The Toreando pass might be the simplest and most effective pass in the world of martial arts. You won’t need to practice it as much as other techniques, such as various finishing moves.
The Toreando pass is an effective yet easy-to-learn technique to pass someone’s guard. If you’re either in mount or facing someone in his closed guard position, you can use it to quickly pass it and use a finishing move, such as coming down on the opponent’s side.
And let me tell you something; it’s quite easy to learn!
You can, in fact, use it about 15 minutes after you start learning it. So although it might sound too unrealistic, I’m confident that it’ll take about this long.
However, many mistakes novice grapplers will inevitably make will ruin the execution, leaving you in a more vulnerable position, as you need to step forward during the pass.
This article will highlight these minor details to ensure you’re not making the mistakes that most novice grapplers will make.
If you want to learn more about performing another practical and essential submission BJJ teaches, I have a complete guide on the Armbar. If you want to learn more, follow the link!
What is the Toreando pass?
Passes are critical in grappling. If you’re familiar with the basics of Jiu-Jitsu, you’ll have many folks who stay in their closed guard position, as it gives them an advantage. To counter that, we must pass this guard and breakthrough. This is what passes are for!
The Toreando pass, also known as the bullfighter pass, is a pass in BJJ known for its speed of execution. While this pass has many variations, the primary focus is passing through the side while controlling the opponent’s legs. As a result, it doesn’t require much time to execute it correctly; you can learn it anytime.
This article will demonstrate the primary rules to follow in order to execute the Toreando pass properly. Likewise, I’ll highlight minor mistakes that novices make that ruin the execution. If you want to avoid them, stick to the end of the article.
The Toreando pass is a basic move. Therefore, you don’t have to be a blue belt to learn it. You can start mastering it as soon as you get your white belt.
And, who knows? It might be what helps you get your first win in practice. I’m confident that this is a highly effective technique. If you want to boost your Jiu-Jitsu performance, don’t hesitate to invest time in mastering it.
Before we dive in, if you want to learn an extremely effective BJJ submission and become a better grappler, follow the link to read about the Straight Arm Lock submission and how you can learn it today!
How to perform the Toreando pass
The Toreando pass is one of the most effective passes in Jiu-Jitsu. Other martial arts teach this pass, but the primary focus of this article will be BJJ and MMA. So, let’s first examine how you can perform this pass.
To successfully perform the Toreando pass, the opponent must first be in a guard position. Then, you want to keep your legs straight and duck forward. Next, you close the distance and step forward on any side you choose. You can finish the move by going for many finishing moves, such as the Neon Belly.
Here’s a more detailed step-by-step guide to performing the Toreando pass:
- Control the legs: Begin by controlling your opponent’s legs by gripping their pants or thighs.
- Step to the side: Step to the side with your lead leg, placing it outside your opponent’s leg that you’re controlling.
- Drop your weight: Drop your weight down low and lean forward, applying pressure with your shoulder to your opponent’s thigh. This will create space for your other leg to come through.
- Bring your other leg through: Swing your back leg through your created space and slide it up to your opponent’s hip.
- Establish side control: From here, you can establish side control and begin working on submissions or transitions.
Most people make the mistake of keeping their distance from the opponent. You’ll rarely pass someone’s guard if you do it this way.
Instead, focus on closing the distance, and don’t be afraid of moving forward regardless of the vulnerable position you’re stepping into.
You want to keep your legs straight and elbows back, providing a more dangerous position. From this position, performing the Toreando pass is easier.
Once you execute this pass, you will be in a finishing position. You can perform various finishing moves from here, such as the Neon Belly.
But this article doesn’t focus as much on the finishing moves. If you want to learn more about the most effective techniques in BJJ, follow the link to learn various finishing moves.
Which martial arts teach the Toreando pass?
Many martial arts teach grappling. However, passing an opponent’s guard is sometimes not useful in specific martial arts, such as Judo and wrestling. This is why they will also not teach passes. So, which martial arts do teach passes? Let’s see!
BJJ, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is the primary martial art that teaches the Toreando pass. However, many MMA fighters today take techniques from BJJ and adapt them to their skillset. As a result, many fighters use the Toreando pass both in MMA and BJJ.
Eventually, you’ll learn this pass if it’s effective in your martial art. Let’s say; for instance, you learn Judo. Are there guards in Judo? The answer is no.
As such, learning the Toreando pass or any pass will not be valuable if you’re a judo practitioner.
If you want to learn the Kimura, another highly effective BJJ finishing move, follow the link!
Martial arts make sense. People have invested years in constructing them – so they will be effective and practical, regardless of how you look at them. That is why martial arts with guards will also teach the Toreando!
If you want to learn more about the rear naked choke and how you can start winning more BJJ fights, follow the link.
Positions you can use the Toreando pass from
Thus far, I’ve listed the different traits the Toreando pass possesses. Now, let’s see from which variations you can use it.
You can use the Toreando pass from the primary position when your opponent is in a closed-guard position. You can perform this pass when you’re in mount. However, you’d have to step outside and then execute it. It means that you’re not in mount when you perform the pass.
Indeed, you don’t have as much playing field with this technique. However, many variations of it exist. Therefore, you don’t have to stick to the one you first learn. Instead, watch the following video to find out more.
If you want to learn more about the Triangle choke and how to win more fights today, follow the link.
Final words
Passing the opponent’s guard is a critical skill in grappling-based martial arts, such as Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA.)
The Toreando pass is one of the most critical passes in the world of BJJ because of its effectiveness.
Advanced grapplers will perform it almost perfectly and pass anyone’s guard quickly and effectively.
I find this pass to be easy to learn. As such, if you want to start passing people’s guard without risking yourself too much, I highly recommend learning this technique as soon as possible.
Overall, I give this BJJ technique a 7/10!
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’d also enjoy reading about BJJ’s belt ranking system. Follow the link to learn more!