Whenever a blue belt manages to submit a black belt in competition, the grappling world takes notice. Young Roberto Jimenez is one such example. To be honest, there aren’t many who have managed to get the better of multiple black belts the way Jimenez did. He took on no less than 5 black belt competitors as a blue belt and bested each and every one of them. But that is only the beginning of his story. A marvelous run at the 2018 worlds saw him quickly replace his purple belt with a brown. All at the ripe age of 18. Still, could we also see a Roberto Jimenez DVD before the prodigy turns 19?
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Roberto Jimenez – Attacking The Back
I know that if I can get my hands on a Roberto Jimenez DVD I’m getting in in the blink of an eye. The recently promoted brown belt hooked up with Michael Zegna and Bernardo Faria a short while ago in Boston. And we all know what that means. Once you see people on those well known Fuji mats, you can expect a great instructional to follow not long after. But the real question is, what would a Roberto Jimenez DVD be all about? After all the young phenom is still relatively unknown.
Let’s try and figure some things out. To do that we’ll analyze some of Roberto’s earlier exploits that made people notice him. We’ll try to use all our knowledge of Roberto, to figure out what his DVD is going to be about. Unless he actually comes out with it in the meantime, in which case we’ll be the first to provide an in-depth review!
The Brown Belt Everyone’s Afraid Of
So, what makes the thought of a Roberto Jimenez DVD so attractive? Well, all it takes is just a glance at his history and his highlights and you’ll know. The teenager is grappling like a veteran grappler, and has only just become a brown belt! he conquered everything purple belt had to offer with apparent ease.
Let’s be more precise. Roberto came out to the IBJJF Worlds in 2018 with the thought of becoming a world champion. he fulfilled his dream, not once, but two times at the same tournament. While winning both his division (purple belt, adult, heavyweight) as well as the absolute is not something that is uncommon at BJJ tournaments. However, submitting all ten opponents, from both your division and the absolute is, not something many people can boast with. Well, Roberto Jimenez can, and he did it at a purple belt!
Training out of Alliance Team Gaucho, Jimenez received all his elts from his trainer and father, Raul Jimenez. This allowed the young phenom to start training very early, enrolling in a kids’ program at the age of 5. As expected, he rose through the ranks, turning into a competitor everyone was starting to fear. Now, Roberto is a brown belt, and every other male adult brown belt in the world is aware of the intensity and highly technical game Roberto Brings to the mats. It is going to be a real joy to watch him, both in future competitions and his debut Roberto Jimenez DVD instructional!
A Roberto Jimenez DVD Preview
So, knowing what Roberto enjoys the most, what should we expect from a Roberto Jimenez DVD? Well, if his past efforts are anything to go by, submissions are definitely going to be at the top of the list. What is his favorite submission? Well, he did manage a lot of chokes, especially the bow and arrow at the blue and purple belts. He definitely likes to stay on the back, and strangle people via lapel chokes. However, his chokes arsenal includes a lot more than just the bow and arrow. So, perhaps a submission DVD, focusing on lapel chokes?
Perhaps the debut Roberto Jimenez DVD is going to be a more positional one. After all, he does enjoy taking the back from virtually anywhere. Perhaps this would be something he’d share with the world. After all, he is known to train with Lucas Lepri and Rubens Charles “Cobrinha” on a regular basis. Both are extremely dangerous back takers and have influenced Roberto a lot.
Furthermore, there is his very technical Omoplata game, along with a variety of straight armlocks. Add to that his earlier use of triangle chokes and you can see why he’s taking the world by storm. As if all of this wasn’t enough, Roberto is also a formidable guard passer that wastes absolutely no time. The crucial aspect of his game is ho technical the young grappler is in each and every one of his matches. But will he be able to carry that knowledge over via a Roberto Jimenez DVD? Hopefully, we won’t have to wait long in order to find the answer.
Roberto Jimenez DVD Review – Attacking The Back Every Match
So, it seems I was right with my predictions before. Not that it is too difficult of a thing, given Roberto’s prowess with the bow and arrow and his slick back taking skills. The DVD is out and about and is just as amazing as we expected. The title says it all really: “Attack The Back Every Match”. It is refreshing for an 18-year-old to focus on a staple position of BJJ in modern times. While others are looking for the next big breakthrough move, Jiminez was instead working on his attacking skills from the highest percentage finishing position in Jiu-Jitsu. And the results are more than obvious – he turned into a black belt killer as early as a blue belt.
