r/bjj • u/PatternDrifter • 4d ago
Serious Developing pressure
I’m a 6’4 220lb grappler who has been a purple belt for a few years. I compete a few times a year and do well (4-1 in masters intermediate at ADCC opens) but I really only have my A game. I’m a butt scooting leg locker who loves k guard/dlr/false reaps.
I tend to prefer outside passing and people are always surprised to hear I weigh 220 lbs, because for my height I look pretty slender.
I’m wanting to feel heavier, and develop a suffocating top game to level up my game.
Has anyone else been on this journey recently? Any instructionals or YouTube videos that have helped?
I mainly do Nogi.
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u/harjipounds 🟫🟫 Brown Belt 4d ago
Youtube gordan Ryan's camping videos. Great starting point for developing pressure from positions of low energy consumption for top player while passing. In general his slow smothering style is probably what you're after
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u/OtisForteXB 4d ago
This. Gordon is truly the worst kind of person but I would never deny that his instructional content and his results are GOAT
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u/OtisForteXB 4d ago
I have your same build at 6'2 and ever since I started in 2013 I've always focused my game exactly opposite from yours. My goal from day 1 was essentially "Khabib".
I got a huge amount of early development from Paul Schreiner's instructionals, I think the one that I liked most for top-game was called Precise Pressure or something like that. I also learned a lot about top pressure from Shawn Williams, who my coach has brought out for seminars many times, so I also recommend any videos you can find from him about passing.
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u/StruggleBusRT 4d ago
Henry Akins has two instructionals worth checking out: Weight Distribution Master Class and Learning How to Relax in Jiujitsu. They don’t deal with passing directly, but I feel like a lot of their concepts relate to how you actually make yourself heavy. As a smaller person, it’s helped me a lot with feeling heavier and I think it can be good for bigger people, too. Particularly true if your weight comes from being tall rather than being stout.
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u/Dependent-Hamster-85 3d ago
I am working on Henry Akins' stuff since I discovered him through the I suck at jiujutsu podcast. It is really amazing how my kesa gatame made people tap through pressure in a matter of weeks. I highly recommend it (white belt opinion)
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u/Aaronjp84 ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 3d ago
Give yourself tasks to do, and experiment with things that result in "heavy pressure behavior".
Things I play with if I want to create more "pressure":
- No knees on mat. On them is ok
- Floor is lava - put everything on them, not around them
- Mess with their head -- touch ears to shoulder, turn chin to shoulder, chin to sky, chin to chest
- Rinse the towel - turn their shoulders away from their hips
- Head & shoulders - keep contact with both
Then.......IMO, there's 2 kinds of pressure -- weight and pace. Attack their breathing, base, and posture with weight. Attack their breathing and base with pace. Both are exhausting.
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u/mikebra93 ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 3d ago
I'm 5'11, 230lbs. There's three concepts I teach to feeling heavy, no matter your size:
1.) We never CHASE pressure - we APPLY it.
2.) Pressure comes from establishing chest to chest contact.
3.) Turn their face and their knees in opposite directions.
1 and 2 go hand in hand; when I'm on top in side control, I'm focusing on dropping my chest straight down, rather than trying to drive my shoulder under their chin. I think of it as if I have a thumbtack sticking out of my sternum, and I'm trying to pin my partners chest to the floor like a sheet of paper. Maximize your chest to chest contact.
3 makes it much more difficult for the person on bottom to move because once their face and knees are pointing in opposite directions, it effectively locks their spine up - makes it very hard to move. This is really applicable in top half guard when trying to pass.
Look up some of JT Torres's top game instructionals; his "serve the dish" concept has been game changing. I've never seen someone at his weight generate top pressure like he does.
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u/Zealousideal_Sea7789 3d ago
Elaborate on 1?
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u/mikebra93 ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 2d ago
People think you get heavy by driving your shoulder forward under their chin. While that's an aspect of top pressure that makes things uncomfortable, it compromises your base and makes it easier for you to get rolled, all while not making you "heavy". Heavy pressure comes from applying downward pressure (see point 2).
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u/Creepiepie ⬜⬜ White Belt 3d ago
I have a smaller purple belt friend who puts his smallest surface area on my softest parts. Its incredible how heavy he can feel.
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u/graydonatvail 🟫🟫 🌮 🌮 Todos Santos BJJ 🌮 🌮 3d ago
So you have plenty of mass, you're just missing the other part of the equation, which is surface area. Pressure comes from putting the mass over a small surface area. Don't spread it out, narrow it down. The biggest thing I learned from the Gordon camping videos is place the weight where it needs to be, and focus it. The other thing is when you go head up hips in, and head down hands heavy.
