The Berimbolo is a technique used in BJJ which if often used to take the back of the opponent, or if not possible, at least sweep to a top position.
The technique often involves putting the opponent on the mat from the De La Riva guard and then inverting. After inverting under the opponent, you can either come on top or climb up your opponent’s body to get to the back. Whilst it isn’t exclusively a gi move, it does heavily rely on grips, so is far more reliable in this format.
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What does Berimbolo mean?
What does the Berimbolo mean? Well, it was coined by ADCC legend Andre Galvao. The Portuguese translation roughly means to scramble – and the Berimbolo does often involve a scramble with the legs when defended.
Popularised by the Mendes and Miyao brothers, the Berimbolo has become a key part of the gi game in sport BJJ.
Who invented the Berimbolo?
The Berimbolo was created by black belt Samuel Braga. This is referenced by his student Breck Still who speaks highly of him. However, back then it did not have a name and was simply referred to as ‘inverting’.
How to create a Berimbolo
The most common two entries to the Berimbolo are from either double guard pull or De La Riva. A double guard pull can often just be a more progressed position of DLR if the legs are already in the same entanglement. This often means half the work has already been done for you by getting the opponent’s hips to the mat.
From DLR, the bottom player holds their opponent’s nearside ankle and either nearside arm or belt. The guard player then has their far leg on the opponents hip and their near leg hooked under the opponents near thigh. The next step is to put the opponents hips on the floor.
To do this you can hip upwards with the near hook and pull their sleeve or belt. With the nearside sleeve controlled they cannot base which means they cannot escape the sweep. When hipping to the side it generates pressure on the opponent’s leg which will make them fall.
Taking The Back
Instead of standing up to complete a sweep, the idea is to invert underneath your opponents hips. By rolling over your shoulders, the idea is to have your legs at a 90 degree angle under your opponents legs. The original De La Riva hook then acts as an entanglement between both players, meaning the opponent cannot simply escape out of the position. Whilst under the opponent, you need to control their far pant leg and grip their hips to add control.
Hip control is very important during the Berimbolo as you use this to drag the opponent underneath your own hips. Whilst doing this, you kick your legs out and flair the opponent forward. At this point you can then grab a seatbelt grip with hooks and the back is taken.
Berimbolo Sweep
An alternative to the back is simply coming up on top, which is a more basic option. Not only this, but if the opponent is actively defending by loosening the leg entanglement and making their hips heavier, this may be your only option.
This setup involves the same DLR or double guard pull entanglement. However, instead of controlling the hips you simply push the mat and do a backwards roll. It should be noted this is from the inverted position. Typically this will end with you in top half guard and in a competition will gain two points for a sweep. If the opponent does not realize what is happening, you can end up in a leg drag position which is even better.
How do I escape the Berimbolo?
A common escape to counter the Berimbolo is over rotate as your opponent is kicking your legs. Instead of fighting the position, if you roll with them you can sometimes end up in the original position, with you on top. By over-rotating you can sometimes get to the top before your opponent realizes what you’re trying to do.
Another method of escaping is by dominating the hip line battle whilst on the floor. To do this you can grab both hips and try to put them under your own. Doing this is possible and means an experienced berimbolo player can sometimes reverse a back take attempt.
Further, if you don’t allow the initial sweep to begin with then you can avoid the Berimbolo altogether. To do this you must constantly face your opponent head on in DLR. Whilst standing you cannot let your opponent get a deep hook under the near thigh or create a big enough side angle. This means constantly moving your feet to stay facing your opponent. If you are paranoid of a good Berimbolo player you can even pass via the knees and avoid De La Riva completely. If your hips are never on the floor, you will never be berimbolo’d.
Criticisms
There are two main criticisms of the berimbolo.
“It doesn’t work”
The first is that it doesn’t work at the high level. Although this is somewhat untrue, Keenan Cornelius famously said “Berimbolo is a fad. It doesn’t work anymore.”. Nobody knows if he truly meant this or not, but since the Mendes brothers left competitive jiu-jitsu, there has not been anyone replicate their levels of success with the position. Whilst more modern athletes such as Mikey Musumeci do use the berimbolo, he also has a variety of footlocks and 50/50 sweeps.
Since the berimbolo became more common, people adapted and learnt to defend it a lot better.
“It is useless for self defense”
Perhaps the first criticism can be taken with a pinch of salt. However, the second criticism is somewhat true. The berimbolo has been executed in MMA, but it still is not ideal for self defense.
Those who think sport BJJ has gone too far into point fighting believe BJJ was better off when the idea was to sweep straight to the top and stay there. Others do not like sweeps that invert by choice and put yourself in a vunerable position.
Summary
The Berimbolo is a tricky position to master. However, once learnt it can be a great option for back takes. It is also useful for creating a good De La Riva game as it brings other options to the position.
Overall it is a great tool and is used often in point fighting and IBJJF competition settings. However, it should be noted it rarely features in MMA as the setup is vunerable to strikes. Also, it is much more difficult without a Gi as the grips are nonexistent making it harder to accomplish. With this in mind the Berimbolo is a good option for all Brazilian Jiu Jitsu players using the Gi and is a commonly used way to attack the back.
