Pressure Passing is one of the most common and brutal ways of passing the guard in both BJJ and MMA. As the name suggests it involves physical pressure to grind down the guard and secure the pass. By passing this way, there is a lesser chance the opponent can retain their guard.
There are several passes that fall under the umbrella of pressure passing. These include double unders (stack pass), over under, cradles and the folding pass.
The main idea of the pressure pass relies on weight distribution. This means you’re meant to put your weight constantly on top of the opponent to fatigue them. In sequence this will make them position their body poorly and improve your chances of passing as a result.
Unlike other methods of passing such as the toreando, pressure passing uses slow and methodical positioning, rather than speed and timing. Due to this, it is very popular with those who like to take their time whilst on top, or those who are naturally not very athletic.
With the likes of Buchecha, Galvao and Braulio Estima all being key users of this style, it is undoubtedly one of the best ways to break down the guard of the opponent.
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Double Unders / Stack Pass
This pass was popularised by Andre Galvao and is a horrible position to be put into. Here, the passer gets double pant grips in the Gi, or connects both hands around the opponent’s waist in Nogi. From here they elevate the bottom player’s hips off the ground to remove friction. The next step is to fold the guard players’ legs over their head and stack them. This puts a lot of pressure on the bottom player’s neck and can be very uncomfortable.
Perhaps the best feature of this attack is that it can waste a lot of energy from the bottom as the chest is compressed and it is harder to breathe. With the legs in the air, you can then pick a side to pass to and move the legs to the other side, resulting in side control. Remember for optimal pressure you should often be squatting your weight into the opponent to make it as uncomfortable as possible.
Even if the opponent denies the pass you can flip them into turtle and start attacking from there. The main concern with the stack pass is potentially getting caught in a Triangle choke. If an arm is kept in against a skilled opponent, instead of having both arms out this can be quite dangerous. The Miyao brothers defend this pass very well by gripping both sleeves of the opponent and constantly shoulder walking back to create distance.
Over Under pass
The Over Under pass was made famous by the legendary Bernardo Faria. Here, Faria would often enter the position after completing a Deep half sweep and naturally landing in the position. Unlike double unders, the over under focuses mostly on trapping one leg. Here you tightly pin both of your own legs onto the opponent’s lower leg whilst holding their other leg with your free arm.
Simultaneously grabbing the opponent’s hips helps anchor the opponent into the ground. Importantly, your own head position needs to be in the bottom player’s stomach looking toward their held leg. This stops the opponent from framing or pushing the face and relieving pressure.
When the hips of the opponent are fully secure, the next step is to walk into the center of the opponent which immobilizes the bottom leg. At this point, you can step over the leg into side control, or hook your feet over the leg to secure the pass.
Similar to the double unders pass, it is vital to keep the pressure to avoid Triangle attacks. Not only this but the more weight put into the opponent will waste more of their energy. This will lead to them giving up quickly to secure the pass. A key tip is to constantly be on your toes, forcing energy into your opponent.
The Folding Pass
The Folding pass is an incredibly brutal pass that controls the hips, as well as the upper body of the opponent. A well known user of this pass is Braulio Estima who can often get straight to mount from passing guard.
Starting from De La Riva, you can bring the opponents hook inwards inside your legs. The next step is to sit on this leg and clamp it in between your thighs. After this, you can start climbing the opponent’s upper body with and underhook on the same side you can crushed the hips.
From here, you can use the back of your elbow to smash their head down into the fetal position. This is very uncomfortable for those on the bottom and is similar to being in a wrestling cradle. The result is the body cannot really move due to the neck pressure and a twisted spine.
After climbing the legs higher, you can then switch the elbow cradle to a crossface and move the opponent’s head to the opposite side. If done correctly they cannot resist as the neck pressure is too great. From here you can either step into mount or step backward into side control, the choice is yours. In UFC, Khabib uses a similar style to this which drains the energy of the opponent.
The Cradle
Although popularised by wrestling, the cradle is another form of pressure passing which can demoralize the opponent in the process. Most notably used by Neil Melanson, the cradle is most often used against half guard, but can be used against a variety of other guards such as De La Riva or butterfly.
Once you have secured a headlock grip on your opponent, you then need to link your hands together with one arm going through the legs and the other over the head. At this point, you should pinch your elbows together to tighten the cradle grip to make sure the head doesn’t pop out and relieve the pressure.
With the cradle applied, you can start passing the legs. If starting in half guard, you will need to sprawl out with your head digging into the ribs of the opponent. This will create the pressure for their legs and feet to open which is when you can move past them. At this point, you can chose to go behind the legs into side control or towards their head in north south position.
The Cooking concept
A big part of pressure passing is based around the idea of ‘cooking’ the opponent. This term comes from catch wrestling which is designed to grind the opponent down, both physically and mentally. For instance, if you have all but passed your opponent and have them in the final stages of a smash pass, you can decide to hold them there whilst putting pressure into them. This will physically exhaust them and almost give up on the guard and even invite you to pass to avoid more pressure.
The idea of cooking is that it allows you to stay on top and save energy whilst the opponent is trapped and breathing inefficiently due to being pinned in an awkward position. As BJJ is often a game of using energy correctly, the idea of cooking is powerful if used properly. Of course, be kind to your training partners as no one likes a mat bully. Having said that, ultimately you have to do whatever you can to pass people and progress in BJJ.
General Passing Summary
Pressure passing is a huge part of sport BJJ and also MMA. It can be used to enhance the position and attack the guard in Gi or Nogi.
The benefits of pressure passing are that it isn’t particularly risky and if done correctly will sap the opponent of energy when trying to defend it. Because of this, it is often heavier BJJ players who use this style. However, it is also effective for smaller players who can benefit from good weight distribution as a result.
Overall it is a position that is great to inflict on someone yet awful to be put under. Not only this but there are multiple forms of pressure passing to be explored, which means there’s something out there for everyone.
When pressure passing, or passing in general, it is always important to vary your style. The reason Bernado Faria was so successful with the under over pass is that he was easily able to enter the position from deep half guard. If he was not able to enter the position, he needed to vary his passing style a lot.
To summarise, you need many forms of passing and cannot rely on a single pass such as stack passing, otherwise your opponents will know exactly what to expect. If you are able to chain your guard pass attempts together, you will greatly increase your chance of succeeding.
