let's talk about Rickson,closed guard evolution, posture and leg pressure

[JosephDredd]

So someone was telling me recently that Rickson and the other old-school BJJ / vale tudo guys who loved their closed guard manage to generate incredible pressure with their legs. It was impossible to feel safe, comfortable and stable in their guards.

I asked how that was possible, because the only pressure I generate with my legs is by pulling. Even though I've got strong legs, I don't think anyone would describe it as crushing.

He answered that Rickson loved to get on his side and pressure down with his top leg, making you carry his weight.

As I'm thinking about it now, it was probably much easier in Rickson's day, especially in Vale Tudo, because people weren't using the rigidly upright posture in modern sport BJJ. I say this because videos I've seen with old school guys (Pedro Sauer, Joe Morreira, Gracies) all had many guard breaks hunched over the guy's hips.

I've never seen these guard breaks in modern BJJ, so I'm assuming the reliance on posture has changed significantly.

Now, currently, most of the pressure I generate from my closed guard is by pulling with my arms. People sit so low and so far back that it's easier to use my legs to pull myself up than to pull them towards me. Most of the time I don't even try to break their posture and just sit up and look for sweeps or submissions from the hip bump position. Or I put my hands on the floor by my ears and bridge, trying to dump them over.

Does anyone have any tips on how to generate the kind of leg pressure that will keep people off balance and on the defensive?

 

[Turtlepawah]

I've gotten alot of my closed guard strategies from Henry Akins. Basically, the trick is to keep a constant pull with your legs, rather than going for explosive motions. This way, your opponent only needs to slip for a single moment in order to be pulled in. Keep manipulating the arms, and eventually they will make a mistake. When posture is broken down, I emulate Kron or Roger Gracie's game. Get the opponents arm across your body and turn to your side to put your weight into him/her, and/or go to high guard.

 

[ijustwannasurf]

The Rickson-style closed guard pressure you are describing is designed to create that hunched over posture that makes their attacks seem overly simple.

Try this:
Hold uke in your closed guard.
Open your guard and use your knees to climb your hips as high up their chest as possible. Sticking your head on the mat and shoulder walking IN will help your hips get the required elevation.
Close your guard again. Your hips should be off the ground. Don't slide back down by trying to hold with your ankles; generate grip with your knees and thighs instead.
Now we can pull down. Don't pull in with your legs. Instead, fold at the hip like you're trying to squat. You should feel it right at the top of your quads and in your hip flexors. This should pull your hips down to the mat with their body in tow.

This is 100% a feel position. It takes time to develop the sensitivity to do it effectively. That said, it's worth the work. If done correctly, you can manipulate their body in every direction with very little energy expended.
In my opinion, the hardest part is learning how to angle your hips and attack without disconnecting from the initial 'grip'. The trick is hanging your weight off of uke, using your head, elbows, and shoulders as pivot points to give your hips room to move side to side.

Here's a video of Pedro Sauer going over something similar. He had his legs lower than I was taught, but the concept is very much the same.

 

[Bjoern]

It´s not about pulling with arms or with the legs. It is about connection your body as a unit so that your opponent has to carry your whole bodyweight while he is in your guard. That creates pressure:

 

[JosephDredd]

Great videos! Thank you

 

[Mr. Sandman]

[/QUOTE]

It's misleading to say that closed guard is just like the bear hug but with your legs.

First of all, with the bear hug, you have your legs and hips under you which is where you generate all the power that can come with the bear hug. Closed guard, you're just hanging off your opponent.

Legs 7 TIMES stronger than arms?! Easy there...

 

[winterbike]

It's misleading to say that closed guard is just like the bear hug but with your legs.

First of all, with the bear hug, you have your legs and hips under you which is where you generate all the power that can come with the bear hug. Closed guard, you're just hanging off your opponent.

Legs 7 TIMES stronger than arms?! Easy there...[/QUOTE]

If you use your chi properly it can go as high as 10 times stronger than the arms. Remember dude, invisible jiu-jitsu is all about mystical shit that no one else can understand. Only the Master knows the secret techniques.

 

[Turtlepawah]

It's misleading to say that closed guard is just like the bear hug but with your legs.

First of all, with the bear hug, you have your legs and hips under you which is where you generate all the power that can come with the bear hug. Closed guard, you're just hanging off your opponent.

Legs 7 TIMES stronger than arms?! Easy there...

Well, as with any simile, it is not perfect representation, but tries to highlight certain aspects that might not be obvious. What I believe that Henry is getting at is exactly what you are objecting to; the closed guard is not a position where you passively hang with your legs, but instead actively dig your hips down in your opponent to transfer your bodyweight into him, crunch your hip flexors and using your knees to pull his body down. As both hips and legs are active and aligned, it could well be likened to a bear hug.
As far as how much stronger the legs are than the arms, maybe just take it to mean that they are a lot stronger, and leave it at that.

 

[Mr. Sandman]

Well, as with any simile, it is not perfect representation, but tries to highlight certain aspects that might not be obvious. What I believe that Henry is getting at is exactly what you are objecting to; the closed guard is not a position where you passively hang with your legs, but instead actively dig your hips down in your opponent to transfer your bodyweight into him, crunch your hip flexors and using your knees to pull his body down. As both hips and legs are active and aligned, it could well be likened to a bear hug.
As far as how much stronger the legs are than the arms, maybe just take it to mean that they are a lot stronger, and leave it at that.

I hear you and the way you are wording it is more accurate.
Don't forget, he wants you to buy his instructional.
"It's like a bear hug, but with my legs which are 7 to 10 times stronger" kind of speach is misleading.
It just has a vibe of Gracie marketing behind it, that's all, representative of the way he markets his stuff on Facebook "Learn the secrets of this and that" type of BS...
Tell it like it is, closed guard is a good position from the bottom but don't sell it like if it was Superior to holding someone in a bear hug. Young inexperienced ears will believe that crap.