December 2021 – ALL BJJ

Every once in a while, Jiu-Jitsu finds its way into popular culture in a way that leaves BJJ geeks pointing at the screen and going “ooh ooh I know that one!” (Insert meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at screen). This is the first entry into a recurring (maybe) segment.

In four christmases, Vince Vaughn’s character Brad is forced to visit his family for Christmas (a horrible fate I wouldn’t wish on anyone but my worst enemies, people who see that a toilet paper roll is getting low and don’t wipe as much as they normally would so that they won’t have to replace it). Seconds from walking through the door, Jon Favreau’s character Denver jumps a rear naked choke on Brad (née Orlando) and Tim McGraw’s character Dallas grabs what looked like a gift wrap position.

Minutes later, after Brad acts like a dummy twice and calls MMA human cockfighting (shoutout to the late great John McCain for that immortal sound bite) and then insults Denver’s wife using spray cheese as if Easy Cheese on Ritz isn’t a delicious treat, his brother pulls him into a diamond position and taunts him by turning the arm the wrong way for an arm bar (but keeping the diamond position, because position before submission) before possibly switching to a wrist lock for the tap.

In the end, the Four Christmases proves that art imitates life and the brother who practices Jiu-Jitsu (Denver) is happier, healthier, and has a rich home life filled with love while the brother who judges BJJ is fundamentally unhappy and is about to see his personal life fall to pieces in front of his eyes.

Image via Four Christmases Theatrical Trailer on YouTube

The closed guard is an advantageous position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which may come as a surprise to many inexperienced fighters or wrestlers. By using the closed guard, the bottom fighter can control the top fighter’s hips, mitigating their ability to throw punches and keeping them from making any moves to better their position.

While there are many attacks from the guard, in MMA or a street fight or against a larger, stronger opponent you might have trouble using the guard as an attacking position. For those situations, or if you just want to make your opponent have to deal with your weight on top of them to tire them out, sweeps are an essential tool in any BJJ fighter’s arsenal.

Sweeps are methods of moving from one position in BJJ to a better one by using body mechanics and balance rather than brute strength, so even a smaller opponent can sweep the largest fighter. If you look around your gym, you’ll regularly see small, average looking higher belts who look like they wouldn’t win a fight sweeping much larger and stronger white belts who don’t know what’s coming.

Sweeps are such an important part of any guard game that even though the Gracie family preaches the power of the guard, there are five different sweeps in the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt requirements.

The elevator sweep is a powerful sweep that uses an opponent’s strength and momentum against them. When an opponent is in your guard and pushing you to the ground, you may feel helpless and frustrated because you aren’t able to attempt an arm bar from guard or a triangle from guard. But don’t despair, that forward push that is smashing you into the mat can be redirected to elevate (get it??) your opponent over you so that you land on top, ready to push your own agenda. Using an opponent’s plan against them is one of the joys of BJJ!

Start: Guard with opponent pushing down onto you with one leg posted

Step 1: Drop one foot onto opponent’s posted leg (this will be elevator side) and shrimp out to that side

Step 2: Swim elevator-side foot to underneath opponent’s thigh and flex toes to hook

Step 3: Underhook elevator-side arm

Step 4: Drop chopping-side foot to opponent’s knee and pull knee in towards you

Step 5: Punch elevator-side arm up and across

Step 6: Lift opponent with elevator foot and follow their body as it falls over you

End: Mount via elevator sweep

Month: December 2021

Filmjitsu – BJJ in Four Christmases

How To Do A Closed Guard Elevator Sweep