Leverage

Leverage allows practitioners to use minimal effort to achieve maximum effectiveness. By applying leverage, you overcome size, strength, and athletic disadvantages, which is one of the core principles of the art. It involves using proper positioning, angles, and body mechanics to multiply your force while decreasing the effort required.

c_saw.webp

Why Leverage Is Important in BJJ

Efficiency Over Strength

  • Leverage enables smaller, weaker practitioners to neutralize or defeat larger, stronger opponents by relying on technique rather than brute force.

Examples

  • In Closed Guard
  • Pulling with your legs while pushing with your arms creates a force much stronger than either action alone.
  • In armbars
  • Using your hips as a fulcrum to extend the arm requires less effort than simply pulling on the arm with your hands.
Leverage allows you to conserve energy while making your techniques more effective.

Amplifying Force

  • Leverage magnifies the force you can exert, making even small movements powerful when applied correctly.

Examples

  • In a triangle choke
  • Using your legs and hips to apply pressure to their neck is far more effective than using your arms alone.
  • Butterfly sweeps
  • Elevating your opponent’s hips with a hook while driving with your body multiplies the power of the sweep.
Proper leverage turns small efforts into large impacts, making techniques feel effortless.

Neutralizing Strength

  • Leverage allows you to bypass your opponent’s raw strength by exploiting mechanical weaknesses in their body.

Examples

  • In side control
  • Using your chest and shoulder to pin their hips or upper body prevents them from using their strength to escape.
  • In guard sweeps
  • Redirecting their momentum makes it irrelevant how strong their base is.
By focusing on leverage, you can render an opponent’s strength ineffective.

Setting Up Submissions

  • Almost all submissions rely on leverage to isolate a joint or compress the neck, making the technique more efficient and harder to resist.

Examples

  • Kimura
  • Using their bent arm as a lever while keeping their shoulder pinned isolates the joint for a powerful lock.
  • Armbar
  • The hip is used as the fulcrum, with the arm acting as the lever, creating immense force on the elbow with minimal effort.
Leverage isolates key points of the body, making submissions more effective and efficient.

Sweeps and Reversals

  • Sweeps often depend on using leverage to manipulate your opponent’s center of gravity and force them off balance.

Examples

  • Scissor sweep
  • Using your top leg as a lever while your bottom leg pushes out their base unbalances and topples them.
  • Pendulum sweep
  • The swinging motion of your legs creates momentum that multiplies the force needed to off-balance them.
Leverage makes sweeps easier by using their weight and balance against them.

Positional Control

  • Leverage allows you to maintain control in dominant positions by distributing your weight effectively and limiting their movement.

Examples

  • Mount
  • Dropping your hips low and using your legs to control their sides makes it harder for them to escape.
  • Side control
  • Applying shoulder pressure on their jaw or chest pins them down without requiring excessive strength.
Leverage ensures tight control with minimal energy expenditure, making you more efficient.

Guard Retention

  • Leverage is essential for maintaining and recovering guard by framing, angling, and using your hips effectively.

Examples

  • Leg pummeling
  • Using your legs and hips as levers to redirect your opponent’s weight and reset your guard.
  • Frames in side control
  • Using your arms as levers to create space and recover guard when under pressure.
Leverage lets you control distance and recover positions, even against aggressive opponents.

Defensive Tactics

  • Leverage is vital for defending against submissions or escaping bad positions by creating angles and breaking grips.

Examples

  • Defending an armbar
  • Rotating your arm and using your body to stack them breaks their leverage on your joint.
  • Escaping mount
  • Bridging and shrimping use your hips to create leverage and disrupt their base.
Leverage helps you escape efficiently without relying on brute force or frantic movements.

Overcoming Size Disadvantages

  • Leverage allows smaller grapplers to manipulate larger opponents by focusing on mechanics rather than strength.

Examples

  • Collar drag
  • Redirecting their momentum using their collar allows you to pull a larger opponent into a disadvantageous position.
  • Butterfly Guard
  • Lifting their hips with hooks makes it easier to topple a heavier opponent.
Leverage levels the playing field, making size and strength less important.

Transitioning Between Positions

  • Leverage makes transitions smoother by allowing you to control your opponent’s movement while conserving energy.

Examples

  • Passing guard
  • Using shoulder and hip pressure as leverage keeps your opponent pinned while you move to side control.
  • Taking the back
  • Using their arm as a lever to expose their back ensures control during the transition.
Leverage ensures smooth, controlled transitions while keeping your opponent reactive.

How to Improve Leverage in BJJ

Focus on positioning

  • Proper positioning is the foundation of effective leverage.

Drill specific techniques

  • Practice sweeps, submissions, and transitions that rely on leverage, such as pendulum sweeps and armbars.

Study body mechanics

  • Understand how different parts of the body (hips, shoulders, arms) work as levers.

Stay relaxed

  • Tension reduces your ability to apply leverage fluidly. Relax and focus on mechanics.

Experiment during rolling

  • Pay attention to where you can apply leverage to make your movements more efficient.