Posted on by leticiamedeiros

GB Technique: Breaking the Turtle from GB Brazil

This week on GB Blog we are talking about methods to break the Turtle position as taught by some of the top Gracie Barra Black Belt instructors from Gracie Barra in Brazil.
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Once we move beyond the fundamental techniques of Jiu-Jitsu into intermediate level Jiu-Jitsu, we see a more frequent use of the Turtle position used defensively.
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Instead of accepting a guard pass and being controlled in bottom side control – and surrendering the 3 points for having your guard passed – most intermediate and advanced students of Jiu-Jitsu will quickly transition to the defensive Turtle.
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The Turtle ( also referred to as “4 Apoios” in Brazilian Portuguese) is a very strong defensive position. If you have ever been frustrated by a solid Turtle position, you will see that it is no joke and requires some techniques to break the Turtle.
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Let’s take a look at some techniques to break the turtle with some of the top Gracie Barra instructors out of GB Brazil.
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Want to Up Your Takedown Game? Check out: GB2 Online Takedowns – by Henrique Machado
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1) Control the Turtle / Dicas p/ posicionamento dos 4 apoios
The thing to pay attention to in this video is how the position is controlled by correctly placing your weight on the opponent and then breaking your opponent’s structure.

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2) Inverted Triangle / Triângulo Invertido
A triangle from the Turtle? Actually this has been long a common attack in Judo where turtle is used often to avoid a pin.

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3) Armlock against the Turtle / Guarda tartaruga- ArmLock do looping
Prof. Carlos Liberi shows a method of not only breaking the Turtle position but a slick transition directly into arm lock.

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4) Rolling strangle / Estrangulamento girando partindo dos 4 Apoios
You will hope one of your friends caught this move on video if you hit it in rolling. This is a very cool collar choke against Turtle.

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What is YOUR favorite technique for breaking your opponent’s Turtle?
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Credits: Mark Mullen
Gracie Barra Black belt based in Asia