Not Using Leg Locks To Pass The Guard? ... Newb.
Use A Leg Lock to Setup A Smash Pass by Craig Jones
Using pressure can be one of those most effective ways to pass a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player’s guard. If you are a bigger guy or not as mobile as other BJJ practitioners you can use pressure to your advantage in a variety of ways. Or, if you are a more mobile player you can add pressure into your game to great improve the efficiency of your passing. Today we are going to look at how Craig Jones uses smash passing by setting it up with a leg lock threat. If you are not familiar with who Craig Jones is, he is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt from Australia who competes for Absolute MMA Academy. Jones is an international IBJJF World no gi champion and a 2x ADCC trials champion. Craig Jones has a long list of accolades in his professional BJJ career. A lot of this is thanks to his ability to smash pass and his ability to submit with leg locks.
Craig Jones is known for his leg locks, but he also is a great guard passer. One of his favorite guard passing approaches is to use leg locks to attack for the submission, yet open doors to pass the guard.
With that said let’s explore smash passing with Craig Jones. Watch the video below and then we will discuss the technique. Check it out!
What I like the most about this technique is that it uses the leg lock to exploit the guard player’s legs. By making your opponents fear a leg lock it causes them to over correct their guard, which sets up the ability to pass. Any time a person playing guard loses their foot in the hip, causing their leg to extend, it opens up a vulnerability to leg attacks. The guard player will instinctively try and pull his feet back into position, allowing the guy on top a change of direction and pass.
Your game will improve greatly if you learn both pressure and mobility when passing. If you are able to do a combination of both you will greatly increase your chance of successfully passing a person’s guard. So give this technique a try the next time you are in a live roll. By faking a leg lock you open up an opportunity to pressure pass.
Craig Jones has a secret weapon in jiu jitsu... his leg lock system. But he doesn't just use it for the submission, he uses it to pass the guard too. In fact, once you finish watching Craig’s Passing Series you will know exactly what needs to be done to set up and finish guard passes using leg attacks.
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