I’ve never had the pleasure to train with Xande Ribeiro or visit one of his seminars, but I have seen most of his matches, and just about all of his BJJ instructionals. As a competitor, Xande’s legacy is in a class of its own, but he also has left a lasting mark on the BJJ world as one of the best instructors ever!
This latest Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD is a great example of how Xande puts together his instructionals. He picks a wide subject, like building a No-Gi game based on Stand Up and Passing, and then goes over everything you’ll ever need for it: concepts, techniques, tactics, mindset, etc.
Another gem of an instructional that I felt privileged and happy to review today. Check out what you’ll find inside it:
Key Takeaways
- A 5-part No-Gi BJJ instructional dissecting how to best build a full No-Gi game.
- Over 3 hours of material on how to organize your standing, passing, and guard No-Gi game.
- Taught by a legendary World Champion who was only mounted once in his career!
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9 out of 10.
NO-GI OFFENSE DVD AVAILABLE HERE!!!
The No-Gi BJJ Game Conundrum
If you’ve never competed in No-Gi, you’re going to be in for a big surprise. I don’t care if you are a black belt with tons of Gi experience, once you enter a No-Gi match, you’ll see that you need careful planning and a highly specific selection of moves and tactics to prevail.
The conundrum most people face in the BJJ World is how to be good at both Gi and No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. More often than not, given the complexity of Gi BJJ, particularly in the domain of grip fighting, people opt to train with the Kimono hoping their skills will carry over to No-Gi.
Unfortunately, this approach is flawed and will be exposed once you try a full-paced No-Gi match. The solution is to do the reverse – train No-Gi more so that you develop skills that have a direct carryover to the much more grippable setting of Gi Jiu-Jitsu.
Even better, try to take the worst of both worlds and cross-train. For example, wear Gi pants when you go against people in No-Gi, and allow them to grip them. This way you’ll develop incredible passing skills for both.
Feel free to play around with different training garment combinations, but prioritize No-Gi over Gi if you want to be better at both. If you want to do it fast, think about picking up the Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD.
The Living BJJ Legend That is Xande Ribeiro
it has been a while since I’ve seen a new Xande Ribeiro instructional. I am a sucker for the Ribeiro brother’s teaching style, so I jump in at every opportunity to get a peek into how they handle things, especially since they go for conceptually broad subjects as opposed to narrow specialties.
The pedigree of Xande Ribeiro, the younger of the BJJ power brothers duo is a black belt under his older brother Saulo Ribeiro and is one of the real Brazilian pioneers of the sport in the USA and the world. Always laid back and respectful, the Riberios have been behind some of the biggest names in the sport, such as Rafel Lovato Jr. and Diego Sanchez.
While with most people in the sport, the biggest accomplishments come in the form of world titles, with Xande, the bar is set in another universe. Namely, the 43-year-old has only had his guard passed four times in his career, and has only conceded mount once!
Of course, he also has a bunch of world titles to his name, 7 IBJJF Worlds with the Gi and 2 in No-GI, to be exact, as well as being the ADCC world champion on two occasions. you understand now why I was so stoked to have an early look at the Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD covering Stand Up and Passing.
Detailed Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD Review
The Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD, although titled ‘Stand Up and Passing’ is actually a complete blueprint to Xande’s world title-winning No-Gi game. He has been using this approach since 1999, and, while updating lots of the moves the meat and potatoes of the system remain the same as 25 years ago:
Part 1 – Everything About the Single-Leg
The single-leg takedown is one of the strongest moves for the standing portion of any grappling, MMA, or self-defense situation. It also happens to be Xande’s go-to way of getting people to the mats, so he addresses his favorite set-up, finishes, and pins I the first portion of his No-Gi Offense DVD.
He starts by demonstrating finishes first, just like all the top wrestlers train. What Xande does perfectly is tie these finishes with some ultra-heavy pressure passes immediately off of the takedown. he covers how to enter the single-leg takedown after demonstrating finishes, which is exactly how you need to train as well.
