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Luta Livre – Brazilian Freestyle Fighting

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu wasn’t the only grappling martial art to be developed within Brazil. Luta Livre, which is often overshadowed by BJJ, has a rich history of its own. A rich history that unfortunately many that practice grappling aren’t aware of. Here is the complete story of Luta Livre and how it has influenced modern […]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu wasn’t the only grappling martial art to be developed within Brazil. Luta Livre, which is often overshadowed by BJJ, has a rich history of its own.

A rich history that unfortunately many that practice grappling aren’t aware of. Here is the complete story of Luta Livre and how it has influenced modern No-Gi and MMA.

We’ll go through what Luta Livre is, who created it, and list some of the best Luta Livre fighters. Also detail the martial arts rivalry with BJJ that at times turned violent.

What is Luta Livre?

Luta Livre is a form of submission grappling that was developed in the 1930s in Brazil. It is a mix of catch wrestling, Judo, and Pankration techniques.

The name Luta Livre in Portuguese translates to “free fighting” and basically is an early form of No-Gi Jiu Jitsu. Much of the training you would see in a Luta Livre school 60 years ago looks exactly like a modern No-Gi class.

What are the differences between Luta Livre and BJJ?

While both Luta Livre and BJJ are grappling martial arts with emphasis on ground fighting, they do have two glaring differences. Those being ideological differences and of course the training attire.

Traditional BJJ trains in a kimono or Gi and is used in many of the techniques. Luta Livre is No-Gi, where you only train in shorts.

Ideologically, the two martial arts have very different approaches to grappling. Jiu Jitsu is more guard based along with using the Gi, while Luta Livre is more wrestling based.

The objective in Luta Livre is to get the takedown, stay on top, and lock on a submission. Leg locks are also more frequently used in this martial art, while they’re frowned upon in BJJ.

Luta Livre ranking system

In Luta Livre, there is a belt ranking system similar to BJJ, but is slightly different. Belts are divided between beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

Beginner

White
Yellow
Orange

Intermediate

Blue

Advanced

Purple
Brown
Black

Who created Luta Livre?

Luta Livre was created by Euclydes “Tatu” Hatem. Tatu (armadillo) as he was nicknamed for his stocky, yet wide and muscular frame was a born athlete.

After attempting to be a competitive rower, he took up learning catch wrestling to stay active and learn self defense. He took classes at the Associação de Cristã de Moços in Rio de Janeiro.

His teacher was a pioneer of catch wrestling in Brazil named Orlando Americo “Dudu” da Silva. A famed fighter at the time that once beat Geo Omori, one of the original Judokas that came to Brazil.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Hatem fought professionally, participating in various luta livre and wrestling competitions. He fought a wide variety of fighters with backgrounds in wrestling, Jiu Jitsu, and Judo.

Most notable submitting the Gracie brothers’ cousin George Gracie and a series of matches with Takeo Yano. Also in one of his last professional matches beating a superheavyweight Russian wrestler Leon Falkenstein nicknamed the “man mountain.”

Once he retired in the 1950s, Tatu opened his own school and began teaching Luta Livre. He would teach at his school for nearly 30 years before passing away in 1984.

Notable Luta Livre fighters

There have been numerous famous fighters with a background in Luta Livre. Here are some of the most notable Luta Livre fighters of all time.

Euclydes Hatem

Hatem, the creator of Luta Livre, had a 2 decade fight career in various forms of fighting. Winning a wide variety of championships in different styles, which makes him one of the most accomplished Brazilian fighters ever.

Euclides Pereira

Euclides Pereira was a famous Luta Livre practitioner that fought in Luta Livre competitions for 25 years. Nicknamed “O Diabo Ouro”(The Blonde Devil), Pereira fought in over 300 Vale Tudo fights against the best of the era. Including Carlson Gracie, Waldo Santana, Waldemar Santana, Ivan Gomes, and Rei Zulu.

Marco Ruas

Marco Ruas was a student of Tatu Hatem and fought in a variety of Vale Tudo fights during his career. Most notably winning the UFC 7 tournament and having a stint in the Pride Fighting Championship.

