De La Riva Guard Breakdown

by Team Digitsu

Updated: April 16, 2024

In the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), innovations that transform the martial art are deeply respected, and the De La Riva guard stands out as one such game-changer. Developed by Ricardo De La Riva, one of the most creative guard players in BJJ history, this guard variation has become synonymous with innovation and efficiency on the mat. Your understanding of BJJ is incomplete without a solid grasp of the De La Riva guard, an open-guard position that presents a multitude of offensive and defensive opportunities against an opponent.

Ricardo De La Riva carved his name into the annals of BJJ by tailoring this unique and versatile guard to fit the dynamic nature of modern grappling. It reflects an intricate web of grips and hooks that allows you to control, sweep, and set up submissions against standing opponents. As a practitioner, mastering the De La Riva guard opens up a new dimension in your ground game, providing you with the leverage to counter an opponent's advances and to create attack opportunities from what appears to be a defensive position.

While you may encounter various interpretations and applications of the De La Riva guard at different gyms, the core principles remain consistent—effective use of angles, leverage, and an unyielding hook on your opponent's leg. The enduring legacy of Ricardo De La Riva’s contribution to BJJ is evident as students and competitors at all levels continue to integrate this guard into their repertoire, confirming its status as one of BJJ’s most effective tools.

Origins and Evolution of De La Riva Guard

The De La Riva Guard is a pivotal position within BJJ that has evolved through practice and innovation. It is recognized for its dynamic application and connection to one of BJJ's most influential practitioners.

The Roots of De La Riva BJJ

The groundwork for what would become the De La Riva Guard took shape in Judo, where a similar position was in use prior to its adoption in BJJ circles. This open guard was not a novel creation in grappling but was rather an existing technique that found a fertile ground for development at the Carlson Gracie Academy. As the stomping ground for many BJJ innovators, the academy’s competitive environment encouraged the exploration and refinement of new techniques that would enable fighters to gain an advantage over their peers.

Ricardo De La Riva's Influence

The guard began to reach its eminent status largely due to Ricardo De La Riva. In the 1980s, De La Riva, under the banner of Carlson Gracie's team, began experimenting with and perfecting the guard that now bears his name. His use of the position to control opponents and set up sweeps or attacks was revolutionary. Through his hands, the De La Riva Guard transformed into a cornerstone of the modern BJJ game, famous for its versatility and the strategic depth it offers to practitioners. Ricardo De La Riva's contributions to the sport have been widely recognized, and his name has become synonymous with inventive and effective BJJ guard play.

Principles of De La Riva Guard

The De La Riva Guard is a dynamic open guard position that requires a deep understanding of its foundational concepts and grip strategies to maintain control and to set up attacks.

Basic Concepts and Grips

To effectively use the De La Riva Guard, you must first master the basic concepts which include maintaining distance, controlling your opponent's lead leg, and having a strong grip strategy. Begin by establishing a grip on the sleeve or collar of your opponent to manage the distance and to limit their mobility. Your other hand should grab the ankle or heel of the leg you intend to control, ensuring you have solid leverage for offense and defense.

De La Riva Hook Mechanics

The De La Riva hook is the cornerstone of this guard, involving the placement of your outside leg wrapped around your opponent's lead leg. Position your foot firmly against their thigh or hip to create a strong anchor point. With this hook, you can manipulate their balance and achieve a variety of sweeps and attacks. Proper mechanics dictate that you maintain constant tension and control, preventing your opponent from easily escaping or passing your guard.

Key Techniques and Submissions

Mastering a diverse array of sweeps and submissions is essential. This allows you to transition effectively from the guard and to capitalize on opportunities to finish a match.

Sweeps and Reversals

De La Riva Sweep: From your De La Riva Guard, control your opponent's ankle and employ the De La Riva hook. With your free leg, push against their far thigh to upset their balance and execute the sweep.