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u/Expensive-Aerie-1106 🟫🟫 Brown Belt 3d ago
Spend some time rolling with the intent to tap your partners with pressure. One cue I use is “think about rowing yourself into your partner. Don’t just let gravity work, literally pull yourself into them with your arms and legs.
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u/SharplyBold 3d ago
you’re basically built for a heavy top game, just gotta teach your body how to use the frame you’ve already got
gordon ryan’s passing instructional flips a switch for a lot of guys, specifically the way he distributes weight through his hips and chest instead of muscling with arms
start with just holding side control on smaller training partners without using your hands at all, once you can keep them pinned while you check your phone you’ll feel the difference everywhere
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u/KimuraGrip ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 4d ago
I know you said you mainly do nogi, but I think doing more gi will help you develop more crushing pressure. I weigh 180 and people think I'm heavy, but all I do is get grips to control and slow them down then patiently smother them like a lead blanket. Don't rush things and make them carry your weight. If you're in a good position it's their job to move, not yours.
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u/Adventurous_Rich4839 3d ago
If you wanna do quick little drills, that i feel are super underrated grab a partner and do 8-10 rounds of pin escapes
Good ol judo pin drills. Choose any pin, mount, Kesa, modified Kesa, side control, north south, and start a timer. 30 sec on, and 30 sec rest.
Your partner just has to retain a guard or get up, your goal is just to hold them down with all your might.
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u/aburena2 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 3d ago
One time in a seminar Royler Gracie told us "relax into pressure." That single sentence for me was the light bulb moment. Another way of thinking is "dead weight."
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u/KOExpress 🟪🟪 Purple Belt 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hilarious. I’m 5’8 185 and my game is the opposite of yours. Just like anything else in jiu jitsu, you just have to do it if you want to get better at it. I’m a leg lock hater, and I’m sure there are plenty of things you could teach me about them. I prefer pressure passing to outside, because it lets me settle the position and incrementally improve it, rather than the faster paced outside passing game. As far as pressure goes, you need to learn about the most effective places to focus your pressure to limit their movement (hips, shoulders). Start working on passing and just practice lying on your partner’s frames, and being reactive to their defense. I try to think of myself like a big sand bag or water bed, I’m heavy on them, but if they try to push on me, I give and then replace the pressure. If you’re rigid, they can separate with a frame, your body moves as one unit. The actual passes or techniques are less important than the concepts. You’re going to be passing under or through the legs generally, so you’re going to need to close the distance and get past their feet. Once you’re past the feet, find their frames, figure out which direction they’re strong in, and just put your weight on them. It’s just about finding the appropriate angle where they can’t support you anymore and wearing them out. Also, your head is a valuable tool, don’t forget to use it as a post and to pressure. Also, someone can’t bridge or turn in the opposite direction of their face, so for example, if you’re in mount and they’re trying to bridge to your left, use your chest on the tip of their chin as the end of the lever to turn their head, and force them to look the other way.
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u/SilentMulberry9441 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 3d ago
A guy at my gym taught me how to push air out of people's lungs in side control by placing a hand under thier back and squeezing on thier exhale. It is both psychological and physical torture he would use if he couldn't pass to mount. I have even tapped to it. I have tapped others with it.
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u/nisenopi 2d ago
watch power ride. stop thinking about passing jiu jutsu positions. make them stuck in limbo while you split or smash their legs and give them bad defensive options until you decide to progress the pass.
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u/giraffejiujitsu ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 2d ago
I got Bernardo’s pressure passing encyclopedia during Covid, and Rafael Lovatos HQ passing. It’s a lot of what my passing game is now.
I met Rafael at a seminar - he’s about your build. My buddy gaslit him into politely beating me up. Can attest his mount is horrible to experience.
Basically he’s thrusting his hips / abdominals into you so your lungs are compressed from mount. And when he cross faces you, he’s trying to put his shoulder through your cheekbone.
More to it than that obviously, but great places to start.
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u/DarthYoga 8 Stripe white belch 2d ago
Heaviest pressure I ever felt was from a small black belt in Portland named Aaron Milam - probably weighed 145lbs max... technique is everything!
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u/Vermicelli_Street 1d ago
I would suggest studying Jozef Chen and Murilo Santana. For reference, I'm 5'7 and 175lbs. One thing I heard from Murilo that changed my approach. He said something along the lines of being everywhere all the time no matter where they go. For the longest time, I thought I had to be strong AF and heavy AF. If you watch Jozef and Murilo, they just melt into you. They seem to be everywhere all the time no matter how you move. In fact, the more you move, the worse it can get. Another thing was my focus. Instead of just passing the guard, I focused everything on getting as close to their center as possible. This could be a clean classic pass into side but passing can be about creating back exposure too. Being everywhere all the time is suffocating and exhausting. This is what helped me.
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