The rising popularity of the Worm Guard has made the Jiu-Jitsu world take notice. We can thank Keenan Cornelius for the boom in competitors utilizing this guard in competitions. Thankfully we are finally starting to see some technique videos popping up showing how to prevent, pass, and even counter this tricky guard. I am a firm believer that you don't have to be a fan of any particular guard but it is important to understand it enough to be able to defend against it. That being said, studying the offensive side of this guard will help you understand defense even more than just working on the counters.
While that quote is so true...in the event that you DO ALLOW your opponent to establish the lapel control they need to set up the worm guard you need to be familiar with methods to regain that lapel control and focus on passing the guard.
Isaac Doederlein, Cobrinha brown belt, shows a really cool way to neutralize the Worm Guard and turn it into a back-tack opportunity.
I have found that the worm guard is 100% dependent on lapel grip control. Because of this it seems that the most effective way (at least for me) to defend against it is to address the grips. This is particularly true if the grips have been established and your base has been compromised or threatened...they have progressed if you will deep into the guard. I have spent more time playing with the offensive side of this guard but recently started working on defense/counters. My advice so far is:
1. Defend the lapel!
2. In the event the lapel control is established...focus on your base!
3. Try and square up to your opponent as much as possible to eliminate the angle they need to sweep
4. Dominate/control their own lapel and use it against them to remove THEIR grip on your lapel.
The IBJJF European Championships may not have been packed full with as many household names as we might see at Worlds or Pan but there were plenty of great, high level competitors that filled the brackets last weekend. From what I have gathered there were some great matches and definitely some notables.
Terere returned to competition and loses a controversial DQ (knee reap) against Claudio Calasans in the Middle weight Final.
From GracieMag:
Alan Do Nascimento just brought the venue to tears. After conceding the win to Fernando Tererê in their middleweight match, he handed Fernando Tererê his black belt. He later explained his actions: Fernando Tererê made what I am in Jiu-Jitsu. He taught me since the white belt. This belt, he gave one day and asked for 5 reais and I knew it he was going to buy crack. I told him then that I was going to give him back the belt when when he got back on his feet. There's no better moment than that! I will sleep filled with joy and proud today!"
This was the first IBJJF tournament that both the Miyao brothers competed at Brown belt
Team Lloyd Irvin came in 2nd place overall team points in a gi tournament
Leo Nogueira (Alliance) takes the black belt Absolute
Mackenzie Dern wins her first title at black belt
Joao Miyao choked unconscious by Keenan
Just a quick review of the team results from over the weekend.
:
1 - Alliance - 105
2 - Team Lloyd Irvin - 71
3 - Gracie Barra - 64
1 - Gracie Barra - 42
2 - Nova União - 31
3 - CheckMat - 30
Notable divisions:
Brown Adult Male
Light-Feather
FIRST
João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
SECOND
Nicolas Gallard -
Gracie Barcelona
THIRD
Alysson Gustavo Da Cunha Miranda -
Nova União
THIRD
Adam Adshead -
Combat Base UK
Feather
FIRST
Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
SECOND
Gianni P Grippo -
Gracie Elite Team America
THIRD
Wojciech Piekut -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Tuomas Kristian Tammilehto -
Brasa
Medium-Heavy
FIRST
Keenan Kai-James Cornelius -
Team Lloyd Irvin
SECOND
Bruno Ferreira Cuppari -
Brasa
THIRD
Tomasz Skórkowski -
Atos JJ International
THIRD
AJ Agazarm -
Gracie Barra
Open Class
FIRST
Keenan Kai-James Cornelius -
Team Lloyd Irvin
SECOND
João Ricardo Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD
Paulo Henrique Bordignon Miyao -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD
Christopher Bowe -
Gracie Barra
BLACK - Adult - Male
Rooster
FIRST
Brandon Mullins -
Gracie Barra
SECOND
Koji Shibamoto -
Tri-Force Jiu-Jitsu Academy
THIRD
Jordy A. Jean Antoon Peute -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Takahito Yoshioka -
Tokushima BJJ
Light-Feather
FIRST
Laercio Fernandes -
Alliance
SECOND
Carlos Vieira Holanda -
CheckMat
THIRD
Thomas Lincoln Correa Lisboa -
Alliance
THIRD
Andre Carvalho Monteiro -
BJJ Revolution Team
Feather
FIRST
Rubens Charles Maciel -
Alliance
SECOND
Augusto Lopes Mendes -
Soul Fighters BJJ
