Becoming dangerous from bottom position: In Jiu Jitsu Your first responsibility in bottom position is to get and then maintain your legs (guard) between you and your opponent. This can be a difficult and attention consuming task against a good opponent; so much so that there is a danger that you will overlook your second responsibility from bottom position – TO AGGRESSIVELY ATTACK FROM UNDERNEATH WITH both POSITIONAL MOVES AND SUBMISSIONS SO AS TO CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE OF INTIMIDATION AND FEAR/respect THAT WILL MAKE YOUR OPPONENT MUCH MORE TIMID IN HIS TOP PRESSURE. How do you make sure you don't overlook that critical second responsibility? I always encourage my athletes to finish every act of guard retention with an attack. Initially these might have a low success rate, but as you gain in skill and daring this creates a habit whereby you don't get locked into a defensive mindset where you just focus on holding guard, but instead always finish in an offensive mode. Learn to throw your legs into the attack with confidence and vigor. Ashi garami based leg attacks, triangles and arm bars are my favorites from bottom. All three involve aggressive leg work where you can shoot your legs into the attack as a boxer throws his hands in fisticuffs. Here, Stanley Rosa goes from defense to offense in a second during a guard exchange at the ADCC trials in California – now his opponent, who was offensive just a few seconds before this photo was taken, is one hundred percent defensive. Next time he engages the guard he will be much more reticent about applying passing pressure.
