Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Basics Vol. 2: Guard Pass + Headlock Escape

Rorion Gracie opens Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Basics Vol. 2 with a problem most people freeze at: you're inside someone's guard, their legs locked tight around your waist, and you don't know how to get out. The answer is a shoulder-under-the-knee pass. Leg up, body sideways, shoulder under the bend of the knee, grab the collar, walk around, and let your body weight drop. No arm strength. Just position.

But the guard isn't always closed. If they drop the leg or open up the wrong way, Rorion has options for that too. Walk over, switch sides, go under, and mount. The finish is always the same. Get to mount. That's the goal.

Then the second half shifts entirely. Headlocks. Common in real fights and genuinely dangerous if you don't know what to do. Rorion covers the frame first, turn sideways, tuck the chin, blade of the wrist against the neck, hip out, leg over and squeeze. But what if the guy holds on and won't let go? Hook the leg, climb over the back, sit back, hands down, ride it out.