Berimbolo: Initiate this dynamic reversal by inverting underneath your opponent while maintaining the De La Riva hook. By doing so, you aim to take their back, positioning yourself for more dominant attacks.

Techniques: Achieve reversals through dedicated practice of these fundamental techniques, remembering that timing and leverage are more crucial than brute force.

Submission Attacks from De La Riva Guard

Ankle Lock: Secure your opponent's ankle while in De La Riva Guard. Apply pressure to their Achilles tendon by wrapping your arm around their foot, ensuring a tight grip before arching your hips to finish the submission.

Triangle Choke: By maneuvering your legs around your opponent's neck and one arm while you have the De La Riva hook, you can lock in this choke. Properly executed, it constricts blood flow and can quickly lead to a tap out.

Omoplata: This shoulder lock involves swinging your legs around the opponent's arm, controlling the wrist, and extending your hips to apply pressure to the shoulder joint.

Kimura: When your opponent attempts to reach for your pants or leg, lock their wrist and go for a figure-four grip. Twist their arm behind their back, targeting the shoulder with this powerful lock

Remember, the key is not just knowing but also drilling these moves consistently to be able to apply them effectively in live sparring.

Defending and Passing De La Riva Guard

Effectively defending and passing the De La Riva guard requires a combination of control, timing, and strategic movements. The goal is to neutralize your opponent's attacks and secure a more dominant position such as half-guard or side control.

Common Counters and Passes

Base and Posture: Maintain a strong base to prevent sweeps. Keep your posture upright to avoid being pulled forward and off balance.
Leg Control: Control your opponent's De La Riva hook by gripping their ankle and pushing the hooking leg down as you step back to break their control.
Pressure: Apply forward pressure to collapse the De La Riva hook. A consistent pressure makes it difficult for your opponent to retain the guard.
Leg Passes: Utilize cross-step or smash passes to transition to half-guard or side control.
Knee Slice: Implement the knee slice pass by driving your knee through their legs while controlling their upper body to move into a dominant position.
Back Step: In some situations, a back step pass can be effective. When your opponent extends their leg, back step over it and work to secure side control.

By employing these techniques, you can pass the De La Riva guard and advance towards a more advantageous position.

Guard Retention and Recovery

Hip Movement: Remain mobile by using your hips to create angles and prevent your opponent from settling into their pass.
Grip Fighting: Consistently fight for grips. Controlling your opponent's sleeves or collars can obstruct their ability to pass.
Active feet: Use active feet in guard retention. Keep your feet engaged, whether it's placing them on your opponent's hips, biceps, or floating to hook inside their legs.
Transitions: If your guard is being passed, transition to half-guard to avoid conceding side control. This can act as a safeguard, giving you more options to recover the full guard or launch counterattacks.

Retaining the De La Riva guard is about understanding when to be flexible and when to anchor your position. With practice, you'll be able to defend against passes while setting up your own offensive movements.

Advanced Variations

When you deep dive into BJJ, you'll encounter advanced guard variations that offer strategic advantages in controlling an opponent and setting up transitions or submissions. Two such variations are the Reverse De La Riva (RDLR) and integrative approaches combining the Butterfly and X-Guard with the classic De La Riva. These techniques can be complex and require a solid understanding of the fundamental guard principles.

Reverse De La Riva Guard

Reverse De La Riva Guard is a powerful variation where you hook your outside foot around your opponent's thigh from the inside. This position is particularly effective for controlling the distance and disrupting the balance of your adversary. To maintain a strong Reverse De La Riva, focus on the following:

Keep your outside leg's foot firmly hooked against your opponent's thigh.
Use your inside leg to manage the distance, either by pushing off your opponent's other leg or placing it on their hip.
Grip your opponent's ankle or sleeve on the side of your hooked foot to prevent them from stepping away and breaking the guard.

Combining with Butterfly and X-Guard

Integrating the De La Riva guard with Butterfly and X-Guard adds a dynamic range to your grappling. These transitions are key to outmaneuvering opponents and opening up a multitude of attack options:

Transition to a Butterfly Guard by shifting your hooks inside between your opponent's legs, allowing for sweeping opportunities.
Evolve into an X-Guard by underhooking one of your opponent's legs with your arm and placing both feet in position—one behind the opponent's knee and the other in front of their far thigh.
Practice seamless transitions between these guards to fluidly adapt to your opponent's responses and maintain the upper hand.

Remember, successful execution of these advanced guards relies on fluidity and timing—constantly adjust your grips and hooks in response to your opponent's movements.

Strategies for Different Opponents

The De La Riva guard is a versatile tool that you can adapt to counter various styles of opponents. Below are strategies tailored to handle standing opponents and those who aggressively attempt guard passes.

Dealing with a Standing Opponent

When facing a standing opponent, establishing control is paramount. You'll want to utilize the De La Riva hook effectively by placing your hooking leg on the outside of their lead leg. Here are some steps:

Control the Ankle: Grip the ankle of the hooked leg to restrict their mobility.
Secure Upper Body Grips: Use your free hand to gain control of the collar or sleeve to manage the distance and posture of your opponent.
Unbalance Them: Use a combination of your hook and grips to disrupt your opponent's balance, making it difficult for them to initiate a pass.

Adapting these techniques allows you to set the pace against a standing opponent and opens opportunities for sweeps or transitions into more dominant positions.

Adapting to Aggressive Passers

Aggressive passers often rely on speed and power, but precision in your De La Riva guard can neutralize their advances. Here's what to focus on:

Stay Dynamic: Constantly adjust your hook and grips as they attempt to pass.
Anticipate Their Movement: Pay attention to their patterns and prepare countermoves.
Create Angles: Use your hooked leg to create angles that off-balance aggressive passers and limit their power.

By maintaining a calm and controlled approach, you turn their aggression into opportunities for you to execute sweeps or set up submissions.

Training and Drills

Mastering the De La Riva guard requires dedicated practice. Your training should consist of specialized drills that reinforce key techniques and transitions, developing skills fundamental to BJJ from the ground up.

Solo and Partner Drills

When you're training solo, focus on movements that improve your balance, flexibility, and the strength of your hooks. For example, you can practice De La Riva hook rotations and balance drills to refine the mechanics of the guard:

Hook Rotations: Secure a pole or heavy bag, apply your De La Riva hook, and rotate around the object to build coordination.
Balance Drills: Stand on one leg and mimic the motion of applying De La Riva hooks to improve your base stability.

Partner drills are integral to your development, as they simulate real BJJ scenarios. The continuous chain BJJ drills are excellent for understanding the flow of the De La Riva guard in action. Additionally, the De la Riva Guard basic set ups drill will help you learn to enter the De La Riva guard and set up your guard effectively.

Notable Practitioners and Matches

You will discover the profound impact of De La Riva BJJ through the accomplishments of its practitioners and the significance of its matches. This section covers the legends who've shaped the art and the strategies that set high-level grappling apart.

Legendary Fights and Fighters

Royler Gracie, a member of the renowned Gracie family, has made significant contributions to BJJ. With a history of competitive excellence, his matches often showcased the efficiency of BJJ in MMA and grappling. His match against Kazushi Sakuraba in Pride 8 remains a classic encounter displaying BJJ's effectiveness against judo techniques.

In recent news, Mikey Musumeci has risen as a formidable athlete with impressive fighter stats, establishing himself within the lighter weight classes. His analytical approach and execution of De La Riva guard techniques have led to numerous finishing positions in high-stakes competitions.

Analyzing High-Level De La Riva Strategies

When exploring high-level strategies within the De La Riva guard, your understanding deepens by studying specific matches. For instance, analyzing Musumeci's transitions and control of distance can provide profound insights into modern adaptations of this guard. On the other hand, historic uses of the guard by its creator, Ricardo De La Riva, reveal the evolution of the technique and its applications across different eras of the sport.