What a treat we had this weekend. Fabio “The General” Gurgel. 8 time world BJJ champion. Founder of the famed Alliance Jiu Jitsu team. Coach and instructor for such notables as: Marcelo Garcia, Damian Maia, Terere, Cobrinha, and many more. Seemed like a great guy. Very friendly, funny, was a great instructor.

He showed us many techniques, too many to detail. I’m hoping that I can remember most of it! We did two days, with day one focusing on being on the bottom, guard retention, some half guard and butter fly guard sweeps. Day two was all top position stuff: breaking the closed guard, a pass, a couple of half guard passes, plus a couple of armlocks and a choke.

A few notable techniques that stood out to me. The very first thing we did was a modification to our in side control posture. First off, don’t be flat on your back. Be up on your side. Better yet, have your bottom elbow tucked under, so that you’re actually leaning towards the guy on top. Much harder to be pushed flat like this. Then, if he reaches around to pull you closer, you can escape and get back to guard. Or, if he closes in and tries to kill your hip you can sweep.

Many of the bottom techniques were based on being in butter fly guard and gripping you oppoent’s belt. Not wrapped around and grabbing it from behind, but right up front. This way you can control his posture and prevent him from backing up and making space. Then you can sweep directly, or if he stands switch to X guard and sweep (or attack) from there.

For top techniques we started off with an excellent guard break. It involves a change from our usual grips, small, but they make a big difference. Keeping one hand on their chest, and the other on their hip, both straight to prevent them from sitting up, when you move your hips back as you stand, there’s too much leverage to allow them to keep their guard closed. Then you can keep a lapel grip, and put your elbows on your knees to prevent spider guard. Step over a leg to the side, and you’re on your way to passing.

Great stuff all around. After class both days, everyone rolled a little bit. Fabio was in there as well, mixing it up with anyone brave enough to try. At the end of everything, he and Damian went a couple of rounds, which brought everything to a standstill. Very cool to watch, even if I didn’t understand everything going on!