Category: Open Guard

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How To Do A Double Under Pass in BJJ

Passing the guard can be frustrating for white belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Most rolls start on the knees and most experienced BJJ fighters will sit back and play an open guard, leaving the white belt stuck trying to get past their legs. Charging into an opponent’s open guard without a plan usually leads to sweeps that put you on the bottom in a bad situation. 

The double under guard pass in BJJ is a simple pass that drives your opponent back onto their shoulders and off their hips, taking away their power and giving you a path around their legs and into side control. 

The great Keenan Cornelius shows this double under guard pass that is simple enough for a white belt to learn but powerful enough to still be a part of his game at the highest level of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Start: Opponent’s open guard

Step 1: Push one of opponent’s knees to the ground

Step 2: Underhook opponent’s free leg and get their knee over your shoulder

Step 3: Give up pin and underhook that leg

Step 4: Reach your top side arm (with the knee on your shoulder) across opponent’s body to secure control of that leg

Step 5: Get cross-collar grip with top side hand

Step 6: Drive into opponent, forcing them off their hips and onto their shoulder (keep your head down to prevent opponent from untying the pass)

Step 7: Switch hips into opponent and shrug past their top side leg, letting it fall

Finish: Side Control

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How To Do A Berimbolo Sweep in BJJ

The berimbolo sweep is a complicated sweep that provides a way to take an opponent’s back from a relatively neutral position of an open guard, a position many BJJ practitioners find themselves in without many options beyond playing a guard game that they are skilled at. This video breaks down the berimbolo sweep, which is a powerful option to take the back from an open guard in BJJ.

Plus you get to go inverted and look like a ninja, which is awesome.

Stephan Kesting from GrappleArts also shows two great drills to train your body to do the berimbolo sweep. Even if you aren’t dead set on learning the berimbolo, these drills are a worthwhile addition to your drilling for BJJ (and as we all know, you have to drill to win!)

Start: Seated, facing a seated opponent (after guard pull or during scramble)

Step 1: Get De La Riva hook (wind foot around outside of opponent’s shin and inside their thigh) with one leg

Step 2: Grip opponent’s trapped ankle or pant leg with the same-side hand as your hook

Step 3: Grip their belt with your other-side hand at the hip with the De La Riva hook

Step 4: Pull your head towards opponent’s hip on side of hook, inverting and rolling onto your shoulders

Step 5: Step your free foot onto opponent’s belly

Step 6: Switch ankle grip to opponent’s free leg

Step 7: Use ankle grip and De La Riva to spin opponent over, completing your roll and sweeping them onto their side with their back to you

Step 8: Drive knee into opponent’s trapped knee to prevent them from turning into you

Step 9: Climb or scramble onto opponent’s back

Finish: Back control

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How to Do a Baseball Slide Pass in BJJ

Passing someone’s open guard is one of the essential parts of your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game. If you can’t pass someone’s open guard, your best case scenario is to land in their closed guard, at which point you’d better have a good arm bar and triangle defense or a foolproof closed guard pass or you’ll be in big trouble. 

The baseball slide guard pass, sometimes called the knee slice guard pass or knee slide guard pass, is a tricky pass because if you make a mistake you run the risk of giving your back to your opponent. But if executed well, this pass can have a very high success rate. This is why it’s a part of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt test curriculum.

This video breakdown of the baseball bat slide includes the legendary Xande Ribiero, who is featured heavily in his brother Saulo Ribiero’s famous Jiu Jitsu University book (which should be in every BJJ practitioner’s library).  Xande’s video includes two different grip variations and a bunch of little details that will help you execute this guard pass perfectly

Start: Standing, opponent on back playing open guard

Step 1: Step one leg in between opponent’s a deep as possible

Step 2: Get cross-collar grip as deep as possible

Step 3: Post free hand as high and far from opponent’s head as possible

Step 4: Slice knee over opponent’s hip between their elbow and knee while stepping free leg outside

Step 5: Move outside posting hand to opponent’s sleeve and use both hands to push-oull opponent’s arm, straightening it and preventing him from using it to slow your pass

Step 6: Slide knee through until foot is past opponent’s hip and proceed to side control