Over Under Pass Variation

We all have that favorite move.  The one that seemed to come easier than all of the others, that we find ourselves utilizing every time we roll, especially when we're tired and need to get ourselves out of danger.  Over time, through constant refinement, we begin to build a library of ways to make sure we end up in position to use our money moves.  The world class black belts that we all watch and admire are no different than us. 

Take Bernardo Faria for example.  As a five time world champion, his game has been tested by some of history's best grappling competitors.  Over the course of his career, the majority of his success has been built on a relatively small number of techniques and submission.  He is often referred to as the Michael Jordan of half guard because of his prowess in that position and constant use of the single leg sweep from that position.  In the area of submissions, he's well-known as an omoplata assassin.  When it comes to passing, his game can be summed up with one pass, the Over Under Pass complete with tons of pressure built in.

When one examines the competitive career of Bernardo Faria, the reason you will see these same techniques and positions over and over is because he has worked on them so diligently from the time he was just starting out jiu jitsu.  By finding positions that he was able to gravitate towards as a young grappler, he was able to build a foundation upon which his entire championship career was built.

In addition to this, Bernardo is fond of saying that "there are no right answers in BJJ", meaning that what may work for him, may not work for someone else or the way a particularly technique is executed may need tweaked in order to work better for a person with a different body style, physical attributes, or athleticism.

In the video below, Craig Lyman a black belt from Gracie Humaita Las Vegas, shares a simple variation of Bernardo's favorite pass, the Over Under Pass.  Check it out below!

Craig has taken a pass that has been the staple of Bernardo's career since he was a newcomer to the art and shown him a nuance that makes some improvements on the control.  Though Bernardo says that the differences don't feel comfortable to him, he still respects the adjustments and applauds the fact that the variation works well for Craig.

What are some deep takeaways that we can get from this video?  First off, in the early days of your training, find the techniques that feel more natural and are giving you the most success.  Especially in the beginning of your training, work on those as much as you can.  While it's great, on paper, to work on your weaknesses, face the fact that you've got the rest of your life to do that.  In the beginning, build some confidence and kick some butt with the Over Under Pass.  

Secondly, make sure you work to be able to address whatever your opponents are giving you as counters to your money moves.  One of the thing that sets champions like Bernardo Faria apart from the average practitioner is that he is able to set up his money moves from nearly every possible position you can think of or nearly every reaction his opponents could bring.

Finally, always be learning.  Even at this stage in his career, Bernardo Faria recognizes that he can learn something new from someone.  Be open to alternative versions of even your favorite techniques.  Someone might show you something that makes the position even more dominating.  Never close your doors to information.

If you want to learn the Over Under Pass and many more techniques upon which Bernardo built his pressure passing system, check out Battle Tested Pressure Passing available from BJJ Fanatics!  You can get it here!

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