Renato Sobral

UFC and Strikeforce veteran Renato “Babalu” Sobral was a Brazilian wrestling champion before learning Luta Livre under Marco Ruas. Babalu went 37-12 in his career and won the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Championship.

Luta Livre vs BJJ

Since Luta Livre and BJJ were developing around the same time, a rivalry sort of grew between the two. A rivalry that would sometimes turn violent.

Their rivalry stems from many things that were more than just Jiu Jitsu vs submission wrestling. Here are some of the reasons behind why the rivalry developed.

From a glance, the rivalry would seem to stem from two grappling arts with different methods of teaching. The rivalry actually goes deeper than that and it’s actually a battle between social classes.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu during the 19th century was practiced more by the upper class of Brazilian society. The Gis were expensive and so were the monthly dues for Jiu Jitsu classes.

Luta Livre was practiced more by the middle to lower class within Brazil. It was more affordable and all you needed to train was a pair of shorts.

Under the surface of the rivalry, there was always a bitterness that Luta Livre practitioners held against BJJ practitioners.

Early years of the rivalry

During the early years, there was a rivalry between the two grappling styles, but it was more or less respectful. Tatu beat a few Jiu Jitsu practitioners during his fighting career, which included George Gracie.

Then from the 1950s to 1970s, there really wasn’t any violent hostility between the two styles. One high profile fight between the two sides would take place in 1968 between Euclides Pereira and Carlson Gracie.

A match that Pereia would win to give bragging rights to Luta Livre. After

The rivalry becomes violent

The rivalry wouldn’t turn violent until the early 1980s. In 1982 during Carnival, a fight broke out between a Muay Thai school and younger members of the Gracie family.

One of the Gracie boys that got injured in the fight was a young Royce Gracie. Rolles Gracie was furious with the attack and took a group from the Gracie Jiu Jitsu school to the Muay Thai gym.

At the Muay Thai gym, Rolles would challenge the coach of the gym and easily beat him. The Muay Thai school wanted payback and the two sides agreed on putting on 3 Vale Tudo matches.

Marco Ruas was one of the Muay Thai students chosen to fight, who also happened to be a Luta Livre practitioner. Ruas would recruit other Luta Livre practitioners to fight against the Jiu Jitsu school.

Going into the fights, Jiu Jitsu was heavily favored to win, but would be shocked at the result. They would fight to a draw against the Luta Livre fighters, which really hurt Jiu Jitsu’s reputation of being superior.

The rivalry gets more violent

The next violent chapter in this rivalry stemmed from a fight at a Copacabana beach between Rickson Gracie and Hugo Duarte. Gracie claims that the two were in talks to fight, but heard Duarte was going to withdraw.

So Rickson confronted Hugo at a beach in Copacabana and forced Duarte to fight him. Gracie handily beat Duarte in a fight that was filmed by Rickso’s training partner.

This enraged the Luta Livre faction and led to a gang of their fighters storming the Gracie Academy with weapons. Hélio Gracie would diffuse the situation and help set up another contest between the two sides.

Desafio: Jiu Jitsu vs Luta Livre

In 1991, another fight night between the two sides after Walid Ismail made disparaging remarks about Luta Livre to a paper. Restarting the rivalry that was actually calm for a few years.

Ismail, Fabio Gurgel, and Murilo Bustamante would get a clean sweep over the Luta Livre fighters in this competition. Giving the bragging rights to Jiu Jitsu.

The Pentagon Combat riot

In 1997, the two sides would have the last major conflict with one another. Renzo Gracie would face Luta Livre fighter Eugenio Tadeu. This fight was set up due to a grudge Tadeu had with the Gracie’s for attacking his teammate Duarte years before.

In the main event, the crowd got emotional and security failed to keep them away from the cage. The crowd began hanging on the cage during the Renzo and Tadeu fight.

Violence erupted after a spectator struck Renzo and a riot ensued. Many were injured and the venue was destroyed.

This riot forced the Brazilian government to intervene and force a truce between the two sides. Since then, the relationship between the two sides has been a respectful one.

