Open Guard (Bottom)

Question 1

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[TRANSITION]
Collar grip to take down from sitting (using ‘steering wheel’ motion)

Answer 1

1. If you are sitting and your opponent is standing over you, keep your legs in between you to maintain your defensive space. When they reach down to get a grip, try and grab for their opposite collar to bring them down and break their posture.
2. Post your free hand behind you and forward hip escape to shoot your legs around their leg on the opposite side of your grip while pulling down hard with your collar grip.
3. Loop your free hand around their leg under the knee. You should have your inner leg wrapped around their foot to trap them.
4. With your arm around their leg and your collar grip tight, use your head as a battering ram to press hard into their ribs, creating tension. Stand and twist (steering wheel take down), pulling on the collar and pushing with your head to force your opponent off balance and to the floor. Immediately get on top in whatever capacity you can.

Question 2

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[TRANSITION]
Tripod sweep

Answer 2

1. From open guard grab one of your opponent’s ankles.
2. Place your foot on the same side on their hip.
3. Hook your other foot under their opposite leg under the knee. Note, if you are close enough, you can use the top of your thigh/knee to ‘hook’ their leg so they can’t step backward.
4. In the same motion, jerk your hooking foot toward you and kick your foot on their hip away from you to sit them on their butt.
5. Keep hold of their ankle and use their momentum to get up immediately.

Option: Keeping your thumbs facing down and palms facing outward, press their straightened leg toward their head extending your back and using your hips (to avoid being kicked in the face)

Option: you can do this from closed guard if they are standing to break your guard. Just open and slide down their legs until you can plant one foot on their hip and drop the other between their legs.

Question 3

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[TRANSITION]
“Tree” sweep

Answer 3

1. From open guard grab both of your opponent’s ankles and place your feet on their hips.
2. Keep their ankles tightly in place and kick out with your feet to sit them on their butt.
3. Keep hold of their ankles and use their momentum to get up immediately.

Question 4

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[TRANSITION]
Over-the-head sweep into mount

Answer 4

1. From open guard, grab both your opponent’s sleeves and place your feet on their hips.
2. Jerk them off base and use your feet to raise them in the air.
3. In the same motion, criss-cross their hands and use your feet to force them into a somersault over one of your shoulders (same motion as the back roll).
4. Keep hold of their sleeves and use their momentum to roll with them and end up in mount (hopefully)

Question 5

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[TRANSITION]
Escaping leg underhooks and regaining closed guard

Answer 5

1. If your opponent has double underhooks under your thighs and is trying to stack you to pass your guard, do NOT let your opponent grasp their hands together. Immediately establish sleeve grips on your opponent and yank their wrists towards you to separate their hands and prevent them from gripping your gi. At the same time, open your legs to slide down from your opponent’s shoulders to their biceps/elbows and keep them straight and HEAVY to prevent your opponent from crushing you.
2. If your body is still too close to your opponent, raise yourself up on your shoulders and ‘walk’ backwards to create space. When you have enough space, pick a shoulder and plant your foot on it and push to keep your opponent back.
3. When you have the space, move your other leg over your opponent’s arm and plant it on your opponent’s hip or beyond to regain guard.

Tip: if your opponent does close their hands in the start, immediately grab both wrists and YANK apart HARD while at the same time opening your legs HARD to separate your opponent’s hands.

Question 6

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[TRANSITION]
Escaping leg underhooks if opponent establishes cross collar grip and is moving to pass into side control

Answer 6

1. If your opponent has double underhooks under your thighs and has stacked you, grasped a cross-collar grip and is moving to pass your legs and get you in their side control, immediately grasp your opponet’s gi behind their elbow. As they push your legs over their head and to the ground, twist onto your side (the shrimp position) and plant your free hand under you (similar to the set up of the technical stand-up) and SHOVE your opponent’s elbow HARD to break their grip and move their arm across your body down to your hips so they cannot get the cross face.
2. Once your opponent is out of position and their head is near your hips/knees, either do a shrimp/technical stand up to get your legs free and get away OR get up and attack their back.

Question 7

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[SUBMISSION - NO GI]
If your opponent is standing (and you are seated), invert and transition into heel hook
[needs to be written]

Answer 7

1. If your opponent is standing and you are seated on the floor, shoot your hips forward so you end up with their ankle between your legs (it does not need to be super close, maybe just above your knee). Bend your leg that is in between their legs, so your opponent cannot step backward.
2. With your hand closest to your opponent’s center, reach UNDER your own leg (same side) and grab your opponent’s ankle. Your thumb should be facing the ground.
3. Use your other hand to grab your opponent’s other ankle and roll over your shoulder (doing a side shoulder roll) on the same side you have the first ankle grip. As you are rolling, remove your leg that was hooked behind your opponent’s leg.
4. RAISE your hips up as much as you can (you should basically be doing a shoulder stand) and hook your first leg (that you just unhooked) around your opponent’s SECOND leg and get it in a triangle lock.
   [need to practice this one again to remember the finish]

Question 8

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[SUBMISSION - NO GI]
If your opponent is standing (and you are seated), go shin-to-shin and wrap up their leg, transitioning to x-guard and take your opponent down to a foot lock

Answer 8

1. If your opponent is standing and you are seated on the floor, shoot your hips forward and position yourself so you are pressed shin-to-shin (same side). At the same time, wrap your same side arm behind your opponent’s leg (just behind the knee) to prevent them from stepping back.
2. In the same motion, lean to your free hand side (plant your free hand on the ground if needed) and KICK your opponent’s trapped leg upward so their leg comes up over your thigh and they land with their foot next to your rib cage.
3. In the same motion: a) wrap your arm over your opponent’s ankle in a de la riva grip, b) elevate your hips, and c) set up your single x guard (i.e. your outer leg should be pressed up tight against the side of your opponent’s leg and your foot should be pressed into or across their belly so you can extend them. your inner leg should be squeezed tight against the opposite side of their thigh with the top of your foot wrapped against the back of their thigh to trap it).
4. Take your opponent down by turning your knees to the outside and extending your legs so your opponent is off balance and falls.
5. Once on the ground, stay on your side (facing the ‘outside’). Your shoulder/side of your attacking arm should be right up against the ground and your opponent’s foot should be RIGHT behind your armpit. Extend backward (basically lean back so you put pressure on their foot) while pushing your hips forward to put pressure on the foot lock. Your attacking arm should still be wrapped over your opponent’s ankle/shin with your hand flat on your belly.

Note: the submission can come on VERY quickly, so be careful in training.

Question 9

[OPEN GUARD - BOTTOM]
[SUBMISSION]
Modified triangle choke (using own arm as 1 part of the choking mechanism) if your opponent has double undergrips and is trying to stack-pass you.

Answer 9

1. If your opponent breaks your closed guard and gets double undergrips to try and stack-pass you, get a DEEP cross collar grip on them.
2. At this point, both your legs will likely be on top of your opponent’s shoulders. Use your opposite side leg to hook around the back of your opponent’s neck. Use your other leg to kick downward (pressing the back of your thigh against your opponent’s bicep), FORCING your opponent off base and onto an angle and creating space so you can lock up the triangle. Your inner thigh will be one part of the choking mechanism, the bony part of your wrist will be the other.
3. Keep your opponent on an angle (head towards the side you have the cross collar grip) and SQUEEZE hard for the tap. This is a VERY nasty choke.