Inversions to Help Your Guard Retention (BJJ/Jiu-Jitsu/Judo)

Today I get some help from my good friend @Shintaro Higashi and look at using INVERSIONS to help your BJJ guard retention. People talk about how inverting can be difficult, requires flexibility and is a relatively advanced skill when it comes to retaining your guard. But you can make it a workable skill when you understand that your partner’s pressure and resistance actually makes your job EASIER. We do this by starting with a partner on their knees - much closer to our folded body than if they are standing - so we can get a firm purchase on them with our legs. In this way, we see that when they pressure into us (as happens with a tornado variation like this one), we can form a good connection which anchors the start of the inversion. You only need a minimal amount of flexibility because the inversion doesn’t come out of nowhere - it starts with a HIGH LEG defense, one rung even further down the ladder of difficulty from the inversion. From there you can progress to working inversions with a standing partner.