Luta Livre’s legacy

Even though Luta Livre gets overshadowed by Jiu Jitsu, it is an effective martial art that deserves credit for its innovations. This grappling martial art would help form what we know as modern No-Gi Jiu Jitsu and MMA.

Today, many of the top MMA fighters ever developed their skills within Luta Livre. Including Pedro Rizzo, Roushimar Palhares, Darren Till, and future UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo.

Dagestani Handcuff – Everything You Need To Know

In MMA, Dagestani fighters have been taking over the sport. Using a variety of techniques that they were taught within Sambo and wrestling. One of the signature moves of these fighters has been coined the “Dagestani handcuff.” A move that was used quite frequently by former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Let’s break down everything […]

In MMA, Dagestani fighters have been taking over the sport. Using a variety of techniques that they were taught within Sambo and wrestling.

One of the signature moves of these fighters has been coined the “Dagestani handcuff.” A move that was used quite frequently by former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Let’s break down everything about the Dagestani Handcuff. We’re going to go over how it was developed and how the move works. Then we’ll go into various ways to use it, as well as list important tips for locking it in.

When was the Dagestani Handcuff created?

While this technique has been dubbed the Dagestani Handcuff, this isn’t the move’s original name. The original and most common name used for this technique is the hammerlock.

The hammerlock has been used for centuries within amateur wrestling, Sambo, and catch wrestling. In amateur wrestling, the maneuver is used to pin an opponent. Then within submission wrestling, the move would be turned into a submission.

Dagestani MMA fighters have utilized this move, which is why the hammerlock was nicknamed the Dagestani Handcuff.

Today this move has many variations that have different purposes. Everything from pinning an opponent, submission, guard pass, or just to expose an opponent’s face to land strikes.

How does the Dagestai Handcuff work?

The basic function of the Dagestani is quite simple, yet very effective. Using two arms on one of your opponent’s to put their arm behind their back gives you ultimate control over them.

With their arm trapped behind their back, they can do nothing, but struggle to recover control of their arm. This is why every law enforcement agency in the world uses this technique to control a suspect.

Once you lock on this handcuff, you can do just about anything you want to your opponent.

Dagestani Handcuff Armlock

The first Dagestani Handcuff technique we’ll detail is the armlock. This technique starts from when your opponent is in turtle and you’re on top of them.

In amateur wrestling, this is called a hip ride position. Your opponent will try to escape this position by raising up and either sitting out or turning into you.

To prevent that, grab a bodylock around your opponent’s chest. Then drive your shoulder under your opponent’s shoulder, and walk to the side to drag them to the mat.

From here, you’re going to keep them to the mat by taking wrist control and driving forward. They can still stand up, so to prevent this, push their leg down with your free hand and go to S-Mount.

In S-mount, triangle your legs together and drive forward to trap your opponent’s arm/shoulder to the mat. To get the armlock, back step out of S-mount, put two hands on their wrist, and push the arm up. Pushing it towards their shoulder to put intense pressure on their shoulder joint.

Dagestani Handcuff guard pass

The Dagestani Handcuff or hammerlock can also be used to pass your opponent’s guard. From your opponent’s guard, you start the set up by grabbing wrist control, and planting their arm to the mat.

Next, you’re going to bring your head to your opponent’s chin, come to your feet, and drive forward. When you do this it opens space between your opponent’s lower back and the mat.

This gives you the space to reach under your opponent and pass their wrist to your other hand. If they resist, you can walk your hips toward the arm you’re controlling and pass it from there.

Be sure to re-grab their wrist on the pass with a palm up grip to establish the best control. Now with their arm trapped, you can freely pass on that side of your opponent’s body.

Walk your hip towards their shoulder, push their knee down to open their guard, and pass to side-control.

Dagestani Handcuff to ground n pound(from guard)

In MMA, you can do the exact same movement as the guard passing technique to lay down heavy ground n pound. Grab hold of your opponent’s wrist, drive forward, and pass their arm to your other hand.

From here, you can land some strikes, but your opponent can still land a submission with their arm trapped. Especially if they are a good guard player.

So, to prevent this, you can step over their leg and triangle your legs together from half-guard. Their leg and arm is trapped and can do nothing to stop you from landing hard strikes.

