Wanna 10x your pressure passing for jiu jitsu? Roll up and squeeze any flexible guard player like a tube of toothpaste with these 3 foolproof hacks the next time you step on the mat!
They say pressure creates diamonds…
… so how’d you like to make a diamond out of your opponent’s face?
You’d love to? Alrighty then.
By the end of this article, you’ll have absorbed 3 elite stack passing tips guaranteed to 10x your pressure passing for jiu jitsu, even if you’re smaller than your opponent.
How can I promise that?
Well, the lessons you’re going to learn come from the mind and game of one of the most notorious and frustrating GUARD PLAYERS ever to put on a gi – Keenan Cornelius.
It took lot of pressure (pun intended) to get Keenan to reveal these secrets to you today: after all, no guard player in their right mind would be crazy enough to hand over the kryptonite to their game.
But after a lot of tears, tantrums and a couple of juice boxes, he finally agreed to give up the goods.
I do have to warn you though: you’re not going to make any new friends with this knowledge, so wield it wisely.
Or not, what do I care?
3 Hacks To Help You 10x Your Pressure Passing For Jiu Jitsu That No Guard Player Wants You To Know
Tip #1 – The Staggered Double Unders Grip
A common mistake many make when initiating the double unders is to secure a palm to palm grip around their opponent’s waist.
However, this grip isn’t the most effective when it comes to controlling your opponent or setting up the stack pass.
Plus, locking your palms together often means your elbows are exposed, in a winged out position.
This gives your opponent an option for escape as they can push on either elbow to off-balance you and free their hips for an easy exit.
A much better grip for the double unders is the staggered grip below.
Taking a low grip and a high grip gives you control over your opponent’s hips, reduces their options for escape AND is much more effective for human origami.
But, getting the collar grip isn’t always easy…
… well, it actually is when you know the next step below.
Tip #2 – Slant to Reach the Collar
Once you secure your low grip on the pants, belt or even your opponent’s sleeve, your next goal is to achieve a grip high on your opponent’s collar.
But, if you’ve tried this before, you may have found that pressuring forward to reach your opponent’s collar can be a difficult thing to do.
This is because taking a direct line towards your opponent’s head means your applying pressure into the back of your opponent’s hamstring, and all your opponent needs to do to stop you from reaching their collar is push back against you with their leg.
And they don’t need to be strong to be successful in this task. As pushing against you with their hamstring is, believe it or not, less about pushing you back and more about pushing their shoulders and torso away from you.
And the more you drive in, the more you help them out.
But don’t worry, because the solution is simple.
All you need to do is post on the mat with the foot, opposite the hand you’re trying to reach with, and pivot on your other knee.
This will put you in a prime position to easily grab your opponent’s collar without sacrificing control.
“Why can’t I just grab lower on the collar? Why do I need to grab the collar so high?”
That’s a good question, I’m glad you asked.
You 100% can grab lower on the collar, and many people do, however, this once again opens up the opportunity for your opponent to push on your winged out elbows, as seen below.
While both grip options will work, only one will work more often against higher-level opponents.
And these are the types of details you need to consider when adding new moves to your game, not just in the stack pass, but in jiu jitsu as a whole.
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Tip #3 – Look Away to Increase the Pressure
Finally, if you really want to roll your opponent up and squeeze them like a tube of toothpaste, this is the tip for you.
Once you’ve secured both your high grip and your low grip, your next move is to increase the pressure.
However, don’t be tempted to drive forward in a straight line to accomplish this as it won’t put the squeeze on your opponent as much as you think.
Instead, take a pivoted stance, as seen in the image above, and look away from your opponent.
This ensures you’ll keep their hips off the ground and will be focusing your weight and pressure on one point concentrated towards your opponent’s head.
Summing it up: Pressure passing is a grind…
… at least, it looks that way to the untrained eye.
But just like every other move and position in jiu jitsu, you can either muscle through the technique, gas out your lungs and build up high levels of lactic acid in your limbs hoping you’ll be successful.
Or you can learn the tweaks and adjustments, elite black belts use, to help you significantly bump up your success rate, with a full gas tank left to spare.
For way more details on leveling up your stacking game, check out our new Pressure Passing Course over at Keenan Online.
