A big part of training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is learning how to use and deal with pressure. In short, if you’re a smaller grappler then you will know exactly what we’re on about. Pressure is usually when the top player uses their weight and leverage to crush your frames and pass your guard. Further, after passing the guard it can also be used to advance the position and get to superior positions and submissions.
With this in mind, it’s worth learning how to defend and relieve against pressure when sparring against opponents. It’s not just big players that can use pressure either, generally the more experienced a BJJ practitioner is, the greater their pressure is. Even small guys can have crushing pressure if they apply enough time to crushing their enemies. Here’s how to defend against it.
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Getting crushed by pressure? Use frames!
Before explaining how to use frames, let’s first explain what framing is. You’ve probably heard this concept and it’s massively important to know. Imagine you’re in half guard in the bottom position. Here, you lay on your back and your opponent squashes you. Even if they don’t pass your guard, it will tire you and is more likely to injure you.
So, this is where frames come in. Here, you position on your side and then connect your knee with your elbow bone. The connected hand places across the upper body of the opponent. This isn’t a silver bullet, but will stop people from crushing you as much. The idea of framing is to use your skeletal frame to make you feel stronger, rather than relying on muscles. Framing is vital for many guard positions, as well as recovery.
Similarly, if stuck in bottom mount, you can place your elbow on the ground and press both hands against the hip of the opponent. Then, if you shrimp backward you should be able to move away from the opponent provided there’s space. This wouldn’t be possible without frames which act as a way to push off the opponent’s body. Similarly, if you’re stuck in bottom side control, framing can both defend and escape from bad positions where gravity is not on your side.
Grip fighting to defend against bad positions
Grip fighting is probably one of the most important but underlooked parts of BJJ. This is the micro battle that leads to the macro battle and can set up how a roll begins before it’s even started. Again, returning to the example of half guard, if you lose the early grip fight, then before you know it you may not even have time to establish frames.
This means that grip fighting should be your first port of call when it comes to establishing a solid defensive frame. If you’ve ever watched Judo then you’ll see Judoka’s only attack once grips have been created. It’s the same in BJJ. As obvious as it sounds, someone can only crush your head if their arms are allowed to touch it. If you control their grips well enough, this isn’t a possibility.
Again, this idea mostly applies to guard but is also relevant in bottom pinned positions. If you’re stuck in mount and the opponent has your head stuck with their arms, use your own to escape your head before you even think about escaping.
Use your body to get under the opponent when playing guard
Imagine you’re in half guard yet again. The opponent is hell bent on crushing you from the top and is putting all of their body weight on you. Even with frames and the correct grips, this can be very tiresome. Here, you decide to go with their weight and pull yourself under them.
This is only doable when the opponent over commits but is a good opening to get under their body. Once there, you can enter different guards that attack the legs and carry their weight in an easier way. An example of this would be using the shaolin or tornado sweep whilst playing bottom half guard.
There is a saying in BJJ when it comes to sparring bigger opponents which is “Don’t try and move them, move around them.” This is effectively what you’ll need to do here.
Another example is playing closed guard. Imagine the opponent is leaning all of their weight over you. If you let it happen, then eventually you’ll tire and get passed. However, imagine you instead decided to go under the opponent’s weight. In this scenario, it would mean getting grips and then putting your feet from around their body and onto their hips. You can then do balloon sweeps and helicopter attacks from here. In short, this concept relies on timing and an understanding of how to distribute yours and their bodyweight.
Conclusion
If you keep getting crushed by pressure, then the above tips will certainly help. A lot of the concepts mentioned rely on ‘feel’ rather than conventional learning. As a result, the annoying part is that concepts around framing, grip fighting, and leverage all take time to develop.
The good news is that if you’re willing to put the work in then this will help you develop massively. As a result, your BJJ should come on massively and you should see results. Remember, it’s always tough going against bigger, stronger opponents but is not impossible.
