Closed Guard (Top) Flashcards
[CLOSED GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Open opponent’s closed guard by standing
- From inside closed guard, grab one of your opponent’s sleeves and with the opposite hand, grab their lapels and press your knuckles into their sternum to keep them from sitting up. Keep your posture high.
- In the same motion press your weight into your opponent’s chest and step up with the foot on the same side as your sleeve-grip.
- Stand and try to keep your posture fully upright and your legs fairly close together to make it hard for your opponents to maintain closed guard.
- Transfer your opponent’s sleeve to your now free lapel-grabbing hand and turn your hips so you’re not facing your opponent square on to make it even more difficult for your opponent to maintain their closed guard (no hips to grip onto).
- On the side you’ve turned your hips back, use your initial sleeve-gripping hand to press down against their knee and force their guard open.
Option: If their guard is hard to break you can reach back and put your hand into the space behind you to pull on one of their heels to break their guard. Or you can ‘bounce’ and use that motion to shake them off.
[CLOSED GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Open your opponent’s closed guard with your knees on the floor and then knee slice to pass guard and gain side control
- With your knees on the floor and you inside your opponent’s closed guard, get a grip on their lapels, pressing your knuckles into their sternum and straightening your arm to ‘pin’ their back to the floor. Keep your posture high.
- With your free hand, get a grip on their pants above their hip bone. Keep your elbow tight to your side and pressed against their leg.
- Release their lapels and slide your other hand down to get a grip on their pants above their hip bone on their other side. Keep your arms extended to press their hips into the ground and stop them from shooting up.
- Put one elbow into their leg and move your knee on that same side between their legs to force space between you. Round your back, push with your arms and extend your knee to break their guard.
- Once broken, raise the knee you had between their legs and plant that foot on the floor, stopping them from regaining their guard.
- Grab your opponent’s collar/lapel on the same side as you have your leg up. Pull your elbow inward and prevent them from extending their body.
- Drop your knee over their thigh for the knee slicer pass while raising your other leg off the floor to stop them from getting you in half guard. They will defend by raising their other leg and putting their shin in your belly.
- Grab their defending knee while shooting your hand under their neck to grab their arm pit and cross face. In the same movement, pull their pant leg to remove their defending leg out of the way and switch your base, dropping your hip to the floor and jumping/pulling your legs to that same side.
- Grab their knee closest to the floor and with your cross face grip, force your opponent to roll over the other way so you have them in side control.
[CLOSED GUARD - TOP]
[SUBMISSION DEFENCE]
Omoplata defense by stepping over your opponent’s head
- If your opponent puts you in an omoplata, do NOT let them put your shoulder flat on the ground. First plant your free hand right under your chest to prevent your opponent from putting you flat on the ground and to have a strong base.
- You need to move FAST. While your opponent is still laying with their back on the ground, do not let them sit up and grab over your back. Quickly jump/step over their head - one leg after the other in quick succession so that you land in side control.
[CLOSED GUARD - TOP]
[SUBMISSION DEFENCE]
Omoplata defense by using knee on belly and posturing up
- If your opponent puts you in an omoplata, do NOT let them put your shoulder flat on the ground. First plant your free hand right under your chest to prevent your opponent from putting you flat on the ground and to have a strong base.
- You need to move FAST. While your opponent is still laying with their back on the ground, do not let them sit up and grab over your back. In the same motion, jam your near-side knee onto their belly and use your trapped arm to brace against the inside of your own thigh.
- Post your other leg out to the side and posture up (use your back muscles) while DRIVING your knee down into your opponent with as much weight/force as possible.
- Stack your opponent and pop your arm out and transition into side control.
[CLOSED GUARD - TOP]
[SUBMISSION DEFENCE]
Arm bar defence by simply moving out of the angle of attack (2 ways - hip movement or head movement)
If your opponent is attempting to put you in an arm bar from their closed guard (if you are on your knees), you can do a simple motion defence one of two ways:
1) Hip movement: When your opponent pops their foot on your hip and attempts to swivel to get into the angle of attack, simply pivot with them so they remain ‘straight on’ rather than on the perpendicular attack angle.
2) Head movement: When your opponent has you in a partial arm bar, do not let them push your face so they have space to swing their leg over your head. Instead, lean heavily towards them (opposite of the way they are trying to push your face) and prevent them from swinging the leg over.
[CLOSED GUARD - TOP]
[SUBMISSION DEFENCE]
Arm bar defence by gripping bicep, stacking opponent, and passing to side control
- If your opponent gets you in an arm bar from closed guard (if you are on your knees), immediately grab your own bicep (grabbing with your ‘arm-barred’ arm).
- Step up on the grabbing side and put heavy pressure down on your opponent. Use your grabbed arm to get a grip behind your opponent’s knee (on the leg closes to your face) to prevent them from removing their leg and getting you in a triangle. Also use your head/neck against the back of their leg/knee to help in applying heavy pressure
- Stack your opponent and yank your arm free. Keep them stacked and reach down to grab their same-side collar. Use pressure to pass into side control. Do not let go of their leg until you are in side control.
[CLOSED GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Pass your opponent’s guard by using their own lapel to trap their arm.
- If you are in your opponent’s closed guard, free one of their lapels and wrap it over their same side arm. Note that you should be aiming to wrap the lapel above their elbow. If it is below the line of their elbow, it could be difficult.
- Once you have wrapped their arm, drive yourself forward/pike downward to trap them momentarily while you use your other hand to reach under their body to grab the lapel from your initial wrapping hand.
- Once your secondary hand has grabbed the lapel, your opponent is in a very awkward position as their arm is now trapped and their body is twisted. Use your initial, now free, hand to press down on the inside of your opponent’s thigh to open up their guard so you can pass.
