Key Takeaways
- A Gi BJJ DVD offering a fresh perspective on the De la Riva Guard for Gi BJJ.
- Features positioning and retention details, sweeps and back takes.
- Outlines the evolution and adaptation of the DLR and Bolos game to modern Jiu-Jitsu.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 8 out of 10.
DUBIOUS DE LA RIVA DOMINIQUE BELL DVD GET HERE:
For those out there still sticking to the De la Riva guard as their main bottom position, the Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD brings a new wave of hope. If you needed ways to evolve your DLr game to match the modern BJJ Gi competition requirements then your search is over.
This instructional features some of the Atos team’s latest developments in the field of the De la Riva guard, which is one of their ‘babies’ along with the Berimbolo. Dom offers a fresh perspective through some innovative, yet already battle-tested moves and concepts.
The Timeless De la Riva Guard
If I ask anyone who trains BJJ to list a few open guards, the De la Riva, or its variations, and probably the butterfly guard will most likely be on everyone’s list. The De la Riva is a true classic of Jiu-Jitsu at this point, even though it was considered to be innovative and modern when it first appeared.
In all honesty, the leg lock revolution appeared to paint the end for the DLR, but somehow, the guard managed not just to survive in a viable and effective position, but also thrive and evolve. Modern versions of the De la Riva, and most of its variations are just as effective as the original version of the guard that Ricardo De la Riva pioneered and named after himself.
These days, the DLR remains one of the most used guards in both Gi and No-Gi, although Gi players often find it a lot more productive, on account of the pant and sleeve gripping options. If you’re interested in seeing the end product of the DLR guard evolution, check out the highly informative Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD.
Dominique “Dubious Dom” Bell
Dominique Bell is an Atos team member and competitor, and a black belt under the team’s leader, Andre Glavao. However, he did not rise through the Atos ranks like the Ruotolo brothers, but rather joined them as a purple belt.
The Florida-born grappler started BJJ fairly late in his life, taking his first class when he was in the army, after a few years spent boxing in various neighborhood gyms. A brown-belt regiment cook introduced Dom to BJJ and got him hooked, as he found a knack for competing.
Grappling while serving gave Dominique a goal to pursue after leaving the army, with grappling taking a central role in his life. It took Dom only 8 months to earn a brown belt from Galvao, and eventually a black belt in 2018. So far, Dom has several IBJJF gold medals in prestigious regional tournaments, with world-class performances surely following soon.
In the meantime, he has managed to re-introduce the De la Riva guard, an Atos team special, into the pro-grappling world. The Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD offers his entire system for dominating the DLR with the Gi.
Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD Review
The Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD is a four-part instructional that is Gi-specific and contains just over 2 hours of material. It provides an upgraded version of the classic DLR that meets modern competition requirements in both defense and offense:
Part 1 – Guard Retention
The Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD kicks off with Dom covering the best way to position yourself for playing the modern DLR. This includes leg positioning, body angles grip details, and variations that you might not have seen before.
Following these fundamental positioning tips, the focus of most of this first volume is on retaining the De la Riva guard against common passing attacks and guard breakdowns. Dom includes leg lock awareness as well, removing one of the key vulnerabilities of the guard.
Part 2 – Sweeps
The second volume of the Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD moves on to attacks, with sweeps being the star of the show. Innovative sweeps such as the ‘take out the trash” sweep and variations, along with some established super-effective moves like the tripod sweep and come up sweep are the main components of this part.
Bell also talks about the principle of off-balancing people, using the Murasaki sweep as an example, and setting the stage for the next portion of the instructional.
Part 3 – Back Takes
The Murasaki sweep is a particularly useful tool to employ from the De la Riva guard because it doubles as a back exposure tool, providing you with a dilemma attack. The opening portion of the third volume demonstrates this connection offering an attractive rolling back take off of the initial sweep.
As this part of Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD goes on, Bell offers other sweep-back take combos, offering a bit more advanced attacks, but nothing too complicated, especially in terms of regripping or crazy flexibility demands. The appropriately named ‘Backtake Bamboozle’ brings this volume to a close.
Part 4 – Bolos
You didn’t think a De la Riva DVD by an Atos Jiu-Jitsu team member would end without any Berimbolos, did you? The final part of the Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD goes over everyone’s favorite inverting back take, offering the next stages in the evolution of the Bolo.
On top of the ‘standard’ Berimbolo, Dom offers a couple of great variations, comparing the OG bolo and the baby bolo in the process. He ties in the leg drag sweep beautifully to introduce dilemmas once again, ending the instructional with a few moves that are probably not going to make much sense for anyone below the purple belt.
Outside Open Guards
Do you know what the main advantage that the De la Riva guard brings to the table is? If I say that it is a typical outside guard, will that make any more sense? Let me elaborate, then.
Outside guards, such as the DLR, closed guard spider guard place your legs on the outside of your opponent’s legs. While that removes direct leg lock entries, at least ones that are effective, it does offer easy access to upper body submissions.
Since upper body submissions feature two key categories – chose and armlocks, you end up with double the chances of submitting as opposed to playing inside guards which leads to Ashi Garami.
Both types of guards offer different sweeping threats, but the fact that you can connect your sweeps to two types of submission attacks, means you have a lot more combinations available, and you can build more complex chains that leave your opponent with very few means to defend.
The system offered by Dom in his Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD outlines how you can use the power of the outside positioning to string together sweeps and back takes to great effect.
FULL DOWNLOAD: DE LA RIVA DOMINIQUE BELL DVD
Take Out The Trash!
The Dubious De La Riva Dominique Bell DVD is a top resource for those who like to keep things classic, but still stay competitive in the modern Gi game. Everything that comes out of the Atos team is worth exploring for competitors, but this instructional is a particularly useful blueprint because it covers a guard most people know anyway – it means less to learn and figure out from scratch!
