BJJ Position: Reverse De La Riva

The key aspects of the reverse De La Riva guard position

1. Control: In the reverse De La Riva guard, control is established by placing your inside leg around your opponent’s lead leg, with your foot hooking behind their knee or thigh. This configuration allows you to control their movement and off-balance them effectively. Use your arms to maintain additional control by securing grips on your opponent’s sleeves, collar, ankles, or pants. Your outside leg can be used to help control distance by placing it on your opponent’s hip, thigh, or bicep. It’s essential to stay active with your hips and legs, constantly adjusting your position to prevent your opponent from establishing a strong base or passing your guard.
2. Offense: The reverse De La Riva guard offers several offensive options, including sweeps, submissions, and transitions to other positions. Some common sweeps from the reverse De La Riva guard include the spin-under sweep, the tripod sweep, and the kiss of the dragon sweep. The choice of attack will depend on your opponent’s reactions, posture, and the specific grips you have established. In addition to sweeps, the reverse De La Riva guard can create openings for submissions like the kneebar, triangle choke, and armbar.
3. Defense: The reverse De La Riva guard serves as a strong defensive position due to the control it provides over your opponent’s movement and the ability to off-balance them. By maintaining an active reverse De La Riva guard with effective hooks and grips, you can effectively neutralize your opponent’s attempts to pass your guard. It’s important to stay active in the position, adjusting your grips, hip angle, and leg position as needed to maintain control and prevent your opponent from establishing a dominant position.
4. Transition: The reverse De La Riva guard can be used as a starting point for transitioning to other guard positions or setups, depending on your opponent’s reactions and your own preferences. You might transition to more specific open guard variations, such as the De La Riva guard, spider guard, or X-guard, or even move to closed guard or half guard positions. Developing the ability to transition smoothly between the reverse De La Riva guard and other positions can make you a more dynamic and unpredictable grappler.

In summary, the reverse De La Riva guard position is a powerful and intricate open guard variation that emphasizes control, off-balancing your opponent, and setting up sweeps and submissions. By focusing on these aspects, you can develop a strong reverse De La Riva guard game that can be challenging for your opponents to deal with. Remember, the key to success in the reverse De La Riva guard position is to stay active, constantly adjusting your grips, hip angle, and leg position to maintain control and create opportunities for offense while staying defensively aware.