Cool Option from Reverse De La Riva Guard

Posted by Ismail Safi on July 18, 2019

Reverse de la riva is a common guard use in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, especially in the no-gi format, where open guards are not as effective as they would be in the gi.

The name reverse de la riva comes from the fact that it is a modification, or reverse version, of de la riva guard. De la riva guard is another popular open guard that was invented by Ricardo De La Riva, a legend in the sport.

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In de la riva guard, the outside leg is hooked around the leg until the foot weaves through and grips the thigh. In reverse de la riva, the opposite occurs, where the inside leg weaves and hooks through.

Reverse de la riva was initially developed as a tool to stop the knee slice pass. It works extraordinarily well at doing so because it prevents the guard passer from getting their knee to the ground.

Evolution of reverse de la riva guard has given to rise to many new options. One of the most common techniques from reverse de la riva is one known as kiss of the dragon, which is technically a back take that can also be used as a sweep depending on the scenario.

Sometimes, the kiss of the dragon technique fails because the defender continuously breaks the grip. This is common without the gi since there are no sleeps, lapels, or pant grips. If the guard player does not adjust their technique according to this, they could lose their opponent.

In the following videos by BJJ Fanatics, you will see how you can utilize the reverse de la riva to attack the kiss of the dragon and follow with a calf slicer instead of a back take.

Although this is a great technique that would work against many opponents, I highly recommend not skipping the back take to do this. Taking an opponent’s back will always yield greater results than not unless you are trying to be flashy, which I am not against.

Also, if you are not comfortable with calf slicers, you can use this technique as a method of sweeping and getting the top position. You can also try to transition to superior leg lock positions like the honey hole or outside ashi garami for more secure leg locks.