TOREANDO HOP

The toreando hop is the variation of the toreando pass in which the passer hops rather than walks around the bottom player's legs, using short explosive jumps to prevent the bottom player from re-establishing grips and hooks between steps. The technique was popularized by Rafael Mendes as part of his lightweight competitive system, and works particularly well against opponents with strong grip-recovery skills who would otherwise re-establish open guard between conventional toreando steps.

The mechanics begin from established double-pant-cuff grips with the bottom player's feet pinned to the mat. Rather than stepping laterally, the passer performs a series of short explosive hops to the side, with both feet leaving the ground briefly between landing positions. The hops are fast enough that the bottom player cannot insert a hook or establish a grip between them, and the passer arrives at the side of the bottom player before the open guard can be recovered.

The technique is structurally a refinement of the conventional toreando rather than a separate pass: same setup, same finishing position, different mid-motion. Rafael Mendes used the hopping toreando extensively in his IBJJF career, and Tainan Dalpra and Mica Galvao have continued the tradition in modern competition. The technique requires excellent conditioning — the explosive hops are tiring — and is most effective in the first half of a match before fatigue degrades the explosive output. Defensively the toreando hop is countered by maintaining grips throughout the passing attempt rather than re-fighting after each hop, by attacking the passer's legs with a leg-lock entry during one of the hop landings, or by inverting to escape the lateral motion entirely.