I've been expanding my half guard into reverse de la riva lately and have been using a number of inverted attacks. At first I was concerned about potential neck/upper back issues, but I haven't had any soreness or problems. In general, I feel pretty comfortable when I'm doing it. I'm a smaller guy, so I have made it a point of only using it on people who are near my size, to reduce the chances of a big guy suddenly putting all his weight on me.
Do you feel this guard is dangerous? Have you been injured playing it?
I've popped my ribs a bunch of times inverting against people significantly bigger than me. 
Just saw your point about sticking to people your own size. I've had no problems with people my size
I've never had any problems hanging out inverted, but it depends on your body type/flexibility. (I'm 210 lbs, but very flexible.) IMO, you should practice going upside-down and bringing your knees to the mat next to your head, but when actually rolling, try to never stay completely flat on your shoulders, but rather off to one side or the other. Also, there is little point in going upside-down without some kind of offensive control, unless you're just scrambling to stop the pass.
In my opinion it is a biomechanically not so good position. Imagine to move or pull weight from this position. Very difficult.
Your body is compromised and doesn´t work that well. That´s why you need a lot of flexibility to make it work.....
In my opinion no need for this position.....
I've had a couple of scares where I had pressure put on my neck. Now I only invert against smaller guys.
Zero1 - In my opinion it is a biomechanically not so good position. Imagine to move or pull weight from this position. Very difficult.
Your body is compromised and doesn´t work that well. That´s why you need a lot of flexibility to make it work.....
In my opinion no need for this position.....
The main reason i use it is because people frequently bring their knee up when I am playing half guard, leading me to go to reverse de la riva. The inverted attacks have worked better than other approaches from there. What are some other solid attacks from reverse de la riva?
The fact that you only use it on guys your size means its probably not a good idea
I think we are just getting to the point where we don't respect jiujitsu as a fighting art. People don't like to tap because they know most of the training partners won't break a limb, they go upside down because they know most people won't just sprawl on them. They put arms and legs in bad positions because we have outlawed reaping heel hooks and slicers.
misterw -Zero1 - In my opinion it is a biomechanically not so good position. Imagine to move or pull weight from this position. Very difficult.
Your body is compromised and doesn´t work that well. That´s why you need a lot of flexibility to make it work.....
In my opinion no need for this position.....
The main reason i use it is because people frequently bring their knee up when I am playing half guard, leading me to go to reverse de la riva. The inverted attacks have worked better than other approaches from there. What are some other solid attacks from reverse de la riva?
I use reverse de la riva for the same purpose as you. Rather than inverting, I prefer to use my top foot to kick them away/off balance and sit up quickly for a single leg takedown.
Details to remember:
-Off balance
-Circle around the back so they cannot drive their knee into your chest as you sit up
-Stand up, take the leg and finish the single (I usually run the pipe) all without pausing at all. I find that if I pause at any time during the sequence, good opponents find a way to reverse the single, or escape it.
Hope that helps!
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jrv -misterw -Zero1 - In my opinion it is a biomechanically not so good position. Imagine to move or pull weight from this position. Very difficult.
Your body is compromised and doesn´t work that well. That´s why you need a lot of flexibility to make it work.....
In my opinion no need for this position.....
The main reason i use it is because people frequently bring their knee up when I am playing half guard, leading me to go to reverse de la riva. The inverted attacks have worked better than other approaches from there. What are some other solid attacks from reverse de la riva?
I use reverse de la riva for the same purpose as you. Rather than inverting, I prefer to use my top foot to kick them away/off balance and sit up quickly for a single leg takedown.
Details to remember:
-Off balance
-Circle around the back so they cannot drive their knee into your chest as you sit up
-Stand up, take the leg and finish the single (I usually run the pipe) all without pausing at all. I find that if I pause at any time during the sequence, good opponents find a way to reverse the single, or escape it.
Hope that helps!
Kick them away/off balance as in just kick them straight back?
Yep, top leg kicks away enough that you off balance them, or have enough space to get up and on their leg as they push back into you. Sometimes you don't even have to kick if you fake like you are going to invert, then whip your top leg down as a pendulum to help you get up. It all depends on where their weight is
I think kicking the guy backwards and either sweeping or coming up on the single works a lot better if you also threaten to spin under, since the guy's reaction to the spin-under will often be to sit back and away from you, giving up the kick-back sweep and the single. I also don't think you need to hang out in the inverted position ever in order to use the spin-under from RDLR. It's more of a momentary Granby roll.
