Cross training in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is slowly transitioning from a bonus to a requirement for elite level judoka. It’s also just plain fun. Here is some advice on what to focus on in BJJ training for success in judo.

Training with Judo Black belt and BJJ Brown Belt Alex Sciolla at the Kodokan in 2015 back when we were both blue belts in BJJ.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a lot of fun. Coming to it from a judo perspective, especially as someone who had a “good” judo ground game, it was easy to be overwhelmed by information. There are a lot of positions in BJJ that are exotic to judo players. There was a time when simply knowing how to properly hit a triangle gave someone a major advantage in a judo setting. This time period is ending. Thankfully many in the judo community recognize this and are cross training. You even have people like Ryan Vargas who are deploying advanced guards at the international level. That said, it is hard to know what to focus on. Spending six months on your spider guard may be fun, but if you are prepping for a major judo tournament, that may not be the best use of your time. Also, advanced BJJ guards are used differently within the context of judo. Below is a quick guide on some things to focus on.

An important note going forward is this is advice for judoka looking to cross train in bjj to improve performance in judo competition. Competition judo matwork works differently than BJJ. That said, all of the stuff considered “old school” in BJJ is the friend of a crosstraining judoka. You will need to be at least be aware of the fancier stuff to advance in rank within BJJ. Hopefully after crosstraining long enough, you learn to love both arts. Ultimately learn as much as you can.

Closed Guard and Mount

Almost any judo black belt worth their salt should have some exposure to closed guard. They should be able to at least hit an armbar, and maybe have one or two movements to get a sweep or submit someone. While closed guard is not often thought of as a “sexy” guard in either judo or BJJ circles, spending time developing one is always worthwhile. The basics of the closed guard armbar are immediately viable and is frankly a core movement for groundwork. You can build a viable system around being very good at armbars in general, and that starts with a good closed guard armbar.

It is going to sound strange for me to stress working on mount. Mount is a win condition in judo and frankly you would be nuts to give it up to shoot for a submission during competition if the pin is secure. That said its a great place to tighten up many basic submissions like the armbar and cross choke that get deployed elsewhere. In fact, I think mount is probably the best place to introduce the armbar (juji gatame).

A final quick note: I would not actually close my guard in judo competition as that signals to the ref you are looking to stand back up. Rather you don’t usually lock your ankles when playing this guard in a judo context.

Butterfly Guard

The first sweep I ever learned was actually a butterfly guard sweep when I was about thirteen years old. I’ve applied and used that sweep successfully across three sports (I used to surprise people whenever I got blast doubled in wrestling). Butterfly guard is a slightly advanced guard that has been common in the high level judo competition scene for years. The Japanese women’s team in the first half of the decade terrorized the international scene by forcing turtled up defensive players into their butterfly guard. When I trained in Japan, a lot of my time was spent stopping butterfly guard entries when someone had my back.

Having a functioning butterfly guard gives you a good option for breaking the turtle and will make you generally dangerous in both sports. I only list this second because it is easier to pass then closed guard. Thus you need to be generally better on the ground overall before trying to get good at it.

My friend Justin Imagawa was devastating with this butterfly guard turnover. He would pull you into a pseudo butterfly guard whenever you would turtle, and it would be a struggle to get out.

Half Guard (particularly deep half)

Half guard really isn’t a winning position typically in judo. It is almost always a defensive position. Even people who are decent at it in a judo context will often only use it to stop the pin and maybe catch the sweep if the other person messes up badly. That said, getting comfortable and learning how to enter deep half is a very useful skill. Most judo players cannot pass deep half guard in the time that is allotted on the ground. This makes it good for getting stood back up as long as you watch the potential ude garami (kimura).

Hand fighting from the back

You should be learning how to open up the turtle and attack someones back for chokes and armbars in judo anyways. That said, I’ve gotten a lot of really great insights on how to attack the back from training with BJJ instructors. I highly, highly recommend Ryan Hall’s back attacks dvd. Ryan is now my BJJ instructor, but I got this DVD set back when I was competing heavily in judo and it really helped me.

How more advanced guards can be used in judo matwork

Before going further, if you are training BJJ purely for the purpose of preparing for judo competition, I wouldn’t invest a lot of my time in many of the more advanced guards. You do need to learn them if you want to become a more complete grappler, which should always be encouraged. That said, if your at the white belt level for BJJ, you’ll likely be funneled away from guards like spider and de la riva.