Dagestani Handcuff to ground n pound(turtle position)

Instead of going for an armlock like in the first technique detailed above, you can handcuff to land powerful strikes. Start the technique by keeping your hip connected to your opponent’s with no space given.

Next establish control of their near side arm to keep them from getting an underhook on you and stand up. Then your other hand is going to reach under your opponent’s far arm and grab hold of their wrist.

With that wrist control, push their hand to their belly and drive forward to flatten them out. From here, you can throw a variation of strikes to either finish your opponent or open them up for a submission.

Dagestani Handcuff counter

While it seems like it’s almost impossible to get out of this handcuffing technique, there are counters being developed. One of them being this wrist to free your hand from your opponent’s handcuff.

The first step of this escape is to have your hand up defending strikes. You’re already in a bad position, so you have to be defending yourself at all times before it gets worse.

Turtle your head down to try and cover your head as you grab your wrist that the opponent is controlling. Once you grab your wrist, extend your back and straighten out your arm.

Then work to shuck your elbow around your opponent’s shoulder to give you space to turn into them. From here you can either try to recover guard or try a sweep.

Hammerlock from cross body ride

The cross body ride is where you hook your opponent’s leg and turn them to take their back. Instead of taking your opponent’s back you can go for a hammerlock.

You start with your legs triangled around your opponent’s legs going for a calf slicer. They extend their leg to defend and you use that momentum to move to their back.

As you move towards their back, grab wrist control on your opponent along with an underhook on their elbow. Holding their arm to your chest to establish control over it.

Next, use your control to push your opponent’s arm to the mat and towards their far armpit. Then take your arm hooking under your opponent’s arm out and hook from the top and cup their shoulder.

To finish this hammerlock, cup your other hand on top of their shoulder and pull it to your chest.

Tips for doing the Dagestani Handcuff

The Dagestani Handcuff is one of the most powerful controls in grappling, but you have to be flawless with the details. Here are some important tips for locking on the Dagestani Handcuff.

Weight Distribution: When your opponent is in turtle and you’re on top, weight distribution is very important to remember. Keep your weight down and don’t lean forward or your opponent will escape or reverse you.
Hip To Hip: Before going for the handcuff, your hip needs to be glued to your opponent’s hip. Any open space will allow them to escape.
Wrist/Hand Control: As you reach under your opponent don’t just grab their wrist. For the best control, grab at the ridge of their hand near their pinky along with the wrist.
Hand To Stomach: Right after getting control of your opponent’s wrist, bring it to their stomach and glue it to their body. Doing this will ensure that you have complete control over the arm.
Flatten Them Out: After you establish control over your opponent’s arm, step to the side to drag them down, and flatten them out. When they are flattened out, you can either go for your arm lock or pound them out.
Backstep: Remember before going for the Dagestani armlock that you have to backstep out to free the arm. It gives you the space and angle to take your opponent’s arm out and put on the pressure.

10 Reasons to Change Your MMA GYM or BJJ Academy to Another

Many long time practitioners of MMA and BJJ, or any martial art really, can tell you the importance of having a trustworthy gym. So how do you know if your gym is the right fit or if it’s time to quit? When should you switch to another academy, and why shouldn’t you feel bad about it?
Never forget that at the end of the day you’re a paying customer, and your coach or teacher isn’t doing you a favor by teaching you. He doesn’t have to take you in, but you definitely don’t owe him any extra grace just for that. And as a client, you should be getting what you deserve. Here’s a few signs your gym isn’t the place for you anymore.

1.It doesn’t align with YOUR goals

The most important part of your training is making sure that the reason your training aligns with the training your gym offers. For example, if your gym is a full fledged competition gym but you don’t want to compete, it may be time to check out new places or make sure your goals are being met. If you want to compete, but your gym doesn’t have a team or your coaches don’t travel, again, you might want to leave your gym and look into a new place.

