Mr. Lachlan Giles, the head coach of Absolute MMA in Melbourne is undoubtedly the man fo the moment. After last weekend’s ADCC there’s hardly anyone that’s not aware of the tenacious Australian. In fact, most people already knew him well, but the 2019 ADCC did for him what the previous one did for Craig Jones. Even though it was Gordon Ryan that took most of the accolades, Lachaln was the man that caught the grappling community’s attention. Immediately following his ADCC accolades, a brand new Lachlan Giles Instructional hit the shelves: The Body Lock Pass DVD. Suffice to say we would’ve gotten this even if he never even competed at the ADCC. Now, however, I suspect we have a best seller on our hands!
ON SALE HERE:
Lachlan Giles – Body Lock Pass (DVD/DIGITAL)
So far, a Lachlan Giles Instructional has never let me down. One thing is for sure, I still haven’t had the chance to actually learn all his material. Even though he has only three out so far, they’re all at least 6 volumes long and extremely full of information. That aside, he is by far one of the best coaches out there and a competitor to keep an eye on for sure. That blend of an active competitor and a world-class coach makes him one of the best people to learn from nowadays. And he never disappoints, not with his content nor the choice of subject. The body lock pass DVD is another highly specialized instructional that sheds light on a technique not many people really use that often. As with his previous instructionals, this is a No-Gi DVD once again.
Lachlan Giles, The Giant Slayer
What could I possibly say about Lachlan Giles that you do not know by now? He is a black belt under John Simon of the Machado lineage. He is also one of the best Australian grapplers out there, along with Kit Dale and Craig Jones. At the moment, though, he is by far the hottest prospect of them all. Born in Victoria, Australia, Giles trained everything from kung fu to karate. OF course, once he found out about the UFC it was all BJJ and he hasn’t looked back since. He was 15 at the time. Since then, he has had a stellar competitive career at middleweight (181 lbs).
So far Lachlan Giles has a UAEJJF Continental Pro, IBJJF Pan Pacific Gi and No-Gi, and three ADCC Trials titles to his name. He also has notable appearances in submission-only tournaments like EBI, as well as bronze in the IBJJF No-Gi Worlds. It wasn’t until the recent inaugural Kinektic Invitational the Lachlan really caught everyone’s attention. In the modern format 5 vs 5 tournaments, Giles dispatched of an entire team of grapplers single-handedly, bringing the title to his team. Moreover, he followed that up with a stellar performance at the 2019 ADCC just a few days ago.
At the ADCC, which this time took place in California, USA, Giles actually lost his very first match in the -88 kg division to the legendary Lucas Lepri. Lachlan bounced back and then some, though, when it came to his performances in the absolute. Here Giles submitted three much heavier opponents to learn the bronze medal. Talk about a great way to announce his brand new Body Lock Pass DVD! This is one Lachlan Giles Instructional that has the best possible timing ever!
What’s the Deal With The Body Lock Pass
Speaking fo the new Body Lock Pass DVD by Lachlan Giles, let’s discuss the body lock for a little bit. This is somewhat of an unusual style of passing in modern BJJ. If you take a look at grappling about a couple of decades ago you’ll actually notice the body lock pass pretty much everywhere. Somehow, during the years, this pass got lost as BJJ exploded into a global phenomenon. Well, it is making a comeback nowadays, particularly in No-Gi JIu-Jitsu. And this Lachlan Giles instructional is the only one doing this move justice, seeing how detailed and big it is.
First and foremost, category-wise, the body lock pass is a pressure pass. In fact, it may be the most powerful of them all. Its success is mainly due to the fact that you have your opponent’s hips under constant pressure. That provides you a very secure pin that’s extremely hard to get out of. Part of the reason for this is the position of your arms, which goes around the waste of your opponent and lock behind his hips. That creates a closed system that, along with the immense pressure make re-guarding an impossible tsk, Moreover, you can safely stay in the position for as long you want. Slowly making your way past the opponent’s legs. And this is all before I even start mentioning the possible follow-ups that this pass creates.
One more caveat of the body lock pass is that you can actually use it with a high degree of success against any guard out there. This Lachlan Giles Instructional actually has an entire volume dedicated to passing the closed guard. Plus, you get numerous different ways of entering the pass and even countering early and late defenses.
