Spider Guard Introspective: Michael Langhi - Rolled Up

It's all well and good to learn solely how to defend spider-guard and how to address the hooks, pass et cetera, however, often, the best way to beat your enemy is to know your enemy. It's not enough to just defend. You learn the position and you learn what the opponent needs, and thus look to avoid those scenarios, grips, and or angles he needs. It's one thing to tell you what (s)he needs, it's another to know from time on the mat exactly or at least have a relatively clear idea of what (s)he needs to gain the advantage. So, overcome your fear, and get into the mind of the enemy.

That being said, one of the more prominent proponents of the spider guard in recent years is Michael Langhi who went undefeated for 2 years at the elite level. His guard was dubbed unpassable for quite awhile (though, recently, Leandro Lo did pass it en route to his 2nd consecutive world title after Langhi returned due to a hiatus regarding visa issues.
 

 

2 Final Perspectives on Passing Spider Guard: Rafael Lovato Jr. and Andre Galvao

I've posted up some spider guard passes from the likes of Rafael Mendes, Cobrinha, Bruno Frazatto, and Leo Vieira.

I'll throw two more well-known guys into the mix with Andre Galvao and Rafael Lovato Jr.:
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Rafael Lovato Jr.
His pass begins from kind of a mid-spider guard type position where he's attempting to kill one of the spider hooks low to get to his headquarters position, and the other hook is more of a leg lasso I've heard it called. He clears the hook by switching his feet to clear the low hook and thus change the angle on the hook/lasso on his right arm:
 

Andre Galvao
Galvao does something similar to Cobrinha's pass, and then the switching of the feet to bring pressure with the knee to clear the hook/danger to his left arm. The knee on thigh position Andre gets to before clearing the hook on his right arm is very Corbinha-esque as well :

 

2 Perspectives on Spider-Guard Passing: Leo Vieira and Rafael Mendes

Both guys comment on the necessity of keeping your elbows in, and stretching out the opponent/forcing him to sit up which changes/limits his ability to apply leverage/pressure on the bicep.

Leo Vieira:

Rafael Mendes: