Open Guard (Top)

Question 1

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Knee Slicer (from inside open guard) into side control using ‘hip slide’ method

Answer 1

1. Get your grips on your opponent’s knees. Release one side to slide your hand down their upper thigh and plant your hand on their hip to pin them to the ground.
2. Use your remaining grip on their knee to force your opponent’s leg to the floor (opening up their guard further)
3. Place inner knee/shin on opponent’s exposed thigh and pin it to the ground
4. Step outer leg over their pinned leg or keep it extended so they can’t hook it
5. Slide hips forward so knee/shin ‘slices’ upward across thigh and keep going until you pass their leg and your hip hits the ground
6. Using the same arm that opened up their guard, position your hand palm to the sky and shoot your hand under their neck and grab for their opposite arm pit if possible
7. Shift your hips from facing toward their head to facing to the ground so you are chest to chest and spread your base wide while shimmying close to their torso to get into side control
8. With the hand that was on your opponent’s hip, shoot hand under the armpit (underhook) and grasp your hand that is holding the armpit
9. Keep pressure and tight space for side control

Question 2

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Knee slicer & ‘fan’ pass (from inside open guard) into side control

Answer 2

1. From inside open guard, get grips on your opponent’s knees to prevent them from closing guard. Release one grip and slide down their upper thigh to plant hand on their hip, pinning them to the ground.
2. With your remaining grip on your opponent’s knee, press their leg to the floor (opening up opponent’s guard further)
3. Place outer knee/shin on opponent’s exposed thigh and pin it to the ground
4. Slide hips forward so knee/shin ‘slices’ upward across thigh and keep going until your knee hits the floor.
5. In the same motion (a) using the same arm that opened up their guard, position your hand palm to the sky and shoot your hand under their neck and grab for their opposite arm pit if possible (b) jump in a ‘fan’ motion so your outside hip hits the ground and your trailing leg lands near you and isn’t caught by your opponent’s legs.
6. Shift your hips from facing toward their head to facing to the ground so you are chest to chest and spread your base wide while shimmying close to their torso to get into side control
7. With the hand that was on the belly, shoot hand under the armpit (underhook) and grasp your hand that is holding the armpit
8. Keep pressure and tight space for side control

Question 3

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Knee Slicer (from inside open guard) into side control on opposite side

Answer 3

1. Place hand on belly
2. Place other hand on knee and press it to the floor (opening up opponent’s guard further)
3. Place outer knee/shin on opponent’s exposed thigh and pin it to the ground
4. Slide hips forward so knee/shin ‘slices’ upward across thigh and keep going until your knee hits the floor.
5. If your opponent starts to defend (framing and shrimping away to stop you from getting side control), switch tactics to move to the other side.
6. With the same hand that opened up their knee, grab their opposite side lapel.
7. With your other hand, scoop their unpinned leg up onto your shoulder and reach around it to grab the same lapel as your first hand.
8. Use your legs to shift your weight to that side at the same time as you drive their leg up to their chest with your shoulder (very uncomfortable for them especially if they’re inflexible). Do not pull your head out, it will come out naturally when you’re on the other side.
9. Once you have passed their guard, let go with your hand closest to their head and with your palm facing up, shoot your hand under their head and grab for their arm pit.
10. Then release their lapel with your remaining hand and go for the underhook to complete the crossface/side control.

Question 4

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Guard pass (if you are on your knees and opponent has a low knee shoot in)

Answer 4

1. Using your hand on the same side your opponent has a knee shoot set up, loop your hand UNDER their upper leg to cup their bottom knee.
2. Get your cross collar grip set up with your other hand.
3. Use your body weight to pin your opponent’s legs to the ground and step your legs out of their grip to set up side control.
4. Do not release your grip on their lower knee until your legs are in position to secure side control

Question 5

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Guard pass using bicep and back/belt grip (if you are on your knees and opponent has a high knee shoot in)

Answer 5

1. Using your hand on the same side your opponent has a knee shoot set up, reach around their leg to get a grip on their belt (from the back)
2. Firmly plant your bicep against your opponent’s shin while hooking your head/shoulder on the other side of their knee shoot to ‘trap’ their leg.
3. Get a grip on your opponent’s collar (same-side grip) and shift your body weight to step your legs out of their grip to set up side control.

Question 6

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Guard pass using knee grip & ‘long step’ (if you are on your knees and opponent has a high knee shoot in)

Answer 6

1. Using your hand on the same side your opponent has a knee shoot set up, grab the fabric on the outside of their knee.
2. Get a grip on your opponent’s collar (same-side grip) and use your body weight to bear down on your opponent’s legs while also stepping your free leg forward and out to the side in a ‘long step’ where you drop your knee and switch your base to pull your other leg free. Your opponent should now be on their side facing you.
3. If they do not defend, immediately go into side control on that same side. If they do defend and push you away, crush their legs with your shoulder and scramble your legs around to take their back from the opposite side.

