BJJ: How to smash a tight defence

Have you ever grappled an opponent who refuses to do anything except to clam up? For example, you just passed his guard and obtained a good side control top position, and your opponent just hides his elbows and neck and refuses to make a move.

We saw an example of this when in the Metamoris BJJ tournament last year, Andre GalvaoTook on Ryron Gracie. Although Galvao was clearly dominating the match, Gracie was not submitted. His defence was just too tight. Some argued that Gracie had played a super defensive game so that he could stall out the game for a draw. There is some basis to this argument as Gracie hardly tried any offensive techniques.

Galvao having problems cracking Gracie's defensive shell

 So how do you overcome an opponent who plays a defensive game like this?

Check out Marcelo Garcia’s opinion here: