In Jiu-Jitsu, we always learn to keep safe and favor position over submission. That is absolutely right, but what if you are so confident in your posture and base that you are willing to bait a bad position in order to immediately counter it with an ever stronger position and submission opportunity?

The “Gracie Gift” is a perfect example of this:

Maybe There Never Was A “Gracie Gift”?

Belgian BJJ black belt Wim Deputter, head instructor at Brasa Team Belgium.  https://www.instagram.com/wimdeputterbjj/, used this principle recently in competition, when he baited the triangle in order to end up in a better position and submit his opponent:

“Sacrificing a piece in chess is known as a gambit. The idea of a gambit is to sacrifice a piece in order to gain structural or positional advantage over your opponent.

In this match you see mee take the opponent’s collar with my right hand and leaving my left arm low on purpose, knowing fully well my opponent has the option of going for the triangle. Do note that my head stays upright (straight neck).

When my opponent goes for the triangle, he gains POSITIONAL advantage. But I gain STRUCTURAL advantage.
My opponent’s spine and neck are completely bend (broken posture) while my spine and neck stay straight (strong posture).
It’s very hard (and unhealthy for your spine) to generate strenght with a broken posture (compare it to squatting with a bend spine).

Although my opponent has the triangle, he is unable to generate strenght cause of his posture and thus unable to finish the choke.
Meanwhile, I keep my weight forward and structure intact. I force my opponent to carry my weight, slowly grinding, breaking his structure even more. The more he resists, the more tired he gets. Until he has to concede the pass or turtle and expose his back (the truck).

My opponent did a good job of bending my neck (pulling my head done). If fix my posture by raising my butt above my shoulders. This makes my neck straight again.

This exact system, and other things, is fully explained in great detail in my BJJ Fanatics Instructional “The Hidden and Essential Mechanics of Pressure Passing“. My personal favorite from the whole “The Mirroring Principle” series.”

Learn These Old School Hidden Concepts That Can Make Any Fighter Have Ultra Heavyweight Top Pressure.

• Pin, pressure, and pass through the guard with old school concepts, as black belt Wim Deputter teaches his unique system for using fundamental positioning to get as much squeeze as possible out of your top game.
• With solid positioning and step-by-step instruction, Wim shows every detail in dealing with the common problems and counters you’ll see, and how to impose your top game on tricky guard players trying to keep you away.