
Originally Posted by
Harry Evans
I like the guy, and agree with the above comments about respect. The issue is (no disrespect meant) that I don't understand how people can criticize things without looking into them. Great poker players decide they know everything about the game of other greats who they have never played. MMA fighters always act like they know everything about the guy they are facing, all the ins and outs of their game, even when the guy is a newcomer. This guy is clearly a legit black belt, but (it seems) he has never faced a 10th planet black belt or rolled at a 10th planet gym. I don't think a Tozi / Reis Pass is going to walk right through Sean or Denny whether it's no-gi or MMA. It just seems like it to that guy because he can pull it off on a lot of the people who try it on him.
I don't think he was criticizing the Rubber Guard, he was just showing a pass for it. All guards have passes for them. I don't understand why anyone would take offense because someone is showing a pass for the RG that they are working on. It'd be tough to walk through any Black Belt's guard (Rubber or otherwise) even with good technique, so I don't think that is a valid criteria for rating this guys pass.
As far as the pass itself, I think it has some merit. The RG is pretty ineffective if you don't control the guy with the non-rubber-guarding leg, so trying to pass that leg is a good approach. His technique makes me scared of an omoplata, but he isn't really advocating getting your arm trapped like that, he is saying that once it's trapped, this is how you get out. He also says that this is a just-in-time type pass; that you'd better hit it before that off leg is used for the double bag or otherwise used to lock you in place.
I think the pass could work and is valid. Doesn't mean I think it'll work 100% of the time or that you'd breeze through a BB's guard. It's probably worth playing with. It's definately better than sitting in the RG trying to lock your arms in place and just defending. Other than passing that leg, the only other good technique that I know of to get out of the RG, is to smash pass.