Braulio Estima - The Pretzel Pressure Pass

Here is a breakdown of Braulio's famous 'Pretzel pressure pass'. I have personally felt this pass many times training with Braulio and it's very uncomfortable and extremely effective.
Looking at it from the outside you would think that you can counter with a Flower sweep. But in this breakdown Braulio explains how he prevents that counter sweep from happening. Enjoy!
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[@Rising_Crane]

I've felt this from Braulio, too. It is like standing on a beach, watching a Tsunami approach- you know its coming, but there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it...

[@stuartcooperfilms]

It’s awful isn’t it lol

[@DrewDarce]

I used Braulio’s website and watching this pass in his rolling sessions always made me squeamish. I can feel my ribs separating just watching this highlight 😂

[@stuartcooperfilms]

It’s awful having this done to you. Especially by Braulio lol

[@aaronapodaca8724]

Roger Gracie does this as well. So brutal

[@stuartcooperfilms]

I had the pleasure of rolling with Roger when I was a purple belt. He tapped me from high mount just be the squeeze of his knees against my shoulders 😂 his pressure was insane

[@fuseone]

Love this pass. After I had knee surgery , for awhile I didn’t feel comfortable breaking the guard or standing up so I would use this pass. It works so nice.

[@PBJJVEP]

That’s exactly where I’m at, full tear of the MCL and now I’m gun shy. I have always stood to pass the closed guard but I’m not comfortable with that any more.

[@emanl84]

Looks like a very effective humbling therapy

[@lsls6090]

One of my favourite good job thanks

[@stuartcooperfilms]

This pass is so awful when your on the receiving end 😂

[@eclix]

Another detail to avoid getting rolled is to shift your weight up high towards his head, that way you'll be lying on his calf rather than his thigh, where he has power

[@chriscolley3886]

I had a judo guy in Portugal do this to me once, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't sweep or get out the back door, now I see. Thank you for posting this.

[@PeterJames143]

this is me, all the way. bravo braulio. i pity my little training partners today. hmm. didn't work out the first day. floor is too slippery, as soon as I try to tripod up my feet just slip out from under me and I can't walk around to north south.

[@razinhokazinho3092]

Song/Music name!?!?!? For the love of God man if your gonna include great music tell us the name. Keep up the great work Stu!!

[@unadulteratedtruth8716]

***YIKES*** I'm cringing just watching this. Pressure passing at another level.

[@stuartcooperfilms]

Dude I’ve felt it many times. It’s awful. It’s like your getting run over by a steam roller 😩

[@biashacker]

Tell me about it......,

[@unadulteratedtruth8716]

@@stuartcooperfilms I just know guys are thinking "Dude, pleeeeze, just go ahead and take the pass". I recall Mike Fowler saying he wanted to apply so much pressure with his knee on belly that guys were praying he would just go on and mount already... Same here. *LOL*

[@mikemurphy4694]

I tried this last night and screwed up something...guy arm barred me from the bottom?! (Where are you Samuel Marquez?) Braulio's arm doesn't ever seem to be in danger...but there is a pretty wide gap between Braulio and myself. LOL

[@stuartcooperfilms]

I think the first few times trying it your probably going to fuck up. Start practising on lower level guys. You have to get both knees past the hips. I messed up the first few times but I’m getting better at it slowly. The first part is the hardest to get I think. And it just won’t work on some people’s body types

[@mikemurphy4694]

@@stuartcooperfilms Yeah, I had ALREADY passed! I did the big step to the side in the guard. Blocked the hip. Had him all pretzel'd up...but I didn't have my hands locked. I'm starting to pass his knee over his head, I'm elated, this shit is working!! All of a sudden he has my wrist and his other leg comes over my head and he starts to extend. I'm like WTF?! Damn kids...

[@abukhalid7447]

Ahhh,jiu-jitsu,the art of folding clothes while the person is still wearing them😂

[@phredbookley183]

If the other guy isn't flexible. Does he just... Break?

[@r3771-n2r]

Props to Braulio's partner. I would tap just from the fold and the pressure.

[@MrSupertwo]

I think people forget about Braulio. He's not just good. He is a fucken God of Jiu-jitsu. He has beaten the best. Won at the highest levels. And, look at this dismantling of other Black Belts. His explanations and lessons are fantastic. The total can do everything God of Jiu-jitsu. The pressure he exerts here makes me uncomfortable just watching.

[@SouthBayEngr]

Yeah what’s the key to initially getting around their hips? That initial move of getting both your legs around their hip/butt to stack them is difficult. Do you have to do a small jump? He walks himself around their hips so easily. When I try , my opponent is able to prevent me from doing it.

[@deweyck6820]

Omg a guy at my gym does this. We call it the can opener cause thats what you feel like is happening to your body lol

[@jnwoodard8764]

It’s not like these are lower belts that he’s doing this to. That’s what makes it scary.

[@jiujudo1307]

I feel it's a pass best suited for a taller person? Where you can spread your base / weight out. Thought's? Would a 5'6 passer have the same weight distribution from that knee blocking and controlling the hip as a 6'3 person? The pass looks awesome! So many opportunities from that cradle style pass.

[@evolvep2747]

@@jayandgem same here. wasnt even aware i did a poor mans version of it, since I'm so long, until i saw this video.

[@Hommel125]

This is my bread and butter move, except I always sit through and go for the armbar. I learned it about 10 years ago from one of my old instructors who was also a wrestling and judo coach. I'll have to try scooping the leg the way Braulio does.

[@eclix]

Could you elaborate on how you get the armbar from here?

