Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Guard Fundamentals | East Bay, Bay Area | Alameda Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Self-Defense

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Guard Fundamentals | East Bay, Bay Area | Alameda BJJ & Self-Defense

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the guard position is the heart of the art. Whether you're in Alameda, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, Albany, Emeryville, or El Cerrito, this single position is what allows a smaller, calmer, more technical person to protect themselves against someone bigger and stronger.

At our academy, we teach the guard exactly the way it’s meant to be practiced:smart, efficient, technical, and rooted in the Gracie philosophy of leverage over force.

Students spend nearly 80% of their training learning how to attack, defend, and stay safe from the guard. The legs, hips, and core become shields and weapons at the same time, allowing anyone to:

• Block strikes• Control distance• Trap and isolate limbs• Break posture• Sweep to the top position• Apply submissions like armbars and collar chokes• Stay calm under pressure

In this demonstration, we show the V-Lock shoulder joint lock — a precise guard attack where the hips and legs isolate the opponent’s arm, twist the shoulder line, and apply clean mechanical pressure.This technique neutralizes aggression without relying on strength, making it ideal for kids, teens, adults, beginners, and advanced students across the entire Bay Area.

🥋 Our Gracie Lineage Matters (and parents love knowing this)

Professor Sérgio Silva trained and taught at the Ralph Gracie Academy from 2000–2003, and in 2000 was personally sent to Seattle to open a Gracie Academy for Ralph Gracie.That history shapes how we teach today:

✔ Pure fundamentals✔ Real-world leverage✔ Respect for the roots of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu✔ Calm, non-competitive, technical learning✔ Safety first for every student

Families from across the East Bay choose our academy because we combine authentic Gracie lineage with a peaceful, modern, non-aggressive approach to self-defense.