Have you ever heard of the Tozi pass? If not, then you’ve been missing out on plenty of closed guard passing opportunities! Just to put things into perspective the Tozi pass is a closed guard passing system that goes against everything you’ve been taught about closed guard passes. And it works better than any other pass when it comes to dealing with the closed guard. The move was developed by a black belt named Roberto Tozi, hence that name.
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Roberto Tozi – Tozi Pass and Pressure Passing
How do you go about passing the closed guard? Most likely it has to do with grips off, posture straight, and either turning your hip to break open the guard, or standing up. Well, you don’t have to do either of those things anymore. Roberto Tozi came up with a way of breaking and passing the closed guard at the same time while using a “broken” posture throughout. The Tozi pass does take some tinkering to get right, but once you do, you’ll never look at another closed guard pass again!
Who Is Roberto Tozi?
Roberto Tozi is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Roberto Godoi of the Rickson Gracie lineage. Famous for extremely efficient guard passing, Tozi is a multiple times Brazilian nationals champion (5 in total, and 4-time Pan American winner. He was also an MMA fighter between 2006 and 2008, winning all his fights via submissions.
Born in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Roberto Tozi picked up Judo after his brother started training. He soon became a Judo black belt and actually started Jiu-Jitsu because his Judo coach asked him to improve his Ne-Waza or groundwork. It wasn’t long before Tozi completely transitioned into BJJ, both with training and competitions, going through the ranks pretty fast.
He represented Godoi JIu-JItsu whenever he competed and was known as one of the people with the scariest passing games in the entire sport. Along with the fact that he was a heavyweight grappler, this made him a formidable opponent for anyone in the late 2000s. His most well-known legacy though is by far the closed guard Tozi pass.
The Revolutionary Tozi Pass
The Tozi pass really does defy everything that was a staple of closed guard passing before it came along. Namely, people were always taught to keep an upright back (posture) and keep it no matter what or they’ll fall prey to sweeps or submissions from the closed guard.
Well, the Tozi pass goes against all of that and is still one of the most efficient ways to pass the guard. What Roberto Tozi figured out was that you can lie down on top of an opponent when in their closed guard and still pass effectively. three are several different grip combinations that will help you a secure position and there’s a really specific movement of the hips and legs, but the end result is a very effective and pretty easy to execute guard pass. It is something that everyone should have in their toolbox, Gi, or No-gi.
Of course, there’s no better way to learn about the pass than from Tozi himself, and his “Tozi Pass And Pressure Passing Mechanics” DVD instructional si the perfect way to do it!
“The Tozi Pass And Pressure Passing Mechanics” DVD Review
What can you expect from this Roberto Tozi DVD? Well, apart from the ability to get past anyone’s closed guard you’ll also learn a bit more about pressure passing in general. The instructional has two volumes that are very rich with techniques organized neatily in related chapters. The first volume covers the basics of the Tozi pass, while the second goes over some variations and ways to connect it with other passes. All in all, a full blueprint for unorthodox guard passing, by the man who invented the stuff himself.
Part 1
Opening up “The Tozi Pass And Pressure Passing Mechanics” DVD is a short introduction of both Roberto, and his guard passing concepts and ideas. He hares the fundamentals behind the Tozi Pass as an idea, going deeper into what makes it so efficient and how the original version of the pass came to be.
Roberto then moves on to cover opening the guard with the Tozi pass and proceeding to secure position. he really does cover every aspect, from dealing with people with long legs to using their own lapels in order to better secure your pass. In the meantime, he shares Kimura and foot lock attacks, while also mentioning several ways in which people usually try to counter the pass, and how to kill them off early.
For those of you familiar with the Tozi pass, I’d recommend looking more carefully into the chapters on foot and leg placement as there are crazy details that Tozi covers.
Wrapping up are several passing options with the Tozi pass, that take care of the butterfly, and half guard.
Part 2
In the second portion of this DVD, Roberto Tozi looks into how the Tozi pass connects to other passes we regularly use and how to use it against different guard variations. The Tozi pass works great in conjunction with the knee cut and leg drag passes, for example, and Roberto demonstrates different ways of connecting them.
He also covers a few more half guard passing options, including dealing with the knee shield by using a Tozi Pass, which is quite revolutionary. Once again, it involves laying down against a knee shield, something most people would advise you against. However, using things like the steering wheel and double under, there are plenty of options that become available!
In fact, the knee shield opes up so many options that Tozi uses his signature pass to get into positions like the reverse half guard and proceed to go into Kes Gatame or open up some nasty leg locking options.
Wrap Up
This Tozi Pass DVD really does take the pass to a whole new level. Roberto Tozi has been tirelessly perfecting it, and it shows in this BJJ instructional. Even if you are not fan of the Tozi as a closed guard pass, you’ll certainly find good uses for it as a pressure pass. Happy hunting!
ON SALE HERE:
Roberto Tozi – Tozi Pass and Pressure Passing
