Roger Gracie Half Guard Passes (vid)

TrumpetDan

Green Belt
@Green
Joined
Nov 25, 2008
Messages
1,301
Reaction score
0
You guys all made me aware that youtube has a 15 min time limit now, so my latest video has just under 5 min of commentary on Rogers matches along with the instruction.


 
Excellent. Love the commentary on Roger's videos at the end! My one dispute...very, very, minor...and doesn't really affect anything...I just have to watch the video in a mirror, LOL...is that it's been my experience that "most" people pass to their left because "most" people are right handed. Obviously Roger is going to pass to whatever side he wants, but I'm wondering if he's actually left handed? Or if he's worked on something that gets him to that side more often?

Love these passes though! Pure pressure mauling. Fits my style very well. Hopefully I'll be able to give these a shot tonight.
 
I saw this pop up on my subscriptions and was waiting for your post.
This is good stuff.
 
Ninja, yea...roger is doing something that leads him to pass on that side and it has to do with which hand opens the guard from the standing position. Since he usually pins his oppent with his non lead arm (left) he typically opens the guard with his right. If your right hand opens the guard, more often than not you will find yourself on that side. Check out my passing lesson #4 and it will explain it a bit
 
Ninja, yea...roger is doing something that leads him to pass on that side and it has to do with which hand opens the guard from the standing position. Since he usually pins his oppent with his non lead arm (left) he typically opens the guard with his right. If your right hand opens the guard, more often than not you will find yourself on that side. Check out my passing lesson #4 and it will explain it a bit

He also prefers ( i think) starting his choke with his right hand, and the way you showed the choke, requires him to pass to his right in order to set it up.
 
Sorry to thread-jack, but all this talk about which side to start got me wondering...
Has anyone researched which side the majority of jiu-jitsu players use for different techniques?

For example:
I prefer to pass to the right.
I prefer to armbar from mount against the right arm.
I lock my closed guard with my right ankle over my left.
I prefer to triangle bringing my left leg through.
I prefer to omoplata my opponent's left arm.
My cross choke usually starts with my right hand.
etc...



This would be good stuff to know.
Of course, being ambidextrous would be better!
Anyway, somewhere out there, there's an over-obsessive BJJ guy who did all the research already :icon_lol:
Show us the data!



PS... Thanks to TrumpetDan for all the Roger research!
 
I like the longer run time this vid has.

roger's game is so slow and methodical and simple.

do you plan on breaking down roger's half guard sweeps?
 
do you plan on breaking down roger's half guard sweeps?


I dont plan on breaking his sweep (lol at non plural) down yet. As a rule, I dont teach stuff that I wouldnt feel comfortable attempting in competition at the purple belt level. I started working on the sweep a little before my last competition, but I separated 2 ribs in the competition and am still lacking the stability in my core and ribs to start to add it into my game. Rolling over like that wouldnt be good for the ribs.

Oli (Roger brown belt) breaks down Rogers sweep nicely and he is a half guard specialist.



Roger has also done a half guard bride sweep that can be found on vince quituguas dvd if you have it. Some of the dvd has made its way onto youtube so ill have a look and see if I can find it.
 
I love the little foot tap roger does to get through to full mount at 10:38 in the video.

Also, Oli's sweep is great, although Rogers looks (from the opposite side in the competition video I've seen) more like a helicopter leg action.
 
I love the little foot tap roger does to get through to full mount at 10:38 in the video.

He does a similar thing when he mounts from side control if he can cross the legs and gain a grip on the near side leg when they are crossed. Check out one of rogers 23890 matches with lovato to see what I mean. Skip to just before 3:00

 
Roger has also done a half guard bride sweep that can be found on vince quituguas dvd if you have it. Some of the dvd has made its way onto youtube so ill have a look and see if I can find it.

secrets of the half guard right? i got it. thanks.
 
nice break down of the pass. thank you for this!
 
Fantastic video.

We tried it out, and that shoulder pressure is out of this world. As unpleasant as the jaw-smashing version most guys use is, this version will make a guy tap.
 
Alright, so, I tried it and I actually have a problem. My damn leg gets stuck all the time. I get GOOD shoulder pressure. I untuck that lapel and grab it by the arm pit. Excellent control. But then I had a couple of different guys just clamp onto my leg and I had a hell of a time trying to get it out. Still going to work on it, just wanted to drop in my updated .02.
 
For example:
I prefer to pass to the right.
I prefer to armbar from mount against the right arm.
I lock my closed guard with my right ankle over my left.
I prefer to triangle bringing my left leg through.
I prefer to omoplata my opponent's left arm.
My cross choke usually starts with my right hand.
etc...
I prefer to pass to my left
I prefer to armbar from mount against the right arm
I lock my closed guard with my left ankle over my right
I prefer to triangle bringing my right leg through (pushing their left arm) which leads me to...
prefer to omoplata my opponents right arm
My cross choke usually starts with my right hand

(Bolded the differences)

From what we've been able to determine in the discussions in class most people pass to their left. We hypothesized that this was due to most people being right handed. There were a couple of things that led us to this conclusion. One, the one guy in class that night who preferred passing to his right...was left handed. Two, we think it stems from the fact that when you grab the lapel and wrap it up most people tend to do it with their strong hand. So if I try to hold someone down I want to do it with my right hand. This leads to standing with their sleeve in my left hand and pushing their right knee, or just using the left hand from guard to try and open. Sure, you can go either way you want. This was just the evidence that we gathered while exploring this particular question.

As for the triangle, for me anyway, I can usually only get it that one way. It's an odd thing for me but when I sit in a chair I always, ALWAYS cross my legs by putting my right foot on my left knee. I never put my left foot on my right knee? So, over the years (I'm in my 4th decade) I think my right hammie has just become more flexible or something? So it's way easier for me to throw my right leg over their shoulder than my left. Odd, but I'm not a huge triangle guy anyway. :icon_chee

That kind of leads directly to my omoplata preference as well. I usually hit the omo off of a failed triangle so it is invariably their right arm that I get.
 
Alright, so, I tried it and I actually have a problem. My damn leg gets stuck all the time. I get GOOD shoulder pressure. I untuck that lapel and grab it by the arm pit. Excellent control. But then I had a couple of different guys just clamp onto my leg and I had a hell of a time trying to get it out. Still going to work on it, just wanted to drop in my updated .02.

have you tried lifting your leg instead of stretching it.

Next time try walking your foot to the guys butt your leg should be at 90 degrees. you will see your opponents hip rise off the mat. then all you do is push his legs off your knee, he will slide down to your ankle.
after that just follow what TS said and you be ok.


i think this guy did a very good job explaining this technique, but i feel he forgot to mention that height (length of your legs) can cause some problems.

i use this pass every class and on every person. so i feel very comfortable with it.
 
First time checking out your videos. Very nice work. Thanks.
 
Back
Top