Spinning upside down, just like anything else in BJJ, is just dangerous when done at unideal moments.
From reverse DLR, your non hooking leg should be on their hip until you are at the point where they cannot drop their weight on you (or rather, if they do, it will not hurt you as you are no longer upside down). The rest of the time, your foot on their hip controls the distance, making it difficult for them to apply enough weight onto you to cause injury.
Also, less of this spinning is on the neck, and more of it is on the shoulders, with the neck protected.
The "wrong" way to do "inverted guard" is to stay upside down for a large period of time. All the top guys who go upside down will invert and attack, if it doesn't work they go back to a more traditional guard orientation. It is BJJ dangerous to be upside down for long periods of time because being upside down without dominant grips is the easiest way to get leg dragged or get your back taken. It is also the best way to get a lot of weight exerted on your body, potentially causing injury. You don't ever hang out in an upside down position, especially in the gi. If this hanging out upside down like Ryan Hall used to do is what you think "inverted guard" is, then abandon this idea completely. No one does this. There is no "inverted guard". People invert momentarily to attack or defend and then immediately return to the traditional orientation.
The only other time going upside down can cause injury is if you do it when recovering guard. And even then, the only time this is done without a weight barring device (foot on chest/hip, knee across chest etc) is when you are in a last ditch recovery situation.
go view the recent video of the kid getting his neck broken by violently being inverted via a guard pass and note the similarity to inverted guard. It is correct to invert/spin at the precise time to deflect pressure, but it is dangerous as hell to invert and hang out there.
One of the fundamental principles of old school bjj was to focus on natural body mechanics, those that wouldn't require superior attributes or put you at risk for injury. With the increasing focus on sport bjj, some of the new positions are very attribute driven...not accessible to most players. Not always a bad thing, but it is when positions put your spine or neck at risk.
I saw someone post a great comment on inverted guard along the lines of, "If putting yourself in inverted guard enables your opponent to stamp on your face should it really be considered a 'guard'?"
Muffinho - Spinning upside down, just like anything else in BJJ, is just dangerous when done at unideal moments.
From reverse DLR, your non hooking leg should be on their hip until you are at the point where they cannot drop their weight on you (or rather, if they do, it will not hurt you as you are no longer upside down). The rest of the time, your foot on their hip controls the distance, making it difficult for them to apply enough weight onto you to cause injury.
Also, less of this spinning is on the neck, and more of it is on the shoulders, with the neck protected.
The "wrong" way to do "inverted guard" is to stay upside down for a large period of time. All the top guys who go upside down will invert and attack, if it doesn't work they go back to a more traditional guard orientation. It is BJJ dangerous to be upside down for long periods of time because being upside down without dominant grips is the easiest way to get leg dragged or get your back taken. It is also the best way to get a lot of weight exerted on your body, potentially causing injury. You don't ever hang out in an upside down position, especially in the gi. If this hanging out upside down like Ryan Hall used to do is what you think "inverted guard" is, then abandon this idea completely. No one does this. There is no "inverted guard". People invert momentarily to attack or defend and then immediately return to the traditional orientation.
The only other time going upside down can cause injury is if you do it when recovering guard. And even then, the only time this is done without a weight barring device (foot on chest/hip, knee across chest etc) is when you are in a last ditch recovery situation.
That part about not hanging out inverted makes a lot of sense - thanks.
Can you elaborate, or refer me to some examples of using the non hooking leg on their hip to control distance?
Caio Terra goes inverted a good amount and he goes over a number of moves in his 111 techniques DVDs. However, it seems like he will sometimes swing his leg around to go inverted, then use his free thigh to squeeze them down on top of him and prevent them from posturing up. So he doesn't seem to be using his free leg to maintain distance, unless I am misunderstanding your description. Do you have any examples I can take a look at?
Watch how Rafa usually does it. Better yet, watch how Rafa teaches it. The non hook is on the hip, pushing them away and then you use that push to lift your hips for the slight inversion.
Doing it Caio's way works, but I prefer doing that if they are in a very low base. There is more chance to get injured that way because a bigger person may be able to drop their weight on you. But also, Caio keeps his hips relatively close to the mat, if he gets half way inverted, most of the weight will go on his hamstrings and not his lower back. If you have very tight hamstrings, your lower back will lift and take the pressure.
LordSeano - I saw someone post a great comment on inverted guard along the lines of, "If putting yourself in inverted guard enables your opponent to stamp on your face should it really be considered a 'guard'?"
I like that.