Tanquinho's Sneaky BJJ Ankle Pick and Guard Pass
When we first posted this Tanquinho clip back in October 2015, the whole write-up ran to two lines: a sneaky little two points at the start of a match never goes amiss, and the guard pass on the…
Words: Jiu Jitsu Style
When we first posted this Tanquinho clip back in October 2015, the whole write-up ran to two lines: a sneaky little two points at the start of a match never goes amiss, and the guard pass on the back of it was tidy too. That was the entire review. Augusto "Tanquinho" Mendes was one of the slickest featherweights on the planet, you trusted us and watched the video, and that was that. Eleven years on, the little sequence he was showing — pinch the ankle, score the takedown, keep moving into the pass — has aged better than almost anything else in the gi Jiu Jitsu of that era.
Watch it: Tanquinho's ankle pick takedown to guard pass.
Why the ankle pick is the smartest two points in BJJ
The reason the ankle pick has never gone out of style is that it asks for almost nothing and gives back a lot. You're already hand-fighting in the standing exchange, both of you reaching for grips. Tanquinho's trick was to use that grip fight as cover — he'd break the posture down with a collar tie or a sleeve grip, change levels, and snatch the lead ankle before his opponent registered the level change. The man's base disappears and he's on the mat. Two points, no scramble, no wrestling match. For a featherweight giving away reach and strength to almost everyone, that low-commitment, low-risk entry was gold.
That's the timeless part. The ankle pick rewards timing over athleticism, which is exactly why it suits the smaller, smarter grappler — and why it still belongs in every Jiu Jitsu player's standing game whether you weigh 60 kilos or 100.
Don't stop at the takedown — pass straight off it
The detail most people missed in 2015 is the one that matters most: Tanquinho never treated the ankle pick as a finish line. The same drive that put his opponent down kept him moving forward, so he landed already on top, already past the legs, already hunting the pass. The takedown and the guard pass weren't two techniques bolted together — they were one motion that happened to pass through standing on its way to side control.
That continuity is the whole lesson. Too many of us score the two points, celebrate for a half-second, and let our opponent recover guard for free. Tanquinho cashed the momentum in before it cooled. Pick the ankle, follow your weight forward, and arrive in the pass while he's still working out what happened.
How a 2015 clip reads in the modern Jiu Jitsu game
Re-watch it now and it looks completely current. The wrestling-up movement that Craig Jones, the Ruotolo brothers and the modern ADCC crowd have made central to no-gi started, in the gi, with exactly this kind of clean, sneaky, low-level takedown. Mikey Musumeci — the closest thing the sport has to a modern Tanquinho, another tiny featherweight beating bigger men with precision — wins the standing exchange the same way: minimal commitment, maximum timing. And with IBJJF still handing out two points for a takedown, the ankle pick is as relevant on a 2026 competition scoreboard as it was on a 2015 one.
What changed is the access. In 2015 you learned this from a grainy clip and a two-line caption. In 2026 there are full BJJ Fanatics breakdowns of the ankle pick, YouTube instructionals stacked three deep, and an app on your phone that'll loop the entry frame by frame. The information is everywhere now. The principle underneath it hasn't moved an inch — control the grip, hide the level change, and keep moving once he's down.
Go back to the original clip, eleven years late, and notice that the little Brazilian had all of it sorted the first time. Pinch the ankle, take the two, pass the guard. Simple, sneaky, and still worth stealing.
See you on the mats.
Originally published on Jiu Jitsu Style, 20 October 2015. Refreshed for 2026.