Tag Archives: eduardo telles

Rhino vs Buffalo: The Open Class Finals of the Masters Worlds

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I just watched the finals of the open class from this year’s (2012) Master’s Worlds between two legendary jiu jitsu competitors, and perhaps more importantly, two legendary jiu jitsu instructors: Saulo Ribeiro and Eduardo Telles. Saulo won his division (super heavy) and Telles won his (heavy). Here’s video of their match:

This match reminded of those videos on YouTube where you have two badass members of the animal kingdom go at it one on one. When big animals fight, the win comes slowly and often not at all. But still everyone wants to see it happen. A good example of that is this video of a rhino versus a buffalo that’s been making rounds on YouTube:

Just like it’s sad to see the buffalo “lose”, it’s said to see Telles lose. Though in the latter case he lost because the rules of sport jiu jitsu penalize the fundamental idea of his incredibly unique game. Telles plays is a master of the turtle guard. Unfortunately, in many cases, the transition to turtle guard results in his opponent being awarded an advantage.

In any case, everyone would love to see this match up continue in years to come, just like everyone will always love watching a crocodile battle a lion or a rhino battle a hippo.

Attacking from the Turtle Position

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I’ve been slowly studying the matches of the 2011 Worlds, and was floored by this match:

I’ve never heard of Eduardo Telles before, but after a little research into it, it was clear that I was missing out on one of the most innovative jiu jitsu practitioners out there. He transformed the turtle position from a defensive one into an attacking one.

On a practical level, his instructional on the turtle guard gives me a better understanding of what to do in turtle position. Most academies teach the basics of the closed guard, half guard, side control, mount, etc, but few teach the basics of the turtle “guard”.

It seems that it’s always easier to improve my position by distracting my opponent with sweep and submission attempts. Nowhere is that more useful than the turtle position.

However, in a more general sense, his success in transforming the turtle position has made me realize that it’s possible to develop a complete (defensive and offensive) system around many positions which traditionally are considered to be undesirable. For example, from the butterfly position, it’s generally a good idea to not get flattened out on your back, but more and more, I’m learning that this may not always be true. Depending on the athleticism and body type of my opponent, there are times when I can be more dangerous when I’m flat on my back.

Then again, I’m always skeptical investing time into techniques that I have not seen pulled off successfully at the black belt level in competition. That’s why it’s always exciting to see someone like Eduardo Telles find success with a revolutionary approach to an underestimated position.

Check it out as he pulls and plays turtle guard successfully against Andre Galvao: