Is Your Toreando Defense Missing Any Of These Important Details?

By Fanatics Authors, January 31, 2019

4 stages of Toreando defense (no gi or gi)

Who is Lachlan Giles? He is a Jiu Jitsu black belt under John Simon and arguable one of the top Australian grapplers of his generation. Giles earned his distinguished reputation in prestigious tournaments such as IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, Pan Pacific Championship, Boa Super 8 and Eddie Bravo Invitational.

Giles hails from Melbourne, Australia. At a young age he was influenced by martial arts movies. He was introduced to Jiu Jitsu at the age of 15 when he saw Royce Gracie’s legendary performance at UFC 1. Lachlan began his training in Jiu Jitsu under Tyrone Crosse. It was under Tyrone’s tutelage that he progressed to purple belt. His club changed coaches and Lachlan progressed to black belt under John Simon. It is worth noting that Giles was also heavily influenced by Thiago Stefanutti. Thiago also awarded Giles the first degree on his black belt.

Lachlan Giles is an ADCC Veteran, Pan Pacific Champion and coach to one of the fastest rising starts, Craig Jones!

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Lachlan has many exceptional achievements as a grappler. He is the ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials Champion in 2015 and 2017. He is the IBJJF Pan Pacific Champion and Pan Pacific No-GI Champion in 2016 and 2017. He won the UAEJJF Continental Pro Champion in 2018. Giles also took second place at the Boa Super 8 1st Edition and 2^nd Edition in 2015. Lachlan took 3^rd place at Eddie Bravo Invitational 5. He claimed second place at the 2018 UAEJJF Grand Slam Abu Dhabi and 3^rd place at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship in 2017.

In this video Lachlan Giles explores four stages of defense for the Toreando pass. In the first stage of defense, Giles keeps his knees tight and then uses both arms and legs to defend the pass. Giles notes that it is important to never have hips turned away from our opponent. In that scenario, even with our legs curled tight, we are weaponless. A second defense is done when a training partner is able to grab one leg. In that scenario Lachlan swims his other leg in and regains guard. Lachlan notes that it is important to not leave our legs extended. We want to careful to manage the space between our legs and our torso. Extended legs give unnecessary space for our opponent to pass. In the third scenario Giles inverts to defend the pass. He begins the inversion by shrimping out. Next he tucks his head in and posts on his legs. He finishes by rolling over his shoulder. When the roll is complete, his opponent is back in his guard. The fourth defense is applicable is if Lachlan’s legs are pushed away. He posts on his elbow and swims his hips back. Giles notes a key detail. The movement is done with our hips and not our legs. He closes the video by stating that while these defenses look easy they are often hard to execute. Well done Lachlan. This video has a lot of excellent details!

This video is a wonderful example of Lachlan Giles’s ability to communicate technique to even novice grapplers. Like all of Giles’ instructional videos, there is a lot of detail. I know that I often gain new insights every time I re-watch one of his videos. Certainly, they have a powerful impact on anyone who makes a careful study of them. Giles’ education, the success of his students and the popularity that he has achieved are testaments to his exceptional abilities as an instructor. Certainly the Jiu Jitsu community is lucky to have him.

Come and learn one of the world’s most important guards from one of the world’s best instructors, Lachlan Giles. The head coach of Australia’s Absolute MMA, is back to show one of his best positions, the offensive half guard. He explores the techniques that he uses to win tons of tournaments at the world black belt level. Get it now from BJJ Fanatics!

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