End Every Move With a Submission

Connecting the dots in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is no easy task;it is one of the most difficult parts.  You have to be able to see certain things, recognize patterns, and develop a game where you have a fast paced thought process.   This can be hard to do, it is why we train though.  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an extremely cerebral martial art and it is infectious.  Many of us strive for that feeling of improvement and we want to learn more and more.

One of the best ways to develop your game is to start learning attacks that end with submissions.   You want to be able to think ahead of your opponent and you should always have the ultimate goal in mind, the submission.  The submission is why we grapple and we want to make it as easy and effortless as possible to submit people. Whenever you are passing there is often opportunities where you can submit your opponent after you have passed or in the transition.

Submitting your opponent in the transitionary period is one of the best things you can do.  It makes catching the submission so much easier.  There is a reason that we call it “catching a submission.”  It is because sometimes the submission only presents itself for a brief period of time and we have to be able to catch it.  Many times this occurs in the transitional period of Jiu Jitsu, when you are about to complete a pass or when you have just completed a pass.

Today we discuss some incredible passes that are simple to execute and that will present you opportunities to submit your opponent.  Let’s take a look below at some sequences of moves that have submission opportunity.

De La Riva Single Leg Wipe To Knee Bar Or Over Under Pass by Matheus Diniz

So as you can see in the video above, it is taught by the infamous Marcelo Garcia black belt, Matheus Diniz.  In the video above Matheus breaks down an excellent sweep which is from the De La Riva guard.  De La Riva has become an extremely popular guard due to the fact that it presents itself so often. 

De La Riva presents it self because many people pass with a one in and one out position.  Meaning, one of their legs is in between your legs and the other is on the outside, this allows you to throw a de la riva hook in and start playing de la riva guard.  In the video above Matheus shows a single leg swipe sweep.  This sweep is easy to execute and extremely high percentage.

As you could see above, he immediately connects this sweep to one of his favorite passes, the Over Under.  Matheus Diniz is a Marcelo Garcia Black Belt who has also trained with Bernardo Faria very frequently.  Bernardo is a 5x Black Belt World Champion and he is infamous for his over under pass, this is where Matheus learned this pass from.

When Matheus puts his opponent into the De La Riva, he is already thinking of the over under knee bar he shows us in the video above. The entire time that he is attempting this sweep he is thinking of the end goal.  This is what is important to note.  Matheus has elected to do a sweep that allows him to find the over under pass, he likes to get to the over under pass because he likes the knee bar from there.  So the entire time that he is doing any move there is a submission oriented goal. 

Once Matheus is able to sweep his opponent he immediately gets to the over under and once he establishes this extremely dominant passing position he will start to attack the knee bar.  It is important to note that Matheus has drilled this sequence of moves a lot and that repetition plays a massive role in the ability to execute these moves.  He knows what his opponent will do and how they will react and this has allowed him to develop pattern recognition.

Matheus Diniz: Knee Cut Pass From Half Guard To Katagatame

In this video above Matheus gives us an advanced take on a basic position.  The most advanced detail of the moves displayed above are the thought process of Matheus, the concepts that he implements.  Notice that the entire time Matheus is attempting this pass he is just waiting to isolate his opponent’s arm so that he can start attacking the arm triangle in transition. 

That is another key element of this position.  Matheus is looking to attack his opponent in the transitionary period.  He knows that his opponent is more likely to make a mistake that opens up a submission while they feel secure in their guard.  This position is a great one to practice basic ideas and concepts where you can start to set up your submissions while attempting to pass.

Sometimes when you smother your opponent with pressure and smashing they are likely to open up submissions that you can attack.  This is the beauty of smash passing.  Any pass can have a submission in the transition;it is just about finding that attack.

Matheus is one of the best examples of somebody who adapts this mentality and he has learned it from the best, Marcelo Garcia.  All of the greatest grapplers in the world apply this philosophy to their training.  They want to have the submission on their mind all the time.  Marcelo was always looking to finish, he knew all of the reactions that his opponent where going to give him.  Rafael Mendes has also implemented this along with Roger Gracie, Xande Ribeiro, Bruno Malfacine, Bernardo Faria.  Roger Gracie is arguably the greatest grappler of all time and he would always look to smash, pass, and ultimately Ezekiel choke or cross choke his opponent.  He knew that if he smothered his opponent he would be able to open up their neck with patience.  Patience is a virtue, but that is a whole other subject.

If you want to expand on this philosophy and training method or if you want to learn specific techniques that all connect to submissions, check out Marcelo Garcia Black Belt, World class Competitor, and Metamoris veteran, Matheus Diniz DVD Set “Position to Submission.” Matheus Diniz was the last person to submit one of the greatest submission grapplers in the planet, Garry Tonon.  He caught him with a wrist lock and it was because he always had the submission on his mind.  Matheus always says that he does every move with the ultimate goal being the submission.  The submission is always his train of thought.  He attributes this mentality to his professor, Marcelo Garcia.  5x World Champion, Bernardo Faria has said that Matheus is one of the best grapplers he has ever rolled and that he will win the Black belt Worlds one day!  Matheus is no joke and he is also an excellent instructor.  Some people who are black belts in bjj and competition, but they are white belts at teaching, that is NOT the case for Matheus.  Matheus is one of the best instructors that there is and he makes it easy for people to learn!