[@Hommel125]

@@eclix It’s a little hard to explain in text, but the start is same. Deep underhook on one side, knee in the tailbone, low posture to pressure his hips. Where I do it differently is when I go to stack him, I jump to a 90 degree angle and my free hand grabs the back of his head with a palm down grip. The goal here is to keep my hips as heavy and parallel to the mat as possible while pushing down on his head with my hand (not into the mat, but inward trying to touch his head to his knee). If I can keep my hips heavy and maintain strong head pressure, I won’t get swept. After that I walk a little towards his head making sure to carry his knee over with my hip. It’s important to stay tight because he will slip out if I let the pressure wane as I walk. Once his knee gets to around his face I will sit through and really tighten up the underhook collar grip. In the final position it will naturally be around his elbow so I can go for the armbar by pushing down on his wrist with my hand that was on his head. The downside if all he has to do to defend is lock his hands behind my back, but if he does that I can just rewind my steps and take side mount easily. I have a video of me going for the move in one of my matches, but the angle isn’t the best. It’s at the 2 minute mark. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6GmYWRngK6Gjqc I couldn’t get the finish because he locked his hands, but it led to side mount.

[@Hommel125]

@@eclix I just realized I made a video for a friend a while ago explaining this exact move. Here’s the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYTVpauVqZiLmJo

[@eclix]

@@Hommel125 That is absolutely beautiful. Gonna give that a try, thanks a lot

[@Hommel125]

@@eclix Nice. Hope it works well for you!

[@Sheahova]

just got accepted for adcc 2024 off this in the trial however i went from pretzel to reverse twister

[@matheusgarcia2766]

I always have trouble skipping their hips and going to the side after getting the underhook. People can just follow me and we just end up spinning untill I can eventually get the position but I can't do it reliably

[@stuartcooperfilms]

Yes the first part needs a lot of practise. Where you go from the closed guard with the undertook to skipping the hips. The first few times trying it probably won’t work too well. But once you get that big first movement down with a lot of drilling, the next few steps become a lot more straight forward

[@andrewtregoning]

Simon down at Carson gracie london does something similar, its horrible

[@gabrielribeiro7281]

Sensacional

[@16thChemical]

This is my favorite closed guard pass but some highly flexible guys don't open up their crossed legs even though they're completely pressed down.

[@Avi-no4nm]

I’m one of those flexible guys and what you’ve said is true but only to a certain extent. When black belts do this to me they put unbelievable amounts of pressure into my solar plexus and I will literally open my legs and give the pass. It’s so uncomfortable to stay there, flexibility does nothing for me in this situation lol

[@submissionsummit]

This is 1 of the most disrespectful submissions I have ever seen in grappling 😂 I ♥ it!

[@jitsapprentice4034]

Frickin love it!! I’ll be trying this out tomorrow lol.

[@stuartcooperfilms]

I was trying it tonight. Works amazingly well

[@jitsapprentice4034]

@autoglassjay almost all tapped just from the pressure and I wasn’t able to completely set up the triangle. Just trying it on white belts and blues, I’m also rushing it at times and I was sweeped once from incorrect placement of my knee, not as I should have had it which is below the hips. Love it though and will keep at it until I’m half descent at it lol.

[@jitsapprentice4034]

@@stuartcooperfilms I definitely need to practice it a lot more lol.

[@jiujudo1307]

How did it work out?

[@jitsapprentice4034]

@@jiujudo1307 definitely not a high percentage technique for me at the moment! But like a lot of jiu jitsu need to keep practicing it.

[@tricyclemishap]

Rename this the backbreaker pass.

[@stuartcooperfilms]

Haha that’s more fitting for sure

[@Mark-gi4tp]

Really digging this music. Anyone got any info on it?

[@Xiatar]

Awesome! Thanks a lot for the details.

[@pengyuan9690]

Awesome thanks you Mr.

[@greengo9]

Looks a bit humiliating.. a like it 😁

[@RWBaller4]

The problem point for me is getting past the hips. When I do manage to pass the hips when I unclasp my hands the opponent uses their leg strength to put me back to full guard

[@SouthBayEngr]

@@jayandgem that is a great tip. Going to try that.

[@808BJJ_Black_Belt]

Wow 😳 genius ⚠️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@stuartcooperfilms]

🔥🔥🔥

[@mrlinguini83]

Hi Stuart while we all love the effort that goes into making these videos can you please kindly remove this one.....I don't want people knowing my secrets ;)

[@richkrupansky1339]

Brutality

[@stuartcooperfilms]

It Certainly is a brutal pass!

[@BrubMan]

this is fantastic

[@organicenergy5124]

Glorious

[@Sunsetsamuraii]

🔥 🔥 🔥

[@stuartcooperfilms]

👊👊👊

[@epa-c7007]

This looks freaking awful from the victim's perspective. Must learn.

[@stuartcooperfilms]

💯

[@RoboBreaker]

This doesn't work on larger, stronger opponents

[@AlexWehpunkt]

well, one of my 50kg female white belts passes regulary male whites and blues with 70-80kg with it, so... maybe you didn't practice enough? Edit: spelling.

[@AguyR1401]

The effectiveness of smash and pressure passing will always be fixed by the weight of the practitioner, regardless of their technique. Having said that, the weight of the average person is enough to maintain the stack once it is fully acquired, with the bottom person perpendicular to the top, and with their hips isolated in the way that Braulio explained. With a bit of speed, this coveted stack can be acquired by anybody! Unlike the Sao Paulo pass, which could be described as the cousin of the pretzel, whose stack position and angle is simply too weak for a much smaller athlete to perform.

[@strontiumdog8646]

Keep practicing bro. You will get it one day!

[@FatBitches]

3:01 knee