Make Your Over/Under Pass UNSTOPPABLE With Bernardo Faria

We all know by now how important being able to pass the guard is.  We begin learning guard passes at the very beginning of our Jiu Jitsu career and never really stop learning, refining and perfecting them.  We also know that our sport is evolving at a rapid pace now, more so than ever before. With technology and the ability to share techniques around the world without the travel time and expense it is forcing us to all step up and evolve.  Thanks to BJJ Fanatics we all have the ability now to learn from the best instructors on the planet without ever leaving our house if we so choose. We live in a time where you can be learning leg locks from John Danaher, half guard attacks from Bernardo Faria and Attacking the guard with Gordon Ryan all in the same day if you so choose.  

Acknowledging that it is a different time and the game is continually evolving introduces the need to start to develop a creative, and maybe even somewhat sneaky game.  What can you do to give yourself the advantage and sneak in submissions before the opponent sees them coming? That’s the question every competitor is asking.  

What if it were possible for you to sneak in a kneebar while passing the opponent’s guard?  Can it be done? Bernardo Faria thinks so and he breaks it down for us in his video clip “Bernardo Faria’s Kneebar From Over/Under Pass.”  Bernardo landed this submission 7 out of 15 matches in competition on a world stage.  That being said, he feels this submission works better in the Gi than it does No Gi.  

To start, he is starting in the opponent’s half guard Bernardo beings to set up his over under pass.  If you are not familiar with this pass, essentially what needs to happen is he needs his shoulders to be aligned with the opponent’s waist line in order to be able to over hook one of the legs, in this case it should be the leg that is between his leg.  As you will see in the video the goal here is to have his head on the opponent’s rib cage on the opposite side while hopping up to his toes and positing in a triangle with his hips in the air. From this position Bernardo can create tremendous pressure with his shoulder driving into the opponent if need be, for this technique, he is likely more concerned with appropriate positioning for his legs rather than the pressure.  It’s also important to note that while it can’t be seen in the video, he is under hooking the opponent’s right leg with his left arm.  

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From this position Bernardo brings his legs together to pinch and trap the opponent’s knee and then walks his legs towards his under hook on the opponent’s left leg, continuing to control that leg with the under hook.  Now it is time to finish the submission. Note that even if the submission fails, you are still able to continue the pass without any disruption. This is as close to a zero risk submission as it gets.

To finish, Bernardo triangles his left foot on to his right leg, he notes that you may not want to go to the back of the knee as you typically would with a triangle only because it may force you to be too high on the knee and prevent the knee bar from working.  From here he stretches the opponent’s leg back and simply drops his hip on to the knee for the submission. This may take a few tries to get everything aligned properly, take the time to do it and try a few different adjustments. Bernardo admits it took him a while to get proficient with it as well. 

As always, especially with leg submissions, be careful with your training partner.  In this submission Bernardo was dropping his outside knee to the mat to help eliminate the risk for his partner, however in competition he would not do that.  You are drilling this be aware of your body and abilities and make sure you don’t accidentally slip of fall on your partners knee. Also be aware of your training partner and make sure they are OK, it’s your responsibility to do so in my opinion.  When it’s your turn to be submitted in drilling make sure you tap as soon as possible to reduce the risk of injury. 

 

Bernardo Faria is one of the most accomplished competitors and AMBASSADORS of Jiu-Jitsu. His instructional Foundations of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will lay the groundwork for you like NO OTHER. Get in early on your Jiu-Jitsu journey to reach your FULL POTENTIAL!!

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