THIRD
Osvaldo Augusto Honorio Moizinho -
Institute of Martial Arts - Caio Terra
THIRD
Eduardo Ramos da Silva -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Light
FIRST
Michael Josef Russell -
Mauricio Gomes Origin BJJ Team
SECOND
Vinícius Tavares Marinho -
GF Team
THIRD
Gabriel Rodrigues A. Goulart -
Alliance
THIRD
Maxime Silvére Olivier -
CheckMat
Middle
FIRST
Claudio Calasans Camargo Júnior -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
SECOND
Fernando Augusto da Silva -
Alliance
THIRD
Mathias Fernandes Ribeiro -
Alliance
THIRD
Alan Douglas Pereira do Nascimento -
CheckMat
Medium-Heavy
FIRST
Rômulo Claudio Barral -
Gracie Barra
SECOND
Rodrigo Fajardo -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Renato Guimaraes Cardoso -
CheckMat
THIRD
Vitor Fabio Martins Toledo -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Heavy
FIRST
Dimitrius Soares Souza -
Alliance
SECOND
Leonardo da Costa Maciel -
GF Team
THIRD
Fabiano Junior Leite de Souza -
Alliance
THIRD
Marcelo da Silva Bernardo -
United BJJ
Super-Heavy
FIRST
Bernardo Augusto Rocha de Faria -
Alliance
SECOND
Lucio Furtado Rodrigues -
Gracie Barra
THIRD
Mauricio Henrique Cristo Lima -
PSLPB Cicero Costha
THIRD
Filippi Soto Mattos -
Barbosa JJ
Ultra-Heavy
FIRST
Alexander Riis Hilligsoe Trans -
CheckMat
SECOND
Rodrigo Henrique Cavaca -
CheckMat
THIRD
José Ferreira da Silva Júnior -
UAE Jiu-jitsu Team
THIRD
Leonardo Pires Nogueira -
Alliance
Open Class
FIRST
Leonardo Pires Nogueira -
Alliance
SECOND
Bernardo Augusto Rocha de Faria -
Alliance
THIRD
Alexander Riis Hilligsoe Trans -
CheckMat
THIRD
Claudio Calasans Camargo Júnior -
Atos Jiu-Jitsu
Keenan Cornelius vs Paulo Miyao (Absolute Semi-Finals)
At the 4:35 mark, Keenan attempts a toe-hold which he abandons and momentarily gives up his back. P.Miyao defends the foot lock well and inverts moving towards his back. P.Miyao only manages to get one hook in and Kennan double underhooks that same leg and forces P.Miyao back to his guard. Very well defended and not often that we see Keenan in this kind of trouble against a fellow brown belt. Even once they land in the guard, there is a brief moment P.Miyao may have been able to work to the back again with Keenan's left arm so heavily committed across his body but he cuts off that opportunity by posting his left foot and shutting down that option.
At the 6:37 mark Keenan is standing, P.Miyao on his back playing open guard during a restart. Keenan steps his right foot onto the inside left knee of P.Miyao, slightly passes the right foot of P.Miyao to the side and drops down beating P.Miyao's hip to pass the guard. Very fast and surprising guard pass! The match was essentially won here for Keenan and this was a fantastic match in my opinion. I realize that the double guard pull, fighting for grips and attempted Berimbolo game isn't everyones cup of tea but this is some high level stuff and the entire fight didn't remain in this position.
Keenan Cornelius vs Joao Miyao (Absolute Final)
Cobrinha vs Osvaldo Augusto (Feather Semi-Final)
Cobrinha vs Tanquinho (Feather Final)
Paulo Miyao vs Gianni Grippo (Feather Semi-Final)
Terere vs Claudio Calasans (Middleweight Final)
This was a very disappointing match. Everyone was happy and excited to see Terere back in the competition scene and off the street. There is some debate as to what exactly happened during this match, whether he had already been warned for the knee reap prior to the eventual DQ or immediately DQ'd without warning. It appeared to me that he had already been in violation of the knee reap rule well before the match was finally stopped. Very anticlimactic finish to what could have been a great match.
As if we didn't get enough of Worlds (assuming you watched the live stream) Budovideos has released a couple more matches worth watching. For those of you that didn't watch the stream these are two matches that you don't want to miss. Xande Ribeiro has had a bit of a resurgence over the last few months. His win against Andre Galvao at the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials was a BIG ONE. Although he didn't win in Abu Dhabi it definitely put everyone on notice that Xande is back.
Xande vs Tussa (Worlds 2012)
Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida has been an absolute killer since receiving his black belt. Last year at the Nogi Worlds he dispatched of most opponents quickly by submission. Going into the Worlds 2012 Absolute final he was considered the heavy favorite but many were proclaiming Leo Nogueira of Alliance would give him a great match.
Caio Terra vs Brandon Mullins (Worlds 2012 Quarterfinal)
Caio Terra vs Bruno Malficine (Worlds 2012, Final)
