Passing has always been, and remains one of the toughest things to execute in BJJ. What helps immensely is understanding where the threats come from, rather than trying to pass the following steps and inflexible technique patterns.
The Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD is a very welcome example that people in the BJJ world understand this shift in perspective when it comes to passing and top-level athletes do not offer an insight into how they approach this daunting grappling task. I am categorical that it will make you a better passer and help you learn BJJ faster. Read on to understand why.
Key Takeaways
- A No-Gi grappling instructional with 6 parts, covering a very practical approach to passing inside-based guards.
- The material is organized in phases and includes games rather than drills to master everything faster.
- Put together by ADCC trials winner and B-Team brown-belt sensation Jozef Chen.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
JOZEF CHEN PASSING DVD AVAILABLE HERE!!!
The Formula for Passing Modern BJJ Guards
The guard game in BJJ changed significantly in the past decade, and I’m not talking about the boring lapel guards IBJJF “stars” use to claw advantages. The prerequisite for leg locks, popularized by John Danaher and Eddie Cummings as ‘inside position‘ is the real culprit that skyrocketed the threat of open guards in Jiu-Jitsu.
To be fair, only guards utilizing inside positions, such as butterfly, X guards, Reverse De la Riva, etc pose a leg-locking threat. Other outside-based guards are better suited for upper body submissions, such as chokes and armlocks.
This categorization of modern guards as inside and outside allows you to set up a passing game that kills off the guard’s immediate danger, making it a lot easier to figure out different guard positions as opposed to trying to figure out each distinct guard on its own.
Knowing where the threats are also allows you to break some staple rules of guard passing, as you can afford to take risks in a direction that has nothing to threaten you with. The Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD specializes in taking you past inside position guards in a versatile and fairly easy-to-master way.
Jozef Chen – The New Breed of Grappler
The BJJ Akademie gym in Berlin, Germany is one of the best places to train BJJ in Europe. It has a bunch of exceptional athletes and a lineup of top instructors, some of which I have the pleasure of personally knowing. The one person you most likely know, and everyone will certainly know in a few years, is Jozef Chen.
Currently aged only 20, the young brown belt who represents the B-team on the world-class competition stage has only been training for barely 5 years. Starting BJJ at 14, Chen quickly tore through the professional competition scene, taking names along the way. His list of victims includes grappling standouts like Tommy Langhaker, Oliver Taza, and Elijah Dorsey, to name just a few.
Still working towards his black belt (promoted to brown by Craig Jones in 2023), Chen has used his versatile ethnic origin to train all over the globe, blending experiences into his unique game. Even though the B-Team is his base now, most of the things he has learned over the years, he attributes to relentlessly watching BJJ DVDs.
Now, he gives back with one of his own, with the Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD explaining how to deal with modern guards by beating inside position as you break most rules of passing.
Full Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD Review
The Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD is an instructional demonstration of the best way of Beating Inside Position against modern guards which pose a big danger of leg locks and back attacks. The full running length of the DVD is just under 3 hours, with Chen demonstrating everything in No-Gi.
Part 1 – Pre-Passing
It is crucial to understand that passing guard consists of phases that you can’t simply skip over, and not many people tend to give them the attention they deserve. Contrary to this practice, the first volume of this Josef Chen DVD is all about the prep phase for passing, which determines how successful the passing effort turns out to be.
Chen first covers distance management and the different phases of engaging from different distances upon making contact with the guard player. Of course, he introduced the concept through the lens of the tripod pass system he covers in this instructional.
In that sense, he outlines two distinct phases, as well as focuses on what you should do with the lower and the upper body as you go through them. In what I consider to be a stroke of brilliance, CHen also introduces pass maintenance, which keeps you safe in a half-pass situation until you can inch yourself forward.
Part 2 – Passing Half Butterfly
The main area that the Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD targets is dealing with inside position guards, a.k.a. leg lock threats. With the half butterfly guard being every guar player’s preferred hub for setting these up against skilled passers, Volume Two is all about how to break this popular and annoying guard down.
Chen covers how to play and win the push-pull game when overhooks are involved, as well as how to engage passing from different ranges, taking away the most valuable advantage that half butterfly brings to the table.
I particularly enjoyed that Chen passes to both sides, given that the tripod position usually leads people to only pass on one side. Using the well-known principles of underhooks from the top, and some float passing tactics, Chen offers a very secure way to beat one of BJJ’s most dangerous guards.
Part 3 – Using Shins and Elbows
The one thing I’ve always found extremely boring to drill is leg pummeling for guard passing. I still hate drilling and do not spend a minute doing it, but that doesn’t mean the pummel is not extremely useful in passing, particularly tripod passing.
This part of the Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD offers several different ways to use the shins as you change levels from entering a supine position to going chest to chest in order to maintain your pass. There’s that awesome concept of pass maintenance again.
Throughout the motions, Chen explains how your elbows are your best posts, carefully deconstructing all the different ways to use them to improve your shin pummeling effectiveness. he uses some popular guards, such as the knee shield and Reverse De la Riva in this part to reinforce his points.
Part 4 – Grip Strategies for Passing
In the final instructional part of the Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD, he spends more than 30 minutes addressing the importance of wrist control during tripod passing. The best part about using the tripod position is that it frees up at least one of your arms, which you can use to trap the opponent’s wrist(s) and ensure a successful pass.
Jozef truly does go over every applicable grip configuration here, offering solutions for scoop grips, hamstring grips, pulling grips, the Whizzer, pushing grips, etc. Once again, he uses practical examples utilizing the X guard, to prove his point.
He also covers a bonus concept in this section as he demonstrates how to trap smother someone into tricking them into urging you past their guard. He also shows several very cool games that help all the material sink in, as opposed to boring, repetitive drilling.
Parts 5 & 6 Phases of Tripod Passing
The final two parts of the Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD go over the phases his tripod system uses for beating inside positions even against much more skilled opponents. He outlines the three phases of entering, maintaining, and offense from the tripod position using a different partner in each of the last volumes.
These are sort of a blend between narrated rolls and the execution of the passing games offered in the previous volume. Effectively, they represent how to practice the material so that you can quickly make sense of it and integrate it into your game.
Use Your Head More
The tripod passing position is one I don’t let my students use early on. The problem with it is that it breaks the passer’s posture, opening up a bunch of different attacks for the bottom person. Jozef Chen does offer solutions to all this, mainly by way fo wrist fighting and body positioning, but that requires a bit of experience on the mats to successfully pull off.
That said, I am a huge proponent of using the head to post on the mats, effectively getting a fight limb to use. I do use it for passing myself, but I always stay alert to position my butt high over the head, essentially keeping the posture unbroken. Chen demonstrated the same in his instructional.
The best way to start practicing Chen’s stuff without getting into trouble, if you’re not skillful enough yet with passing is to try the tirpod position out as pin. Top side control, top half guard, knee on belly, and even mount are great to provide you with invaluable balancing and body positioning experience before you can use it to beat the versatile threat of the legs using the info in the Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD.
JOZEF CHEN TRIPOD PASSING DVD DOWNLOAD
Wave As You Pass!
It is about time that you become so confident with your passing that you can wave to the crowd as you cruise by your opponent’s guards using the prevent tactics from the Tripod Passing Jozef Chen DVD.
Gi or No-Gi, beginner or coach, you’ll figure out many things about the modern issues that guard passing is facing in BJJ and grappling these days. The tripod position is a very welcome way to turn guard passing on its head (pun intended) and surprise even the most skilled guard players in your academy!
All BJJ Guard Passing DVD and Digital Instructionals GI & No-Gi
