The inverted guard

The Inverted Guard

The inverted guard’s sole purpose of creation was to nullify the superior strength of his opponent. It was created for the weak or smaller BJJ practitioner, to use sweeps and submissions based on leverage and not strength.

“I would always fight opponents that were bigger and stronger than me and I knew that if I played normal guard, I would have no advantage. So i created the inverted guard, who no one had seen or used until I fought in the first world championships” Roleta said.

Nowadays, when we talk about the inverted guard, we are talking about a position that was first created and popularised by many-time world champion Roberto Roleta Magalhaes Who was a Gracie Barra champion. He won the world championships a number of times at black belt, and he is arguably one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu players of all time, and then a student of his, who fights in New York City currently, but who has had before then an unbelievably successful career in jujutsu, he is also a multiple champion and they both used the inverted guard position with a lot of success, although slightly differently. Roleta tended to use the inverted guard for sweeping, and used it a little more aggressively with submissions. The inverted guard is a very technical position.

Some people will tell you that it's a gimmick, it’s a weird position or you have to be super flexible to attain the inverted guard but those people are grossly misinformed, and frankly have no idea what they are talking about. It is no different than any other good guard position. It's no more a gimmick than the single leg takedown, if you don't understand what the single leg takedown is, it probably doesn't make much sense to you But since everyone does the technique. Everyone accepts the technique, everyone considers it as standard. The inverted guard is no different than any other guard, and it operates along the same principles.

When we talk about being successful from the inverted guard, you are typically going to  need a cross grip, and by that we mean you are going to need to properly control your opponent's opposite sleeves. The grip is very important in having a good inverted guard. So before you enter the inverted guard, what you're going to have to immediately do, Is to seize the opponent's left sleeve with your own left hand and his right sleeve with your right hand. This helps not only to turn into the inverted guard but it also stops you tangling your own arms, when you are going into the inverted guard.

Many sweeps and submissions originate from the inverted guard, it is a very versatile position. Triangle chokes, omaplatas, and armlocks are the most common submissions, but many leglock opportunities exist in a no-gi situation.There are also many sweeps, one of which is called the helicopter sweep. A sweep, Roleta created and used on many occasions to beat his opponents in competitions.