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Should You Pull Guard or Use Sacrifice Throws?

Should You Pull Guard or Use Sacrifice Throws?

Guest post by Daniel Vaughan, BJJ black belt and instructor at M3Fight Academy.

In the world of BJJ there is the constant argument of guard pulling vs take downs. Let’s discuss something more specific, guard pulling vs sacrifice throws since there is a similarity between the two.

Below is the standard guard pull by obtaining a grip and sitting to the ground to immediately establish a competitor’s strongest position. Below is Paulo Miyao doing this to Alexandre Souza.

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This type of guard pulling above is illegal in most other sports such as Judo and Sambo. Now on the other side we have the Yoko Tomoe Nage preformed below by Francisco Maciel. This is known as a sacrifice throw Judo because a person is using their own falling body to perform a throw.

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Why is the sacrifice throw and variations of it underutilized in BJJ and guard pulling has become more universal?

Some would argue against this because there is greater risk in pulling a sacrifice throw, such as having it misdirected and having your guard passed immediately. Others argue that this would make guard pulling much more entertaining and can lead directly into submissions off the bat.

Anybody can pull guard, so here are 3 very effective sacrifice throws:

Tomoe Nage:

Sumi Gaeshi:

Yoko Sutemi Waza:

Learn how to wrestle in the gi from one of BJJ’s most successful champions ever, Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.
Buchecha explains his concepts around how to read his opponents and choosing which takedown is best, how he breaks stubborn grips, and how even much smaller fighters can still find success by focusing on these fundamentals.