The Beginner’s Guide of Pressure in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu

Pressure is one of the most versatile tools in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Many people believe that having titanic pressure is all about being big and heavy. This is not true; many smaller jiu-jitsu practitioners can have extremely tight pressure they just need to master the necessary angles and points of control to apply the crushing pressure that gravity hands to larger grapplers.

Here is a picture from a seminar I taught all about pressure.

What is Pressure in Jiu-jitsu?

Pressure is not just being heavy; it is more about positioning your body in the proper place and at the proper angle to feel like an anvil on your opponent. As I mentioned above, many people believe that pressure has to do with your size or how much force you can drive into your opponent, but that is not the case.

The analogy I use often with my students, is how easy is it to move a large sheet of plywood versus how easy is it to move a memory foam mattress? This is an issue that I often see when people begin experimenting with putting pressure on their opponent that they want to try to force the pressure down on their opponent’s body instead of relying on the mechanics of what makes pressure work. Pressure can be a uniquely valuable tool as it does not necessarily require you to use your legs or arms to maintain and it can open those up to either help control your opponent or better yet to attack.

Techniques to Improve Your Pressure Game

For this we are going to discuss apply pressure from the standard side control position. When I teach this, I encourage my students to first practice with their hands behind their back to get comfortable applying pressure without the use of their arms to assist in holding their partner down. For side control, I have them find a point on their chest just above their solar plexus and match that with the same point on their partner’s chest. Hold your hands behind your back with your knees wide, I like to have my instep to the mat when doing this to help my feet slide, but if you prefer active toes that is good too.

After they are in position, I have them take a deep breath in and hold it for a few seconds, then I tell them to exhale and while exhaling try and settle all their weight in their heels. This method does two things; it provides them with a way to remember how to settle their weight when they are grappling and it encourages students to remember to breathe, which can be a problem with newer students. As you settle your weight on your opponent you should try and relax your body as much as possible. Try and be loose and mobile in this position and not drive forward into your opponent. This makes you feel more like you are dead weight and makes it harder for your opponent to move you around like in our plywood/mattress analogy.

Common Mistakes in Applying Pressure

These are the most common mistakes that I see when someone is working on their pressure. First off is over-muscling or trying to force/drive pressure into their opponent. While this works for larger people sometimes it becomes less effective over time as your opponents improve and you age. It is not a sustainable strategy as you continue in jiu-jitsu.

Second is leaving space by not relaxing into your opponent allowing them to establish frames or move within that space.

Third is forgetting to move and reset the pressure as your opponent moves in response to your pressure.

Conclusion

Pressure is not about size; it’s about skill and placement of your body in relation to your opponent. Having truly excellent pressure takes a long time to develop but the sooner you can begin working on it the easier it will be as you won’t have to unlearn mistakes you made previously. Additionally, this is a very small look at the concepts behind pressure there are many things that go into having a great pressure game, such as angles, body rotation, specific places to apply pressure, and what to do with your limbs to help improve your pressure. Keep working on it and feel free to reach out if you have any questions.