Kron Gracie was one of the top BJJ competitors of his generation and he has recently released Fundamentals Of Guard-Passing as an instructional on BJJ Fanatics. Although Kron was one of the most exciting prospects in the sport at one point in time and went on to become an ADCC world champion, this is actually the first ever instructional he has released. It’s a huge topic and it’s one that any elite competitor can spend hours breaking down, but Kron in particular is both incredibly knowledgeable in this particular area and a great instructor to learn from for any aspect of BJJ.
Click here to purchase Kron Gracie: Fundamentals of Guard-Passing instructional on BJJ Fanatics.
Or click here to see some of our other BJJ Product Reviews.
Kron Gracie: Fundamentals Of Guard-Passing Review
Kron Gracie has clearly spent a lot of time putting together his Fundamentals of Guard-Passing instructional, as it’s broken down in to four segments and each one is over half an hour long. It’s a fairly lengthy look at a very broad area of the sport, and that kind of insight from a top competitor like Kron is incredibly valuable. A lot of what he goes through is done in the gi and although there are some gi-specific sections, most of it is just as applicable to no gi grappling with just a few minor adjustments in grips used.
Seated And Open Guard Passing
The entire first segment of this instructional is focused on passing an opponent’s guard when it is open or when they are seated, and it’s also the most detailed part too. This will be very useful to beginners as it allows them to build an entire plan of attack from this situation. Kron shows some solid details on the Toreando pass and the part that will most likely be the most use to experienced grapplers is where he explains how to deal with an opponent coming up on a single leg from a seated position both with and without lapel control.
Half-Guard Passing
Kron also shows a series of options for dealing with different variations of half-guard as well, again allowing newer grapplers to have a very well-rounded approach to the situation. He spends most of the second segment and the start of the third dealing with pretty much every common scenario that passers will encounter in half guard. Kron demonstrates passes from both deep half guard and the knee-shield, along with a great breakdown of over-under passing and a few other variations of half-guard passes. This is a solid presentation of the area and anyone putting his techniques into practice should be able to deal with whatever comes their way in half-guard.
Dealing With Other Guards
Throughout the second and third sections, Kron also demonstrates other key passes to help deal with different guards. He explains how to shut down both De La Riva and the deeper variation, along with Reverse De La Riva and X-guard as well. Kron also gives some options to deal with spider guard and the lasso, shortly before a section on the stack pass. Kron spends a little time dealing with Single Leg X guard too and he even explains how to deal with an opponent reaping the knee, which isn’t something that many guard passing instructionals will help with. All of this adds up to a great way to deal with all of the most common guards that a passer will encounter and it can be combined into a holistic passing game.
Concepts
The most valuable part of the Fundamentals of Guard-Passing instructional by Kron Gracie is actually sprinkled throughout the first three sections before he focuses on it in the final one. Kron is great at simplifying some of the key concepts that make passing work and keep the passer safe from the threat of submissions and sweeps. The ways he deals with the armdrag and scissor sweep as an example are both incredibly simple yet effective. He shows how to prevent those attacks, along with several others, and use the momentum of that prevention to immediately hit a counter-pass.
Kron Gracie: Fundamentals Of Guard-Passing Conclusion
The Fundamentals of Guard-Passing is more of a wide overview of guard passing from Kron Gracie than a deep dive on one particular pass. It will be very useful for beginners who are struggling to put together a passing game, because Kron makes everything simple from start to finish. He also explains why he doesn’t do explosive passing, and anyone who feels the same will find everything they need here. More experienced practitioners might have seen some of the content before, but Kron’s conceptual approach to some common problems will definitely help to give them a better approach to guard-passing in general.
Click here to purchase Kron Gracie: Fundamentals of Guard-Passing instructional on BJJ Fanatics.
