BJJ Lady with One Leg

To start with, I'd like to post a video from Nicolai Holt (my BJJ-junior-turned-instructor) from his competition in Japan in 2005. However, I will not try to inspire people with the perseverance and courage of this woman, which she clearly has shown by competing on the match. Instead, I decided to look at it from a more technical perspective - control on open guard. The match will give you a tremendous insight into guard passing.




For those with slower internet connection, please be patient and download the video till finish, as to you will need to observe the full match to give you the full insights.

On the first half of the match, you can see that the blue gi player keeps the white gi player at bay, recovering back to guard, and even the had her opponent on her mount for a short while until she was reversed and obtained kesa gatame at around 2:50 mark. After that point, the blue gi player was not able to recover guard

Now, what's the X-factor that made the white-gi player able to pass the guard? She passed from the side with the legs at the 2:50 mark.

Most beginners tend to try to pass on the weaker side of the guard (ie: the side with "no legs"), but as tempting and easy as it looks like, this will quickly prove to be counter-productive. Why? Maintaining control open guard is about keeping your opponent face to face against you through push, pull, and hooking actions as you react on which way your opponent will try to pass your guard. Control is maintained if the balance of force between left and right is about equal (ie: if opponent pushes on your left side, you push on your right side), and when this balance is not achieved, then either side is going for an attack (eg: sweeps, guard passes, etc.).

For the one-legged lady, which can only maintain control by pulling and pushing on one side, the concept of maintaining this balance of power is more obvious. She cannot get passed on the side with no legs, as she was able to maintain the lateral balance with her leg. However, as she get passed on her side with the legs, she can no longer maintain or recover this lateral balance, and therefore, got passed.

Therefore, as control is achieved by maintaining this balance of power, the general principle on maintaining the guard is to counter on the opponent's weaker side and never let your opponent get control over / around your stronger side. The same principle applies to guard passing as well - to spoil the balance of force, pass on the side that your opponent has greatest control over.

So, don't forget this when I scream "One-legged lady" during tourneys.

Note: Special thanks to Nicolai Holt for giving me great insights for this blog.

Tournament Preparation: Gameplan(s)

Melbourne, November 2006: Pan Pacific Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Championships. Nicolai Holt asked me a simple question 30 minutes before my first fight: "Bram, what's your gameplan?"

I couldn't answer.

We probably hear the word "game plan" so many times, but for many, this word does not seem to be synonymous with combat sports.

Apparently, it is as crucial as in other sports. A right game plan allows you to use your skills more efficiently, thus can differentiate between winning or losing, or on the streets, it can mean life or death.

A gameplan is not something that you invent when you jump into the competition or fight. It is something that people prepare to the detail, on how they want their games to move in to their favours, based on their own expertise, their opponent's, and the environment (eg: applicable rules, cage vs ring vs street, one vs multiple opponent, etc.). Having said that, a gameplan should retain a degree of flexibility - ie: you should not force your gameplan, but rather adjust your gameplan to the conditions given during a match, which mainly achieved through preparations of plan B or even plan C should Plan A fails to score.

Now, what elements form a good gameplan?
1.) Know thyself
2.) Know thy opponent
3.) Know the battlefield

1.) Know thyself
One need to assess his or her own strength and weaknesses. What positions are you comfortable in? What moves are you well-versed with? What positions are you NOT want to be in, can you finish by points, and so on. Having a knowledge of these gives you an "area" which you should play your game in, progress, and how to finish your opponent. Spar often, and consult with your trainer on how you should play your game. As your trainer is the closest person to train with you, he should be the best person to develop your gameplan.

2.) Know thy opponent
Knowing yourself is only half the battle - even the great Sun Tzu says so. You will need to know your opponent in order to find the most efficient way of defeating him using your chosen methods, while countering his attempts of trying to nullify your game. More often than not, this is the missing component. On street situations, this cannot be helped, but on tournaments, you can watch your opponents' earlier fights and/or fight videos of competitors.

3.) Know the battlefield
The fight stage can affect the effectiveness of the chosen techniques, thus affects the way your gameplan. A cage is played differently than a ring or a mat; an concrete is different from mats, matches with leglocks are played differently than those with leglocks, and the list goes on. Therefore, be aware of where you fight and under what rule, as this can greatly affect your gameplan, and make sure these are used to your advantage, not to your disadvantage.

Ideally, a good gameplan should have all these three components to maximise your chances of winning, and as developing a gameplan is not a 1-day process, so make sure the game plans are prepared. Even not knowing your opponent, you should prepare a basic gameplan tased on elements 1 and 3. Remember, if you don't prepare to win, you're preparing for a loss.

Now, how did I end up in Melbourne in 06? Well, Nicolai drilled me on a last-minute gameplan, which gave me a win on sub and 2 losses on points, one of them only by one advantage. Not a bad result, but could've been better with more preparation.

Closed Guard Basics

One of the unique features of BJJ, other than its tremendous use of leverage, is the ability to defend yourself, neutralise or even attack opponents from your back. What made this possible is BJJ's guard positions.

The most basic form of guard, as well as the first one that I encountered, was the closed guard. The reason why this guard is taught as the first guard is the fact that this guard offers the maximum area of contact among other guards, thus allowing more control over the person inside the guard.

What are the principles of closed guard?

1. Lock ankles while not in the offensive
2. Break down opponent’s posture and keep it that way
3. Open up your guard for the offensive only after breaking up opponent’s posture
4. Create more angle between your body and your opponent’s for better offenses

The first one, locking the ankles, are often forgotten by many, especially beginners in the heat of battle. Without it, the guard will not be “closed”, and you’ll quickly lose control of your opponent. Crossing the ankle will create a ring which traps your opponent’s hips and allow you to control your opponent. If the ring breaks while you’re trying to establish control, then your guard is broken, and your guard is likely to be passed.

As the basic principle of breaking the ring is by “overloading” them, you will need to prevent your opponent to fix his hips against yours, therefore keeping your hips mobile while immobilizing theirs. Breaking down your opponent’s posture will achieve this, which brings us to the next crucial element of closed guard.

Breaking your opponent’s posture is essentially moving your opponent’s centre of gravity forward toward you and keep them there, ie: break your opponent’s posture is by “sucking” your opponent into your guard. This will make your opponent off-balance, minimizing their capabilities to use leverage, thus minimizing the damage to yourself, as well as setting yourself up for the offensive.

For the offensive, we have to keep coming back to basic principles in BJJ – position over submission. In the case of a guard, you’ll need to open up your guard to attack, but do so after breaking up your opponent’s posture and have sufficient control over him/her. Without it, you’ll lose the guard for a submission attempt, and you’ll end up worse than what it used to be

Lastly, while there are numerous ways to attack your opponent from closed guard, but generally, the more angle you create between their body and yours, the more effective is your submissions and sweeps. Take for example an armbar – the more you take your opponent’s arm across his/her chest (thus more angle between you and your opponent), the faster you get the armbar.

So, keep these principles in mind when keeping your opponent inside your closed guard, and once you’re comfortable with closed guard, don’t hesitate to try other guards to increase you offensive and defensive capabilities.

For more references, here are some of the videos that I find useful:

Closed Guard Principles - as usual, Stephan Kesting did well in his explanations


Closed Guard Crash Course


For all of you Eddie Bravo fans, the Rubber Guard Instructionals:
Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


For those who wants to have a deeper look at this guard, I have the book for the class to borrow, but make sure you understand the basics of guard, or you will not be able to fully utilize this unorthodox guard.