The back position, despite what people might think, is actually a difficult one to master. It takes a long time to really get the knack for the finer details of back control. Unless you have someone who has already put in the time showing you the tips and tricks to get you there sooner. Jimenez does exactly that in his inaugural DVD release. What you get in this instructional is unlike most back taking DVDs out there. Jimenez offers paths to the back from literally every possible position you find yourself in. He even has a strategy to expose the back from scrambles, making you comfortable all around.
The DVD has a total of 4 volumes, each filled with extremely useful information. You won’t learn new pathways to the back or control. What you’ll learn are new takes on stuff you already think you know. However, the level of detail that Jimenez goes into is crazy, especially since its an 18-year-old brown belt doing the teaching. The first volume focuses mostly on the back takes from the open guard, featuring the De La Riva and Reverse De La Riva. Then, Jiminez mixes things, offering back take options from common both top and bottom. The closed guard series is particularly interesting. Part 3 focuses mostly on the turtle, while part four is reserved for some innovative moves.
DVD 1 – De la Riva Back Takes
This is one of those DVDs that does not spend too much time dwelling on general information. Roberto doesn’t even waste time on the introduction, not that he needs one. Instead, he jumps straight into the deep end, starting off in the De la Riva guard. From there, Roberto offers a few options to end up in back control from the popular open guard. Doing so, he includes both speed and pressure setups, allowing everyone to integrate the moves in their games instantly.
The second part of this volume contains mixed moves, albeit still from the bottom. First up is a very smooth waiter sweep which solves a lot of issues. A couple of Reverse De La Riva back takes open up a lot more possibilities as well, before Jimenez moves on to the half guard. Finally, there’s also one portion of this volume dedicated to the top position, with a somewhat standard back take from the leg drag. A bunch of very precise details makes it really efficient, though.
DVD 2 – Closed Guard To The Back
The closed guard is a position that’s on the decline lately. This does not mean that everyone’s abandoning it, but it is no longer the go-to bottom position everyone was gunning for. On top of that, back takes from the closed guard are very rare nowadays, giving more merit of the fact Jimenez addresses them here. The second portion of this Roberto Jimenez DVD spends a lot of time on the closed guard. This is a Gi DVD instructional first and foremost, but Jimenez offers options for No-Gi as well. In that sense, he has both collar and sleeve and arm drag setups to opening back control paths.
Jimenes then explores a few half guards to the back opportunities. Jimenez leaves no stone unturned, offering both offensives and, more importantly, counter-attacking back takes. that means you’ll easily flip the match when you manage to get the back off a defensive half guard game. At the very end, Roberto presents a kimura trap back take system, starting from side control. The best way to describe this is as the concept that’ll clear up the kimura – back control relationship for you.
DVD 3 – Back Control From The Turtle
The turtle is the position that most people use to get back. It is also the position that leads to more failed back takes than any other. The turtle position is quite easy to defend, especially when opponents know-how. Jimenez seems to have found the perfect hack, though, or rather 4 of them. The third volume of his “Attack The Back Every Match” DVD is all mostly about different ways of making sure the turtle position leads to inevitable back control. He starts simple and offers a few follow-up options that get progressively more complex. They all work though.
There are also a couple more techniques in this section of the Roberto Jimenez DVD. Something that’s a bit unusual in terms of back taking is going for it from the Kimura via a collar grip. This is one of those setups that’s glaringly obvious, yet we’ve been missing out on until Roberto pointed to it. Wrapping things up is a very neat little trick to help you get the back when you’re doing a hip escape. Even bad positions lead to the back with Roberto, and he spares no details demonstrating them all!
DVD4 – Roberto Jimenez Specials
The final volume in the instructional contains seemingly unrelated chapters. Namely, this is the part where Roberto goes over some of his trademarks back takes, some of which are really crafty. For example, he uses the collar drag from standing to get to the back directly. This move is one of the best “shortcuts” you can do in Gi Jiu-Jitsu. It eliminates the need for takedowns and positional advancement as it takes you from zero to a hundred in just one sequence. A real gem for competitors. Moreover, Jimenez demonstrates how to use the single leg, to find your way to the outside, and, eventually, the back.
Sprinkling some No-Gi essentials here and there, Roberto’s butterfly guard arm drag back take is a classic with a new twist. It’s not only going to get you to the back every time, but it’ll also transform how you execute arm drags. The 50/50 back take with a crab ride checkpoint is another one of those moves that work universally and will surprise most opponents. At the tail end of this Roberto Jimenez DVD is another original way of getting the back. This time, Jiminez dismantles the dreaded lasso guard on his way to back control. A move that’s so good, it’ll probably put the lasso guard out of commission.
ON SALE HERE:
Roberto Jimenez – Attacking The Back
