Put the Pressure Into Your Passing

What kind of guard player am I?  What kind of guard passer am I?  What is my go to submission?  These questions are ever-evolving and always developing as you explore the world of being a jiu jitsu practitioner.

Developing the various elements of your personal jiu jitsu game can take many years as you become exposed to and work to assimilate different elements and styles.  In the beginning, we tend to gravitate to the techniques that come easiest to us and provide us with some security and success against our training partners and opponents.  Maybe you feel more comfortable controlling your opponents in side control, rather than mount.  While the goal is always to be as well-rounded and prepared for all options as we can, but throughout our jiu jitsu lives, we will have our current favorite techniques.

It is important not to forget though, as we scramble to add move after move to our repertoires, hoping that the latest flashy technique will somehow give us the ability to dominate the competition, we are literally missing the answer that is right under our nose.  By that, I mean, our shoulders and our hips.

The Basics of Pressure Never Fail

You could be a walking encyclopedia of fancy guard games and incredibly complex guard passes, but if you do not know how to use the power of your shoulder pressure, to control your opponent's face in side control or their hips when splitting their legs during a powerful over-under pass, you will not be successful.  If you're not staying hip to hip to your opponent at the proper time you will give them opportunities to become mobile and exploit the space you've left them to your detriment.  If you're not making your body into a tripod when passing tight to keep all of your weight concentrated through the shoulder into those hips to staple them to the ground, they will recover guard.

The Basics of Pressure Transcend Time

The great pressure passing competitors are always the ones that seem to rely on the most fundamental BJJ techniques.  This is no accident.  The basics are the basics, because over the course of jiu jitsu history, they are the moves that transcend the hype and are just as effective today as they were at the first Mundials.  One of the best examples of this is the amazing 2009 Mundials run of Roger Gracie who defeated 9 different opponents with the mounted cross collar gi choke, a technique that most practitioners are taught in the early days of their BJJ journey.  Nine different world-class competitors defeated by the same technique.  It is no coincidence that Roger Gracie is a master of the elements of pressure passing as well.

Another absolute virtuoso of pressure passing is 5 time world champion Bernardo Faria.  In the video below, elements of his approach are broken down.  These elements are things that you should be working on today to make your passing unstoppable.

 For more insight into how to develop soul crushing pressure and turn your opponents into compliant puddles of flesh with your passing techniques, check out this article from BJJ Fanatics here.

So as you continue down the road of jiu jitsu remember that there will always be a new techniques and innovation as the next great competitor enters the arena with their particular flavor of BJJ, but at the end of the day, what transcends time are the basics and things like a deadly shoulder pressure and strong hip pressure during pressure passing that will forever be impossible to stop no matter what flashy technique they come up against.

If you're ready to inject some pressure into your passing game and amaze your training partners and opponents, it's time to get Bernardo Faria's "Pressure Passing Encyclopedia" 4 DVD set (also available in On Demand/Digital format) for only $77 today!