2.Your coaches focus more on money than on their students

While it’s important to understand that your gym is a business, if your coaches are more focused on pulling in students than the quality of their coaching it might be wise to head elsewhere. What are a few good signs for that? You are only allowed to wear the gym’s branded gear or sport the MMA rash guard of your choice; you’re charged extra for every add on or class; your coach pushes you for paid belt tests too frequently; do you want to buy a gym’s t-shirt or do you have to?
It’s true that your coach should be able to earn a good living from operating an MMA Gym, but you’re not a cash cow. The healthy relationship is that you pay your tuition fee, and your teacher will do whatever it takes within the class time to elevate your skill level, and push you towards your best. Any extra money exchanges should be mutually agreed and wanted by both sides, without you feeling that your coach is twisting your hand.

3. You don’t feel satisfied

As unfortunate as it can be, sometimes you just might not feel satisfied at your gym. Maybe the coaching isn’t your style, you don’t “vibe” with your partners or something just seems off. If you’re not happy, find a new place to train. It can also make perfect sense that you grow out of the teachings of your school, you need more stimuli, and you’re ready for another academy, coach or teaching style in your journey. Your coach doesn’t hold all of the answers, and he should acknowledge it too, and even encourage you to go on and achieve your goals if he thinks you’re ready for it.

4.Students get special treatment

Though every martial artist journey is different, sometimes there can be blatant favoritism when it comes to promotions etc. While every gym has its “OG’s” (the guys/gals who have been there from the very start) it’s never acceptable to ignore one student for another. It’s important to show up, train your best, and be a great student, but if it seems like your coaches are turning a blind eye to you or other students, seek training elsewhere.

5.Your coach is repeatedly dating his students

Sometimes, coaches do wind up in a relationship with one of their students, and that’s natural and okay. However, if your coach keep on dating his/her students, it shows you that something is really off with his/her outlook towards his students, and it doesn’t matter what sex you belong to. When training in BJJ and MMA, close physical contact is expected, between men and women, with different sexual orientation. There’s an unwritten agreement though between all of the participants that when you train or roll together, sexuality is off the mats.
You and no one else should be understanding if your coach is constantly poaching students as mates. You might be of the opposite sex to your coah’s preference, and he/she might be on the clear when regarding sexual harrasment or anything illegal, but this is not the right approach for coaches towards his students, and it lacks the necessary professionalism. When you’re on the mats he’s an authority figure and should not abuse his power.

6. Hygiene and cleanliness isn’t good enough

Is your dojo clean enough? This is much more important when training in BJJ and MMA by the way, as there is direct contact between participants, and the mats too! The mats absorb all of the sweat and germs from other participants, and whatnot. The mats need to be cleaned daily, and there should be a periodical general cleaning. Also, do people step on the mats with shoes? Or do they step outside the mats barefoot and then go on the mats? That’s a big no no, and if no one takes care of it, it shows you that your gym isn’t clean enough or taken care of.
The students’ personal hygiene is not less important, and you should not train with people with poor hygiene. It’s not nice to comment on someone’s poor cleanliness, but your coach should be the one to do it. Not in front of everybody, but he should make sure that all students show up clean, with no funky odors, with clean kimonos, rash guards or any outfit (should be fresh out of the laundry every time!). You shouldn’t be weary of staph infections and all sorts of rashes while training.

7. Instructor worship is for cults, not martial arts

Does it seem that your instructor has a special aura around him? Does it seem that he submits the other students way too easily, and that everyone looks up to him as if he possesses special powers? Get out of there and find a new gym. It happens a lot, mainly in martial arts that originated in East Asia, but not restricted to these. It’s not beneficial to you as a martial artist, and your coach might be teaching you fake and dangerous techniques without even knowing it (as many times they believe this whole charade themselves).

