INVERTING to Retain the Guard (BJJ): Cross-Grip Frame to Manage Distance (PART TWO)

[@aidanlee8804]

This is so useful. I’ve been having this exact problem recently. I keep the cross collar and can recover most of the time, but other times before you know it they’re round the back and I turtle up instead of this. Thank you!

[@bzglick]

Great to hear - thank you!

[@danielfloyd396]

excellent, this really helped my game. thanks for the vid Professor!

[@bzglick]

great to hear 👊🏼

[@ArielTabak]

really well explained!

[@bzglick]

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@rickb_NYC]

Great if you can do it. Inversion is the only movement I can think of in jiu jitsu that requires physicality beyond the capability of many people, me for one. Watching people with a strong inversion game is sort of like watching people dunk basketballs. Fortunately, it is skill you can work around.

[@bzglick]

:) as with many things in jiu-jitsu, there are definitely workarounds and alternatives. We'll cover some ways to develop your inversion skills in a future video set for sure

[@marcelmutsaarts6058]

Thx again Brian. Really nice entry👌

[@bzglick]

Any time - appreciate your watching :)

[@armandberkut6021]

Get Inverted by all means ; Correcting your opponent when they make mistakes like these is Bad Manners ! LOL

[@MrUnderrated]

Brian I am loving this content! A trouble I am having outside of guard retaining is connecting gi passes. Do you believe in connecting loose passes such as torreando with tight passing such as over-unders? What do you find most effective and what do you think modern day gi competition lacks or doesn't focus on enough such as half-guard which seems played very little across the board. sorry for the loaded question just really enjoy your insight!

[@bzglick]

Thanks :) One thing that people often struggle with concerning guard passing is the idea that passing is a *process* rather than a single event. Great passers always chain techniques together in order to account for an ever-changing terrain (guard defenses, retention and counter-attacks). Connecting passes in a way that includes various approaches - loose and tight, advance and retreat, high and low - tends to produce the best results across levels because its both adaptive and disruptive. This doesn't cover it all, but it's a start. We'll talk more about it soon :)

[@Lyte23]

Hi coach loving all the content. My hamstrings are not super flexible so I can't invert and get my legs over my body. Do you have any tips for people like me?

[@bzglick]

Thanks. Yes - one thing you can work on right away is the shoulder roll to recover guard from turtle. It isn't technically an inversion but it uses a similar skill to fold the body. There are also a few drills you can do to develop the *feel* for the inversion even if you're not 100% there yet, to get you acclimated to the idea of the movement as your body catches up. We'll cover them soon. 😉