Live Training And Guard Passing Instruction With Matheus Diniz

By Fanatics Authors, November 27, 2019

ADCC Gold Medalist, Matheus Diniz has a lot to celebrate. The Marcelo Garcia black belt has enjoyed an incredibly illustrious career, winning every important accolade the sport has to offer. He’s been a staple in the competition scene for years and is revered for his aggressive top game and brilliant passing. Showcasing his elite skill level this year at the Olympics of grappling, Diniz now has a very special medal to add to the trophy case in the form of ADCC gold.

Diniz put on one hell of performance this year, steamrolling his way through his division, with his efforts placing him in the final with a very game Craig Jones. Diniz was able to best Jones via a takedown in the second overtime round to secure his ADCC title. ADCC was exciting for Diniz and the platform of this high echelon of competition has prompted some great interest in Diniz’s methods.

Here’s some recent video of Diniz training with Marcos Tinoco at the Marcelo Garcia academy in NYC. Its always fun to watch two BJJ athletes of this caliber go at it. Diniz is well known for his top game and aggressive passing pressure, but here we see him playing a lot of guard and working some bottom attacks. This is a great watch. Have a look!

In what appears to be some positional training from the front headlock position, Diniz is calm, cool, and collected as you might expect. The exchanges move from leg locks to some incredible guar retention work and a little bit of passing. Diniz is incredibly smooth and calculating in his movements and that smore than apparent here. It’s always fun and inspiring to get a glimpse in to these elite academies to see what the training looks like.

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Diniz employed his signature heavy top game at ADCC this year. The fact is, no one really had an answer for what Diniz was bringing to the table. This kind of game can really wear on a guard player and eventually the defenses start to break down. With the guard pass often times being the gateway to domination, Diniz’s style is absolutely perfect for the ADCC ruleset and really any competitive format. In a match with josh Hinger at ADCC this year, Hinger managed to mitigate Diniz’s pressure for the duration of the match, but Diniz was able to capitalize with a very late guard pass that secured him the win.

So, we have to wonder, what is Diniz doing to create these highly pressurized guard passing scenarios? Of course, years of focused training have cultivated his immense pressure and the ability to place his weight in the right place but there is a level of guard passing intelligence here that’s unique to Diniz. Fortunately, we’re about to be exposed to Diniz’s passing game via an instructional with BJJ Fanatics.

This is going to be an important release, as we’ll finally get a comprehensive look in to Diniz’s passing style and methods, and the opportunity to recruit some of his ideas in to our own games. In his previous release, Position to Submission, Diniz showcased some of his ideas on how to create pathways to submissions, beginning with a sweep or a pass. It appears in this newest installment he’ll be focusing more on the top game and passing procedures he employs. In this video, Diniz demonstrates a very cool open guard pass. You may not get what you expect here, and that’s the whole point! Check this out!

Standing to pass in no gi is very common We’re more mobile and we can take advantage of the slipperiness that no gi often provides. Besides that, we have gravity on our side and that’s always a good thing. Many passes begin with stepping a lead leg up the middle of our partners legs. There is good reason for this, as once we split the legs, we can begin to go in any direction we choose and start implementing our passing game. This is where Diniz begins his instruction.

He first addresses a common reaction to this kind of positioning. As he steps up the middle, his partner hugs his leg and establishes position. If you’re standing passer, you’ve been here. This type of connection slows things down for the guard player and stops the top payer from moving too quickly. Diniz begins to answer by posting on his partners shoulders. The guard player here and in most cases is thinking that Diniz would like to get an under hook on that far side and cut through using a knee slice variation, but Diniz has other plans.

With his hands posted, Diniz gives his partner a little bump, creating a split second of separation between himself and his partner. This brief moment is enough for Diniz to drop his body down in tot eh space and secure an under hook on the near side (in this case his partners right side instead of the left he might have been expecting). Adding the cross face on the opposite side, Diniz then drives his partner down flat to the mat and connects his hands along the way. Settled in, Diniz now tucks his left heel, removing the leg from his partner’s hook and transitions is knee to the other side of the body, completing the guard pass, and then settling in to a tight side control.

I found this to be very simple, but just incredibly intelligent. This is one of the most common reactions you’ll ever encounter when trying to pass standing and Diniz has constructed a phenomenal answer to this particular scenario. As BJJ grows, we get smarter and more savvy together. Its important to keep evolving our technique to adapt to the growing aptitude of our training partners. This keeps us all sharp and it keeps our technique fresh.

I’m very interested to see what Diniz has in store for us in this upcoming release. This will be an important addition to your collection of passing instructionals and surely a great technical contribution to the no gi community!

While you wait for Matheus’s next release, check out Position to Submission! This 4-part instructional is sure to increase your submission percentage, with Matheus Diniz you get Top-Tier Techniques from a Top-Tier competitor!

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