If you have reached the point where you’ve got a functional closed and butterfly guard, submit people consistently from mount, and have a hard to pass half guard, congrats. You’ve picked up the core of what a pure judo player really needs to know for competition judo matwork. That said advanced guards do have a place in judo competition matwork. Ironically it is often to either stall or slow the other person. This sounds bizarre to a lot of BJJ people, but honestly most of these guards are used to stall and get stood back up. Since you need to be somewhat experienced to use them well, you are probably good enough on the ground that you want to stay there anyways. Below is a very quick run down of what I think the application of different advanced guards are in a judo competition context.

Single and X-Guard

My friend Damian O’Hara has used these successfully in a judo context. “Technically” single leg x, aka “Ashigarami” is illegal in judo. I have never seen this called. When I’ve use them in a judo context, it is almost always to slow someone down. Judoka are an athletic bunch and I’ve had people try to literally front flip over my guard before. I’ve found single leg x to be one of the better answers to this behavior. You are not going to get a score here, but you will reduce the chance that you get caught in a random pin because your opponent can do an aerial.

X-guard is hard to secure. I’ve never used this in a judo competition, but as I said my friend Damian has.

50–50

You will never use this judo competition matwork. There is no reason to use it other then to get stood up immediately, and frankly if you enter it you run the risk of disqualification because a referee thinks you are going for a leg lock. This is a guard that is really meant for BJJ and submission grappling. It’s analogous to how sode tsuri komi goshi is great for judo and not really a move that is common in other grappling sports.

Spider Guard

Really cool guard that is basically only for stalling in a judo context. I have never had someone secure this guard on me in judo competition, and those that I have seen do it successfully got stood up moments later. Most judo players will not react in ways you need them to in order score from this position. Savvy judo players will recognize they don’t know what going on, and will hang back and wait for the stand up. I put this in the same category as 50–50 with the caveat that it is more likely to happen. For what is worth, a lasso is useful for stalling since its so hard to pass.

De la Riva and RDLR

You won’t often score with these guards (unless you are Ryan Vargas who put on a beautiful display at the world championships on how these positions can be used to get to other sweeps). That said, they have the same utility that single leg x does, but with the added bonus that you could sweep someone. DLR is also just harder to break apart within the conditions of a judo match. This makes it actually the best stalling guard if you need to take a breath. It’s dynamic enough that you won’t immediately be stood up, but safe enough that you can catch a breath. I usually enter into off a yoko tomoe. I have had people in a judo context make a wrong move when this happens, and I’ve caught berimbolos and omoplatas whenever this happens. With the omoplata nerf that happened this year, your options are limited.

RDLR is simply more risky. A lot of judoka will intuitively understand that if they grab your head successfully they should pass. Thus I would make sure to be aware that I can’t “chill” with this guard like I would DLR.

DLR guards do have some potential to see more use in the judo game in the future. The nerf around grabbing your opponents ankles has wreaked havoc on the potential to see this game in advanced judo competition.

Guard Passing

You need three guard passes in judo. Two of them should be with the recognition that your opponent has the possibility to turn to their stomach, ruining the chance of getting an easy pin. Thus, I would focus on guard passes that allow controlling what direction your opponent turns. The over-under pass and knee cut passes are fantastic for this purpose. They work together and the knee cut pass also acts as a counter to tomoenage and some sumi gaeshi variations. You should learn how to at least survive butterfly guard, preferably how to pass it.

One of Judo’s best guard passers and my coach: Jimmy Pedro

Flying stuff

Flying armbars are actually a very legitimate move in a judo context. I use them to stop stiff arms all the time. You have to use one where your body is already on the ground before the armlock is applied. You also have to have mastered the basic armbar before doing this. The two people to watch are Flavio Canto and Rhadi Ferguson. That said, I have never witnessed a flying triangle successfully attempted in a judo setting, so I would limit my exploration in this area.

Go to the end of the video. As a fun note: Dr. Ferguson gave me my purple belt in BJJ.

Final Thoughts

Focus on and get good what are considered the basics of Brazilian Jiujitsu. That’s it. Honestly, the basics of BJJ cover the core of a good judo matwork curriculum anyways. If you can get yourself to where you are effectively using your guard at the blue belt level, and you are a black belt in judo, you will be well prepared for a lot what judo matwork can throw at you.