9. Bullying by senior students

Does it seem that your higher belts are going way too hard on the lower belt, and for no apparent reason? When a higher belt is rolling with a white belt, especially if the gap is really big, the higher level practitioner can usually crush the new guy. What does the new guy learn from it? NOTHING. What does the senior guy learn from it? ALSO NOTHING. The right approach for the higher level student should be to push the newer guy to his limit, while allowing him to practice what he learned. It will help him too, so he could defend and get out of tough situations – which will be hard to do with someone his level or higher. The level gap is big enough for him to also try more advanced techniques on the newer guy, and preactic his timing.
Anything other than this is bullying and should not be tolerated, only under one circumstance. In every gym you have one or more enforcers. They are sometimes told by the coach to go really hard on someone,if, and only if, that’s the only way your coach can deal with a bully. Sometimes a gym has a bully in his ranks. A guy who goes really hard on other training partners, a lot of time smaller than him, on women training partners, and on people with a much lesser skill level. Then if this individual can’t understand the coach, and doesn’t see himself as a bully, being subjected to bullying himself might be the last resort prior to being expelled from the academy.

10. Too many injuries

Injuries are a part of MMA and BJJ, and of any martial art or fighting sport, but there are precautions against them. Proper training methodologies, good equipment, good atmosphere in the gym, and the watchful responsible eye of the coaches are the most important of them. If you and your teammates get injured too often, that should raise a red flag for you, and might be a good sign that you need to find another gym.

The conclusion?

Being loyal to a gym is a good thing, and essential too, to some extent. If your coach and gym don’t exactly follow one of this list’s items, that might be fine. Just imagine any other business that you’re a client of, and most leave you some space for complaints. However you might be returning to this sandwich or pizza shop regularly. Just think of your gym in the same manner. You’re the client of the gym and your overall satisfaction should be the most important thing. If you’re not satisfied, find another gym that’s right for you.

Kickboxing, Muay Thai, & Sambo Receive Olympic Status

There is major news in the world of kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Sambo. The International Olympic Committee has announced that the three combat sports mentioned above have been granted Olympic recognition. While kickboxing and sambo had provisional recognition dating back to 2018, this is a full recognition. Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Sambo join lacrosse, Icestocksport, […]

There is major news in the world of kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Sambo.

The International Olympic Committee has announced that the three combat sports mentioned above have been granted Olympic recognition. While kickboxing and sambo had provisional recognition dating back to 2018, this is a full recognition. Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Sambo join lacrosse, Icestocksport, and the International Cheer Union in the new wave of officially recognized Olympic sports.

Vasily Shestakov, the President of the International Sambo Federation, had the following to say (h/t Inside The Games).

“Today, a truly joyful moment has come to our big sambo family. FIAS received provisional IOC recognition three years ago, and during this time we’ve had to prove to the whole world and ourselves that we deserve more. This period coincided with a difficult situation in the world – the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected all aspects of life, including organizing and conducting of sports events.

“But we have learned to work in crisis conditions, adapt to various restrictions and conduct international tournaments under unconventional conditions. At first, the mission seemed impossible, nevertheless, joint efforts let us manage. This became possible largely due to the well-coordinated work of national and continental sambo federations and, of course, the support of our general partner Rosneft.”

Roy Baker, President of the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations, also weighed in.

“Again we make history for our sport and this is a memorable day for our entire community and an inspiration to continue to develop our sport within the Olympic family of sports. Today I am grateful to President Bach for his continued support and to the members of the IOC for the confidence in bringing us into the Olympic family of sports.

“As a leader of the organization, I simply needed a boost like this to continue to drive our sport ensuring it has a sustainable future amongst the combat sports within the Olympic family. Thank you to everybody in our organization who has contributed. Thank you to the IOC Members who have accepted us, to the IOC Sports Department and to the IOC Executive Board and its President, Thomas Bach, for having understood our sport and recommended us.”

Do you think we’ll ever see MMA in the Olympics?

Alistair Overeem Signs To Glory Kickboxing With Multi-Fight Deal

Alistair Overeem is not ending his career yet. The former UFC heavyweight has signed a multi-fight contract with Glory Kickboxing. The UFC released Overeem following his second-round KO defeat at the hands of rising star Alexander Volkov. The move surprised many. Before the loss to Volkov, Overeem, 41, was on a two-fight win streak. He had won […]

Alistair Overeem is not ending his career yet. The former UFC heavyweight has signed a multi-fight contract with Glory Kickboxing.