Once on the mats, Ribeiro shows his signature super hold pinning position, that he uses to stop opponents from standing up as he moves to pass their guards. Lots of old-school Judo side control variations feature in this volume, providing some incredible pressure pinning options.
Part 2 – Stacking and Pressure
If there is one thing you can associate with the Ribeiro brothers, it is their immense pressure game from the top. The secret is not in them being ultra heavyweights (although it helps), but rather in how you force your opponent to position themselves.
This part of the Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD is all about stacking people up before you pass, making them beg for the pass. Xande starts with double under, an old-school way of passing that still works beautifully to this day. Some moves he shares, like reaching for the next are true game changers in stack passing!
Ribeiro’s powerful simplicity continues with the proven No-Gi tactic of forcing half guard so that he gets easier access to smashing passes based on the crossface. This volume mends the way to force mount off of a forced half guard. In an elegant way, of course.
Part 3 – The Super Hold
The midway point of the Stand Up and Passing Xande Ribeiro instructional starts with the previously mentioned super hold position, focusing on passing. The endpoint is a Kesa Gatame variation, and Xande offers regular and reverse versions for even more pressure.
The super hold can also be used to bypass side control entirely and get to mount directly from performing any pass. Xande shares the details on how to achieve this, as well as key tips on how to maintain the mount using the same super hold principles after you get there.
Part 4 – Sweeping
The penultimate volume of the Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD shifts gears as Xande heads to the mats, to explore the building block of his No-Gi guard game. Remember, this is the man who has only had his guard passed on 4 occasions in his entire career!
Ribeiro’s focus is on the closed guard first, exploring the most secure gaurd position you can play in No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. he goes over a variety of attacks using two-on-one grips, and lists his favorite transitions into the effective Coyote half guard. Once there it is sweep bonanza with stuff like the rollover and dragon tail sweep.
Part 5 – Butterfly Guard
Xande Ribeiro brings his No-Gi Offense DVD to a close with a volume that covers his highly offensive butterfly guard game. He begins with grips that lead to arm drags, constantly exposing the back. Then, he goes into sweeping using the shoulder crunch, which, contrary to popular opinion is not something Gordon Ryan came up with.
Xande uses his vast competition experience to provide the perfect contention points for his butterfly gaurd attacks and other guards, such as the body lock Coyote gaurd and different Ashi Garami entries that lead to unstoppable submissions.
The instructional concludes with a series of sweeps and wrestling-up tactics that essentially bring you back full circle to the standing and passing aspects of his game.
Setting Up An Aggressive No-Gi Game
Given the dynamic, and after a short while, slippery, nature of No-Gi BJJ, constantly moving is not something you can afford to slack on. However, purposeless movements are worse than not moving at all and even conceding creating positions, so you better have an idea of what you’re going to do.
For the most part, it comes down to recognizing dangers, understanding your goals, and bridging both with the most appropriate grips. It sounds simple, but it is actually very complex, and not at all easy to apply across your entire No-Gi game.
This is where experience matters, and the best way to learn from experience is to learn from someone who has heaps of it. Of course, if you have access to a world-class No-Gi competitor who has won it all, by all means, go to them for advice.
Alternatively, you check out the blueprint of one of the best, most methodical grapplers ever by acquiring the Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD that will teach you everything you need to know about selecting the most efficient moves for an unstoppable, aggressive No-Gi game.
FULL DVD DOWNLOAD: XANDE RIBEIRO NO-GI OFFENSE
Get After It!
You can figure out how to grapple with the Gi pretty much on your own, as it allows you to get away with stuff by gripping and manipulating the cloth. However, there is nowhere to hide in No-Gi, and unless you ask for advice, you’ll struggle and probably give up on it.
Since this Xande Ribeiro No-Gi Offense DVD is now available, there is no need to get the Gi back on – you have all you need to build a truly comprehensive No-Gi BJJ game. As someone who has exclusively done No-Gi BJJ for the past 7 years (just as many years with the Gi prior to that), I found incredibly useful information in this DVD. I expect it ill help you solve No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu as well!
Merging Gi And No-Gi Rules To Create The Best Competition Platform
