On top of half guard, you have the underhook, and your position is dominant.
All should be right with the world. The pass should be inevitable, and your opponent should be sweating bullets, worrying about how they’re going to reverse the situation.
Alas!
It’s not always the case.
Sometimes they do something annoying. They lock you down.
Let me tell you a story about that:
Back in 2003, at the most prestigious no-gi in the world, Eddie Bravo steps on the stage against Royler Gracie. And at that time, no one knew who Eddie was, and he was expected to lose in spectacular fashion.
Royler was not just a Gracie. He was the man. When it comes to competition jiu-jitsu, he was out there smashing people left and right. And his accolades were massive. So there was no doubt that he was the favorite.
But in that match, something unexpected happened. He got caught. He got submitted. And it was by some unknown American.
That event was the claim to Eddie Bravo’s fame.
Fun story, right? But that’s just the background. Gather around for the true tale.
Many years passed after that, Eddie vowed that he would only compete again if it was against Royler. He wanted a rematch because many considered his victory to be a fluke. And he wanted to prove the naysayers.
And then there was an opportunity.
At Metamoris, they met again, and both came in with something to prove. Eddie wanted to show that his first victory was legit, and Royler wanted to show the world who the true top dog was.
They stepped on the stage, slapped hands, and right off the bat, Eddie pulled half and immediately went to lockdown.
Royler got the underhook right away, and his head position was good. He aligned it right with the jaw and drove in to apply pressure from hell. Then he started to trying to blow past the position with a knee cut pass.
Only…. It didn’t work.
There was one attempt, then a second, a third, and more. All failed, and you can see the frustration in Royler’s eyes as he increased the intensity. But he didn’t even come close.
I don’t want you to have that experience.
Lockdown is specifically geared towards killing the knee cut, but it has flaws. There’s an easy way to pass it. And now you can learn it: