Razor Sharp Technique with Bruno Malfacine

By Fanatics Authors, July 21, 2019

If you’re a smaller BJJ player, having a proficient guard is an absolute must. You’ll be forced to work from your back often and you need to possess the ability to reverse, redirect, and gain back superior positioning over your larger BJJ peers. That’s not to say that having a good guard isn’t necessary for BJJ players of all sizes, it just tends to be a necessity if you’re pint sized.

Having a guard that’s active and impenetrable will buy you lots of time when dealing with all different kinds of pressure from the other end. If we stall, allow ourselves to get flat, and don’t give the proper attention to the maintenance of our guard, well be in for many long days and rude awakenings.

I found this out very early. I‘m a pretty small guy and my first experiences in a guard setting were not very favorable. I got steamrolled again and again by all of the bigger guys, until I began to learn to stay active and use my guard as more effective tool against the would-be passers. Its no easy task if you’re a smaller practitioner, and it takes time, but if you make your guard a priority you will eventually develop a much more proficient bottom game.

Bruno Malfacine knows a thing or two about dealing with the big guys. His technique is second to none and Malfacine’s resume speaks for itself. In his latest release he gives us the key to understanding what it takes to wrangle stronger, larger opponents. Let’s look at some instruction from Malfacine and see if we can get a little closer to being the giant slayer, we’ve all dreamed of.

This seems like the perfect place to start. How to avoid getting smashed. Have a look!

As soon as Malfacine and his partner begin to move, one thig becomes very apparent immediately. Malfacine is very active. As his partner advances, he continues to create distance between the two of them constantly. As he moves, he looks for opportunity. IN this case he watches the elbow of his partner begin to open as he pursues him, and immediately hits an arm drag. If the opportunity doesn’t come to fruition by the efforts of his opponent, Malfacine looks to pull the arm forward and take the drag in this manner. Malfacine never stops moving here. He continuously coaxes his partner into pursing him but at the same time gives him nothing.

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This is definitely a great place to start. The concept is simple, but so many of us are content to play a lazy guar and we end up getting smashed. Stay active and give them nothing.

Let’s get a little more in depth with some technique. Here, Malfacine teaches a great collar drag to an armbar variation. This is amazing, have a look!

Malfacine sets up by acquiring an awesome set of grips. I actually began to use this particular configuration and had lots of success with it. He secures the collar, but also acquires another claw like grip on his partner lead leg at the bottom of his pants. This grip set impeded the process of coming forward for sure, and can be a pin to deal with.

Next, Malfacine begins to bring his left foot to the outside of his partner’s stance and his right foot in-between the legs. He then scoots his butt out to the side dragging his partner down and causing him to post his hand. Here, he stiff arms his collar grip away to keep his partner from coming back to him, begins to stand, and brings the leg with the claw grip with him to his feet. As he transitions himself to the back side of his partners leg, Malfacine takes a long step to the opposite side of his partners base leg. He then pushes on the collar grip to compete the reversal.

With his partner still clinging to his collar, Malfacine sees an opportunity to snag an armbar. As he completes the reversal and notices the outstretched arm, he drives his right shin in to his partners armpit and steps over the head, where he then sits for an arm bar.

This is phenomenal. And the way the Malfacine chooses to engage and when to move is quite masterful. There’s a lot of redirection here, and just plain old-fashioned efficient mechanics. Great stuff.

Here’s a look at an x guard transition where Malfacine looks to set up an inside leg trip. Check it out!

Notice the grips? Here Malfacine uses that same grip set to begin an entry in to the x guard. As Malfacine scoots under his partner he uses his insteps and his elbow to assist him in lifting his partner’s leg as he claims the space underneath. He then transitions his feet to x guard and relinquishes his grip on the pants for an under hook on the leg, cementing the position. Malfacine then transitions the leg to the front side of his body and over hooks it. Catching a grip at the armpit, he then begins to bring his partner towards him. As his partner fights the momentum, Malfacine extends him away using the x guard hooks. When his partner lands on his knee, he becomes very vulnerable and off balanced. Its here that Malfacine uses his heel as a hooking mechanism to pull his partners foot out from under him and completes the reversal.

Malfacine could easily do a technical standup here as well, but this may lead to more of a scramble, the option of pulling the foot away and completing the reversal close t the ground is really nice.

Malfacine is one of the best BJJ players of all time, and his technique is razor sharp. You don’t have to be a smaller practitioner to reap the benefits either. A larger player that’s very detail oriented is one of the most dangerous people on the mat, but if you are a smaller practitioner, I would definitely recommend Malfacine’s instruction and the study of his methods.

Hope you enjoyed these techniques! Good luck!

At 127 lbs Bruno Malfacine has some of the best TECHNIQUE of ALL-TIME! The 10x World Champ has the techniques to help you finally defeat your larger opponents! How To Beat Bigger Guys By Bruno Malfacine is a MASTERCLASS in Jiu-Jitsu technique!

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