leg, and place their hook under their opponent's knee, as they over hook the foot. To finish the foot lock the athlete will use their hooks to push their opponent's weight onto their back leg, as they attack the foot by hyperextending the ankle.

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