The UFC released Overeem following his second-round KO defeat at the hands of rising star Alexander Volkov. The move surprised many. Before the loss to Volkov, Overeem, 41, was on a two-fight win streak. He had won four of his last five fights. Dana White explained the decision later, citing Overeem’s age as the main factor. The UFC released Junior Dos Santos in the same week. The moves signaled their intention to continue to grow the division with fresher, younger talent.

Overeem’s impact on the world of Mixed Martial Arts is undeniable. Before challenging for UFC gold, Overeem held belts in Strikeforce and Dream. He also won the K-1 World Grand Prix, one of only two UFC fighters to win the prestigious tournament. Overeem has amassed an impressive 47-19 record over his 20+ year career in the sport. His record includes victories over Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, and Andre Arlovski (all future HOF contenders). Overeem appeared reinvigorated potentially making one last push at the UFC heavyweight title before his release.

After the release, it was unclear if Overeem would retire. As the news spread through the MMA community, fighters like bellator/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Ryan Bader (Bellator’s current heavyweight champion) called for Overeem to join their promotions.

Today, Overeem’s management team confirmed to ESPN that the legend has decided to return to his roots and has signed with Glory Kickboxing. The move makes sense as Overeem found success in the sport (10-4) before transitioning to MMA.

Now that the contract is signed, we will await what’s next. Glory has not confirmed when Overeem will make his debut. We also don’t know who he will be his opponent for his first match.

Are you excited to see Alistair Overeem return to Kickboxing?

Spider Guard : BJJ Technique Explained

Jiu Jitsu guards have gone through a complete evolution process since the martial art started. In the beginning, there was only the closed guard, then grapplers started developing open guard. Then from open guard, grapplers started using their opponent’s Gi against them to hold guard. That is how spider guard came to be. Spider guard […]

Jiu Jitsu guards have gone through a complete evolution process since the martial art started. In the beginning, there was only the closed guard, then grapplers started developing open guard.

Then from open guard, grapplers started using their opponent’s Gi against them to hold guard. That is how spider guard came to be.

Spider guard is a phenomenal guard that allows various sweep and submission opportunities. Here is everything you need to know about the spider guard.

Wel…l not really everything since you can fill books on spider guard techniques. But here are some great sweep and submission options from the position.

Who came up with spider guard?

Before Jiu Jitsu began developing spider guard, early forms of the technique were used within forms of Judo. Particularly in kosen Judo that has more of an emphasis on ground techniques.

In Jiu Jitsu, no one person is credited with coming up with spider guard. The development was a natural process where numerous individuals innovated the position.

The person that many credit as one of the grapplers to innovate spider guard the most is Mauricio Tinguinha. He doesn’t take credit, but he would use the guard as a solution when fighting a larger opponent.

Since he frequently found himself on his back against bigger opponents, he began using their Gi against them. Grabbing their sleeve and putting his feet on their biceps or hips to make space to do techniques.

Spider guard has become a popular guard in Jiu Jitsu and is constantly being innovated. It has evolved into other guards such as spider guard lasso and various mixes of spider and lapel guard.

How does spider guard work?

The way spider guard works is to create space keeping your opponent away using your feet and their Gi against them. Variations include using sleeve grips, while placing your feet on your opponent’s biceps and hips.

Holding this guard creates space while also creating tension. You use both of these against your opponent that allows you to set up sweeps and submissions.

How to hold spider guard?

Before we get into a few techniques, you need to first know how to hold spider guard. Without having the proper control, you won’t be able to do any techniques from this guard.

First thing you need to know is the sleeve control you need to use. The best grip to use is a 4 finger grip, where you roll their sleeve up using your fingers. Rolling their sleeves up creates a nice pouch for you to hold your grip.

Next is how to hold your feet on your opponent’s arms. The center of your foot needs to be in the crevice of their arm between their bicep and elbows.

Pushing one arm out and pulling the other in. This pushing and pulling allows you to break your opponent’s base and do techniques.

More advanced spider guard variations involve putting your foot on their hip, hooking their leg, and using their lapel.

Basic spider guard sweep from knees

The best position to start to learn spider guard when your opponent is on their knees. You start in closed guard and then transition to spider guard.

