Hidden BJJ Secrets by Luiz Panza

What Will You Learn?

Luiz Panza isn't a household name in the US among casual BJJ Guys – but the insiders shudder with fear when they hear his name. He stays below the radar: there was no fanfare when he was coming up through the lower belts - since he didn't even compete until he was a black belt.

His skills were forged in one of the toughest gyms in Brazil. Luiz grew up having wars with Sao Paulo's hardest fighters: Leandro Lo, Murilo Santana and a whole host of other wrecking machines you haven't heard of but would eat the "tough guys" you see at NAGA and Grapplers Quest for lunch.

His Footlocks are the stuff of legend

He takes a 1 handed grip and often finishes right from standing or he goes belly down as the guy's foot or ankle explodes with pain. When he does it looks easy but tapping out world champions isn't easy as we know deep down – there are some tricks to learn or you will keep falling on your face frustrated.

Luiz' Footlocks are straight up strange - we aren't going to lie - and when you first see them you may ask "How the hell would that work?" The grip looks loose, he only uses one hand.. But when he applies them, his opponents' leg wants to explode – the power and leverage he generates is just tremendous. He gets them from guard, from side control, from passing – he is a one armed footlock machine.

To understand Luiz' special method for footlocks you have to understand body mechanics. Once he overhooks the foot, he creates a pressure point between his forearm and his opponents' Achilles tendon. This is where most people get it wrong, they muscle it with upward pressure and it creates a lot of wiggle room and the opponent escapes.

Have you ever seen an Omaplata done on the opponents gi? It is almost like cheating... you are using his gi as your weapon and it is devastatingly effective. Luiz' system for lapeloplatas is so simple even a white belt can do it. This series can change your game – even if you feel like everyone passes your guard: that will stop real quick. Luiz also has a very slick series – The "Raspanza" that was named after him, a reverse De La Riva Series and the craziest guard pull you've ever seen that won't ever get passed.

Luiz tries submissions from everywhere. He has a different understanding of how to move hips and it produces a lot more armbars and triangles. He is able to get "white belt" submissions on world champions simply by moving his hips different from everyone else.

This is one of the trickiest guards in BJJ to pass but Luiz - who trains at Checkmat with greats like Lucas Leite and Buchecha needs to pass the toughest guards to survive. His methods for passing the X guard are unique and work wonders. This is advanced but if you struggle passing this guard – like most everyone does – it will be your get out of X-Guard Jail Free card.

Technique List

Volume 1 – Footlocks

• 01 Entrance To Straight Foot Lock
• 02 Botinha Straight Foot Lock
• 03 Butterfly Sweep To Straight Foot Lock
• 04 Closed Guard To Straight Foot Lock
• 05 50/50 Entrance From Guard
• 06 Adjustments From 50/50 To Straight Foot Lock
• 07 50/50 Entrance From Knee Bar Attack
• 08 50/50 Coming Up To Straight Foot Lock
• 09 Reverse Grip 50/50
• 10 Counter To 50/50 Pass
• 11 Foot Lock From Passing Guard
• 12 Foot Lock From Half Guard

Volume 2 – Sweeps You've Never Seen Before

• 01 Guard Pull
• 02 Breakingbolo To Pass
• 03 Back Take From Reverse DLR Breaking Bolo
• 04 Reverse DLR To Single Pass
• 05 RasPanza / Sweep From Over Under Pass
• 06 Raspanza Variation 1
• 07 Raspanza Variation 2
• 08 Lapeloplata Sweep
• 09 Lapeloplata Sweep From Closed Guard
• 10 Shin To Shin Sweep
• 11 Shin To Shin With Lapel To X-guard
• 12 Reverse DLR Sweep

Volume 3 – Crazy Submissions

• 01 Armlock From Closed Guard
• 02 Kneebar From Arm Attack With Variation
• 03 Kneebar From Open Guard
• 04 Reverse DLR To Berimboloto Kneebar
• 05 Kneebar Counter To Torreando
• 06 Triangle From Over Under Pass
• 07 Reverse Triangle From Over Under Pass
• 08 Double Attack From Over Under Pass
• 09 Double Under Counter To Kimura To Armlock
• 10 Loop Choke From Double Under

Volume 4 – X Guard Passing

• 01 Cross Face Details
• 02 Guard Passing
• 03 X Guard Passing
• 04 X Guard Passing With Submissions
• 05 X Guard Passing To Arm Lock
• 06 X Guard Passing To Berimbolo
• 07 X Guard Passing To North South
• 08 X Guard Passing To Omoplata To Back Take
• 09 X Guard To Side Control
• 10 X Guard To Side Control 2
• 11 X Guard To Half Guard Passing