Reviewing The New Lachlan Giles Instructional: Body Lock Pass DVD
Even one look at this new Lachlan Giles instructional, and you immediately know you’re in for a treat. The organizational pattern fo the DVD, for starters, is immaculate. Giles has everything divided not only into volumes but different clusters within the volumes themselves. That way, you can easily navigate through all the chapters if you’re looking for something specific. However, the first time you watch the Body Lock Pass DVD, I recommend you go from beginning to end, as there are key concepts that develop along the way. Moreover, there’s an innovative final volume, featuring Lachlan’s unique approach to teaching.
This DVD works by presenting the information on the body lock pass in several distinct volumes. Giles opens up with the basic principles and concepts behind the pass. Here, he includes both philosophical as well as mechanical details. Part two picks up right away, exploring ways of entering into the Body Lock Pass position. The third volume is the first of a few unique features of this instructional, though. In it, Lcahln focuses on clearing the knee line, which includes dealing with a bunch of possible counters.
Past the halfway point, it is time to actually complete the pass in several different and efficient ways. Finally, part five takes a long look at how you can deal with eh closed guard by way of body lock passing. But that’s not all. The sixth and last volume is filled with narrated rolls, which is something that’s not uncommon nowadays. However, it also contains some never-before-seen features which we’ll look at later on in this review.
I. Concepts & Principles
Let’s start at the very beginning. The Body Lock Pass DVD opens up with a short introduction, which is pretty much the norm for BJJ instructional. In it, Giles does an overview of the series, explaining what you’ll find inside, and how to best use the information. In fact, you could argue the beginning section of the pass is an extended intro to the technique, spreading across several chapters. One of the more important ones is how about the relation of the body lock to guard passing as well as all the pros and cons of the system.
A crucial chapter that actually kicks off the DVD, is the one that explores the 5 stages of the body lock pass. This is pretty much a foolproof way of ensuring you can execute a near-perfect body lock pass. It involves gripping, dealing with defenses, the timing of the grip release and many more key tips. As the volume progresses, Lachaln head more into the principles behind the pass, exploring things like weight distribution, and some common mistakes that often prove costly. The first volume of the brand new Lachlan Giles Instructional concludes with a chapter on how to best learn from this Body Lock Pass DVD.
II. Entries
Here’s one example of why the Lachlan Giles instructional is flawless. The Body Lock Pass DVD first explores the inner workings of the body lock pass before actually looking at how to get there. That way, you know exactly what you’re looking for when you’re learning the entries. Speaking of entries, this volume has 6 different clusters of chapters that for ma mini system of their own.
First up you get a few more concepts. These include tactics on trapping the legs as well as forcing your opponent to expose their back. There’s even a neat little trick on how to get the body lock even when an opponent is lying on the ground. In terms of actual entry techniques, the second cluster explores dealing with seated opponents. The order goes something like this: first, you learn an entry, then you learn to troubleshoot and dealing with common issues. Following suit are several variations of the entry, depending on the guard.
Coming up next is a cluster that goes over something brand new- body locking a lying opponent. Here, Giles uses the “headquarters” system, looking for a position zero to kick things off from. Once again, principles, troubleshooting, and variations are included. Next up it is the cross knee through position that Giles turns to as a launching pad. Form there, once again, you get several options to pass with the body lock against knee shield variations.
Thre’s yet another cluster that explores body lock passing vs lying opponents where Giles looks at some random situations. A half guard entry is one of them, for example. Finally, he talks about linking everything together, so that you use one type of entries to go into the next, and ultimately, the body lock.
III. Clearing The Knee Line
While cleaning the knee lin si commonly associated with leg locks, the principle is universally applicable in Jiu=jitsu. In the latest Lachlan Giles instructional, clearing the knee line has everything to do with actually passing someone’s guard. Unsurprisingly, the volume kicks off with a mini-series of concepts and principles. This is actually where weight distribution during the body lock pass comes into play.
