The de la Riva guard has exploded in popularity in recent years. Since it was popularised by Ricardo de la Riva there have always been sweeps and submission available from this position but the ascent of the berimbolo (a spinning-and-upside-down method of taking the back) has made it even more popular among the BJJ competition crowd.
So even if you never ever plan to use this style guard yourself you need to have some answers to it, because you WILL run into it.
Of course you can counter the sweeps, shut down the submissions and work to pass the de la Riva guard. Passing the guard is BJJ strategy 101, and you should have a few good ways to accomplish this.
But then there is also another option: you can opt to forget about passing the guard and just finish the match with a leglock.
The fact that your opponent’s legs are so intertwined with yours in this position means that there are are a ton of leglocks that you can set up.
But when it comes to leglocks vs the de la Riva we see the old 80/20 rule in action: 80% of your results will come from 20% of your efforts.
Some of these leglocks are high percentage and work all the time, whereas others are more in the showboating category (i.e. you might be able to pull them off against a sedated opponent so long as you’re also bigger, stronger, faster, and more skilled than him).
Against the de la Riva guard there are two leglocks that you see again and again. These are the two leglocks that product the lion’s share submissions from the top position.
In the video below I take you through exactly what those two leglocks are and how to set them up!
P.S. If you’re interested in adding leglocks to your game, or making the leglocks you already know more effective, then you might want to click here to check out the Leglocks Package that we put together.
This 2 DVD set contains 4 hours of solid instruction covering the strategies, techniques and tricks of effective leglocking.