Grab sleeve grip on your opponent and hip escape out to bring your feet on your opponent’s hip. Then turn your hips one more time to make space and put one foot on their bicep. Your other foot stays on their hip for this technique.

Take the arm you are controlling and bring it on your opponent’s shoulder. Doing this makes them go off balance and enables you to sweep them.

While you lift their arm up, take your other foot and place it on their knee. As you bring their arm up, making them off balance, then use your foot to kick their knee out.

These motions together allow you to turn your opponent and come out on top.

Another basic spider guard sweep from knees

This next basic spider guard sweep also starts from your knees and meshes well with the previous technique.

From your opponent’s knees, hip escape to spider guard with one foot on their bicep and the other on their hip. Use your foot on bicep control to shoot your opponent’s arm up and put your other leg next to their leg.

These motions together take your opponent off balance and allow you to sweep them over into mount.

Balloon sweep from spider guard

The balloon sweep is a common open guard sweep that takes your opponent up and over your body. Here is a variation you can do from spider guard.

You’re going to have one foot on their bicep controlling their arm and your other is hooking between their legs. With your other hand, you have a collar grip on your opponent’s Gi.

Use these grips to push your opponent away and instinctively they will come back. When they come back, go under your opponent and use your grips and hook to sweep them over.

Spider guard triangle

One of the easiest submissions you can do from the spider guard is a triangle choke. As you’re pushing on your opponent and they push back, they fall right into the submission.

Start by using your foot on bicep control to push your opponent’s arm out. Naturally they will want to come back and this is where you’ll set up your triangle.

Kick off your bicep control and shoot your hips to the ceiling. Then chop down on your opponent’s neck at the same time you pull their other arm across their body.

For the finish, pull their head down and lock your knee over your ankle.

Spider guard to arm bar

An arm bar from spider guard comes on fast and is simple to do. Start with your foot on their bicep and your other on their hip. You’ll have one sleeve grip and an elbow grip on the arm you’re attacking.

As you push their arm you have bicep control away, you rotate your hips. When you rotate, use the elbow grip to pull your opponent’s arm in and lift your hips up.

This will allow you to catch a tight arm bar. Even if they defend, you can still go for a nice sweep turning back the other way.

Spider guard armbar on standing opponent

You can do another armbar from spider guard when your opponent is standing. Start in spider guard with bicep controls and turn your hip inward.

If your opponent is standing, they will have pant grips, so you will need to kick one off for the armbar. Change your sleeve grip to a tricep grip and kick your opponent’s grip off.

When you kick their grip off, trap their arm against your body. Then to finish, clamp your knee against their elbow and lift your hips up for the finish.

Spider guard to omoplata

Going from spider guard and attacking an omoplata is another coming submission from the guard. When your opponent is standing with pant grips, you need to start by kicking one of their grips off.

The grip you kick off is the arm you’ll be attacking. Once you kick their grip off, pull their arm forward and hook it around your hip.

As you hook their arm on your hip, bring your leg over their shoulder. Turn your feet out, control their hips, and sit-up into them to lock on the pressure.

(This video demonstrates the previous 2 techniques along with a triangle.)

Spider guard kneebar

A kneebar is another submission option off of spider guard. Here is a method for doing this technique.

You hold this spider guard with bicep control, sleeve grips, and your other foot on your opponent’s knee. Use your foot on their knee to kick their leg out to make space.

This gives you space to rotate your body and place that foot next to your other leg. As you turn yourself, your opponent’s leg goes between your legs.

Catch their leg and hook their heel with your armpit and go right into the kneebar.

Tips for doing spider guard

Spider guard is a highly versatile guard, you can do numerous techniques from, but need to get the details correct. Here are tips for doing spider guard.

Sleeve Control: For the best control, roll your opponent’s sleeves up and use a four finger grip.
Foot Placement: Use the center of your feet and place it in the crevice of your opponent’s arms in between their elbows and biceps.
Create Tension: For the guard to work, you need to create tension by pushing and pulling on your opponent’s arms. Pushing one arm out, while pulling the other in.
Turn Your Hip: Once you get into spider guard position, you must slightly turn your hip in. If you stay centered it is easy for your opponent to defend and pass.