First and foremost, it is all about clearing the knee line from the butterfly guard. According to Giles, there are two main ways of achieving that – jumping and smashing the butterfly hooks. Moreover, he covers ways of shutting down any possible guillotine/front headlock game which is crucial against the butterfly guard. That said, Giles actually includes some choking options of his own while passing.
Clearing knee lines against the knee shield and leg over back follow suit. While there’s not much to talk about in terms of the knee shield, the leg over back is a different story. This is one of the most common ways of countering guard passing. Luckily Giles has a magic hat full of tricks to solve it. IN short, every counter they might think of, from pushing your head to Gogoplatas is in this portion of the DVD. And they all work perfectly.
Before the mandatory final chapter that helps you link everything together, this portion of the Lachlan Giles Instructional also addresses troubleshooting. In other words, you get even more ways of stopping counters, both early and late.
IV. Completing The Pass
In the fourth installment of the Lachlan Giles Instructional, the focus is on actually passing. It took four volumes to get to the pass itself, which shows how detailed the Body Lock Pass DVD is. However, if you do every step right, you’re all but guaranteed to get a pass against anyone. This DVD, like all previous ones, also starts with intro and concepts. After a short exploration of both, it is time to start getting past the half guard. The pass of choice is the tripod pass, coming in in several different body lock variations. Speaking of the half guard, the notorious half-butterfly guard gets a lot of attention here. From hip position to dealing with how their thigh moves, this is the best blueprint to deal with this pesky guard. Actually, if there’s ever a match between Giles and Tom DeBlass, we’ll see whose system works better.
Next up, a few more common pass scenarios. Here Lachaln starts with the knee cross pass, before addressing the lockdown and passing vs. kimura attempts. The few chapters on countering get up back takes are also huge. Finally, a way consolidating your passing game precedes the usual final chapter covering how to put everything together.
V. Sao Paolo Guard Opening
The fifth volume is the final technical one of the Body Lock Pass DVD. While it is not the last part of the new Lachlan Giles Instrucitonal it is one of extremely huge importance. The reason why is that it explores how to utilize the body lock pass game against the closed guard. It seems that Lachaln has finally found a way to make it work.
The way the body lock pass can work against the closed guard is if you pair it with a guard opening system. And there’s hardly a better (or more brutal) one than the Sao Paolo system. In this volume, Lachlan first outlines the Sao Paolo and ll the options both you and your opponent have. Once again, there are stages to everything, and the Sao Paolo has four distinct ones.
The first stage covers gripping the ankle and hand fighting form there. In typical Lachlan fashion, the information here covers everything, from hip and body position to placing arms and fighting off armbar attempts. Stage two is actually the most difficult one, and it teaches you how to trap the legs fo the opponent. In fact, the third stage ties in perfectly as it further explores ways of isolating a lower body limb. Finally, there’s troubleshooting again, and lots of it this time. Once again, here you’ll learn how to execute the pass despite everything an opponent might throw at you: flower sweep, Omoplata, Gogoplata, Guillotine, inversions, etc.
VI. Narrated Rolls & Extra Features
As the Body Lock Pass DVD comes to a conclusion, Lachaln made sure it does so with a real bang. Every previous Lachlan Giles instructional had narrated rolls in it. In fact, I think he was the first one to use them, but do not quote me on that. That said, here you have them again, a total of six, and al including different people. As a learning tool, this is invaluable. However, Lachaln introduces one more to the mix, and it might even be better.
The new concept is-called assisted learning. Here, Lachaln actually does troubleshooting rolls, explaining how to overcome common and uncommon hurdles that might come up. Not only that, but he also introduces narrated guest rolling, which takes things to a whole new level.
Conclusion
Learning from a Lachlan Giles Instructional is always a real pleasure. I can only imagine how doing so from the man himself live must feel. Anyway, if you’re at a doubt where to start with his instructionals, do not hesitate to pick up the Body Lock Pass DVD first. You’ll not only get an insight into Lachlan’s style of grappling and teaching, but also a great weapon to add to your passing arsenal. Better said, you’ll gain ya primary way of passing that can become foolproof if you really dedicate to it. And if you’re one of those people that already have all of Lachlan’s instructionals, this is the latest piece of the collection.
ON SALE HERE:
Lachlan Giles – Body Lock Pass (DVD/DIGITAL)
