Berimbolo

What it is

The berimbolo is a back take from De la Riva guard where you off-balance the opponent onto their seat, then roll under them on your shoulders and use the De la Riva hook to spin their hips while you come out behind them. It is a purple belt move because it needs a solid De la Riva guard and safe inversions first. Done well, it ends with back control and hooks in, worth 4 points.

When to use it

• You have a strong De la Riva hook and they are standing or kneeling with their weight back.
• They sit down or fall to their seat after you off-balance them.
• You want to take the back rather than just sweep.
• On top: keep your weight forward and your hips low so they cannot get under you.

How to do it

1. From De la Riva, grip their far pant leg or belt and keep your hook tight behind their lead knee.
2. Pull and push to off-balance them so they fall onto their seat.
3. Invert: roll onto your shoulders with your chin tucked, using the hook to turn their hips over you. The weight goes on your shoulders, never your neck.
4. Keep spinning under them and bring your head behind their back as their hips turn.
5. Come out behind them with your chest on their back, grip the belt or set a seatbelt, and get your hooks in.

Key details

• Off-balance first. If they are not sitting, the roll has nothing to work with.
• The De la Riva hook drives the spin. Keep the heel curled behind the knee the whole way through.
• Roll across your shoulders, not your neck. Tuck the chin and look at your belt.
• Grip the far pant leg or belt to pull their hips around with you.
• Drill it slowly with a partner who does not stack you, and tap or stop if you feel weight on your neck.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: inverting with them still standing. They stack you onto your neck and pass.
• Mistake: rolling onto your head instead of your shoulders. Your neck takes the load and you can get hurt.
• Mistake: letting go of the hook during the spin. Their hips stop turning and you end up underneath them.
• Mistake: arriving behind them with no grips. They turn into you and you lose the back.

What they will try

• Staying on their feet and keeping their weight forward, so they never sit.
• Stacking the bottom player as they invert, pressing their legs over their head to pass.
• Turning into the bottom player as they come out the back, so they cannot get hooks.

Gi and no-gi

In the gi you grip the pants or belt to drag their hips around. In no-gi you hold the leg or hip instead, which is harder, so the berimbolo is less common and simpler back takes are used more.