You’ve heard the phrase”invisible Jiu-Jitsu”? Well, Bruno Bastos doesn’t seem to be a big fan of that one, opting instead to name his series “Visible Jiu-Jitsu”. The first instructional in the series is titled “Top Spread Passing & Submissions” and we’ll tell you all about it here today.
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Overview
This is a four-part instructional DVD focusing on how to deal with people’s guards, most of the half guard variety, place them under pressure once past them and look for a quick submission finish. In other words, this is an instructional about what BJJ is all about, apart from covering takedowns.
The instructional is heavy on passing by using underhooks, which makes sense given that half guards are what Bruno Bastos is focusing on. There’s a lot about passing the deep half guard, which is a subject not covered by many. There are also very interesting solutions to beat the well-established underhook half guard everyone seems to love. And not just with Darce chokes.
Submission-wise, Bruno covers everything: arm locks, chokes and leg locks.
Instructor Background
Bruno Bastos is one of the representatives of the “alternative” path of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He comes from the Oswaldo Fadda lineage, which has nothing to do with the Gracies. namely, Fadda was actually a student of Mitsuo Maeda along with Carlos Gracie.
Bastos is a 5th-degree black belt under Wendell Alexander, and one of the most decorated competitors in the BJJ world. He competed for the Nova Uniao team until 2014, before establishing the Bruno Bastos Association, as well as the LEAD team.
Some of Bruno’s accomplishments include winning the Brazilian Nationals, the CBJJE world title, The Brazilian Cup, IBJJF World Masters (multiple times in both Gi and No-Gi). He is also an ADCC veteran.
Bruno started training at the age of 10 and began competing as early as he could (as a yellow belt). Six other members of the Bastos family also train BJJ, 4 of which are black belts.
Bruno Bastos is also known to be heavily involved in charity work, through an organization called Arte Suave which he founded in 2005. Its focus is on keeping Brazilian kids away from drugs and violence through BJJ.
Subject
The subject of this first installment of Bruno Bastos’ “Visible Jiu-Jisu” series covers how to approach a BJJ match when you are the top person. Getting past the guard is no easy task, and oftentimes, the last resort of many guard players in the half guard. Bruno’s focus is quite specific, covering different ways in which you can get past some of the most utilized half guard variations.
He also focuses on how to keep your position and prevents people from recovering guard once you pass it. It is all topped off with submissions that are available both as you pass and after you’ve established a pin.
Complexity
The deep half guard, which takes up a solid portion of this DVD is a subject that is definitely not beginner’s level. However, the approach to passing it that Bruno Bastos shares in his “Top Spread Passing & Submissions” DVD does not require knowledge of the guard itself.
Bastos offers direct and easy routes for passing and submission, but also talks a lot about leverage and power and puts together interesting and effective combinations of all the moves.
The bottom line is that this DVD will offer grapplers of all levels something to learn about passing the half guard and submissions.
Technical Details
The “Top Spread Passing & Submissions” Bruno Bastos DVD instructional has four volumes. Each of the volumes contains multiple chapters, with a running length of 30 minutes per DVD. That brings the total running time of the instructional to 2 hours.
Produced by BJJ Fanatics, all of the technical aspects like sound, camera work, video quality, etc are on point. Bastos has a strong Brazilian accent but speaks English audibly and understandably. Moreover, he is an amazing teacher, bringing everything together as he speaks, rather than referring to future chapters where “he will explain how it all works together”.
The material is available as a digital download, or a DVD, both in HD quality.
Detailed Analysis
DVD #1
In the opening volume of this instructional, Bruno Bastos immediately introduces the underhook explaining how much control and leverage it provides for whoever wins it first. Given that he focuses on the top name in this DVD, he teaches how to best use it when passing.
He covers both single and double underhook scenarios when on top, which then utilize head control, leg movement, and pressure to get you past the legs. Some of the passes lead directly to the mount, which is what Bastos demonstrates in several fo the final chapters of this first volume.
DVD #2
Part 2 of the DVD still revolves mostly around underhooks, but from a more advanced standpoint. Namely, here Bastos explores different ways to grip from the near side underhook. He has some very interesting pants grips that open up interesting passing options, like cross passing.
Bastos also shares how to get to the mount and to the back from the near underhook. He also goes into some unique moves, like inverted half guard passing and using bear hugs to pass.
DVD #3
This is where submissions start to feature more. Past the halfway point in the “Top Spread Passing & Submissions” DVD, Bruno talks a lot about inverted half guard passing, and how to obtain maximum control from it. There are several chapters covering head control, and how it relates to submissions (arm triangle, Americana, Kimura).
In the second portion of the third volume, Bastos looks into Knee Cut Passing against the Deep Half Guard. He offers different options, ranging from collar grip passing to getting past the legs and directly into an armbar or a baseball choke.
DVD #4
In the final volume of his instructional, Bruno Bastos keeps offering solutions to the deep half guard riddle.
The first two of those solutions involve direct submissions vs the deep half guard in the form of a straight armlock and Kimura.
Bastos then goes into knee cut passing again, this time underhooking the far leg. Once again, the end goal is submitting the opponent, which he makes possible by introducing toe holds to the underhook passing system vs. half guard.
How We Grade The “Top Spread Passing & Submissions” Bruno Bastos DVD Instructional
Considering this Bruno Bastos instructional DVD’s technical aspects and quality of content, we come to an overall score for this instructional that I’ll deliberate on in short below.
Technical Quality: 10/10
All of the technical aspects in this instructional, from video and sound quality to the organization of the content, are on point.
Quality of Content: 10/10
There’s really nothing that I could find about this DVD that I did not like. there’s no unnecessary talk, there’s a great connection between the chapters, and it is adopted so that all level grapplers can learn. Despite the option of covering everything that passing pinning and submissions offer, Bruno Bastos smartly decided to focus on passing the half guard, doing diverse submissions, and using underhooks as the centerpiece of everything.
Overall: 10/10
“Top Spread Passing & Submissions” is a BJJ DVD I highly recommend to everyone involved in BJJ. You’re going to spend a lot of time in people’s half guards. Why not have a great system ready to go?
Wrap Up
It is difficult to figure out which DVDs will actually help you. Every now and again, an instructional like this comes along, providing proven and easy ways to deal with some of the most common Jiu-Jitsu problems. Thank you, Bruno Bastos.
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