Question 7

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Pass open guard into side control by dropping shoulder onto opponent

Answer 7

1. If you are in your opponent’s open guard, get a grip on both of their knees and press your weight down onto their legs.
2. Walk your own legs over to one side and push your opponent’s leg (the closest one to you) downward to extend their leg while also dropping your shoulder onto their stomach.
3. Let go of the leg you moved and slide your hand under yourself and around your opponent’s neck and switch your base for side control.

Question 8

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Leg drag from inside opponent’s open guard

Answer 8

1. If your opponent has their back flat on the floor and their feet up on your hips with no grips of their own, first get a cross grip on their ankle.
2. Thrust your hips forward to bump their legs up towards them and with your free hand cup the top of their knee cap.
3. In one smooth motion, move to the side you have your knee grip, jerk their ankle towards you and cup their knee and pull to get their leg out of the way so you can drop down into side control.

Question 9

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Pass open guard (opponent on their back) via knee slice/cross-face/fan sweep into side control (on same side) if your opponent grabs one of your ankles (Mauricio Gomez Seminar)

Answer 9

1. If your opponent has their back flat on the floor and their legs up in open guard, approach in a side-to-side stepping manner and establish your grips on their knees. At this point, your opponent may grab your nearest ankle to prevent you from stepping back.
2. Simply push their knee to the side and drop your own knee down over the inside of their exposed thigh. This may also trap their own hand under both your legs, which is a bonus.
3. With your knee pinning them down, your opponent may try to use their other leg to sweep/push you towards that side. To prevent this, simply turn your body to look in the direction of their unpinned leg. This strengthens your base and makes it much harder to move you.
4. Once your base is established, go for the cross-face on the side you’ve pinned your opponent’s leg. Depending on how much pressure you are applying to the leg area, they will likely let go of your ankle as it doesn’t serve them any purpose to hold anymore.
5. Keeping pressure on the cross-face, simply drop your hip to the ground (on the side you’ve pinned your opponent’s leg) and sweep your trailing leg behind you. Your hips should be facing your opponent’s feet. Immediately use your free hand to post on the ground next to your opponent’s hip to prevent them from escaping.
6. Immediately switch your base so your hips face the ground and get your opponent into side control.

Question 10

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION]
Pass open guard (opponent on their back) via knee slice/leg-over-shoulder/stack-opponent into side control (on the opposite side) if your opponent grabs one of your ankles then transitions to block your cross-face to prevent guard passing on same side (Mauricio Gomez Seminar)

Answer 10

1. If your opponent has their back flat on the floor and their legs up in open guard, approach in a side-to-side stepping manner and establish your grips on their knees. At this point, your opponent may grab your nearest ankle to prevent you from stepping back.
2. Simply push their knee to the side and drop your own knee down over the inside of their exposed thigh. This may also trap their own hand under both your legs, which is a bonus.
3. With your knee pinning them down, your opponent may try to use their other leg to sweep/push you towards that side. To prevent this, simply turn your body to look in the direction of their unpinned leg. This strengthens your base and makes it much harder to move you.
4. Once your base is established and you attempt to go for the cross-face on the same side you’ve pinned your opponent’s leg, they will likely let go of your ankle (as it doesn’t serve any purpose anymore) and instead use their hands to block your shoulder and prevent you from getting the cross-face on. Instead, if their remaining leg is on your hips, shift it onto your shoulder so you can transition to guard pass on the opposite side.
5. If your opponent is resisting or has very strong thighs preventing you from getting their leg on your shoulder, get your arms in a gable grip around your opponent’s thigh and twist to your opposite hip. This will make it much easier to get their leg on top of your shoulder.
6. With the hand that would have gone for the cross-face, open your opponent’s lapel. Use your other hand (on the side their leg is on your shoulder) to reach across your opponent’s chest and grip their lapel (thumb inside, pinkie side of hand facing your opponent’s head). Use pressure to keep your opponent on their back. If you have a high enough grip, your forearm could even be on their neck.
7. With your free hand, reach down and grab the inside of your opponent’s trapped knee. If it is hidden under your own leg, shift your knee closer to your opponent’s body to uncover it.
8. Use your grip on your opponent’s leg to keep it extended and away from you while you drive your chest down onto your opponent, forcing their leg on your shoulder into them and almost stacking them. They will feel the pressure and will push/defend, but keep heavy pressure until you feel them take a break.
9. Simply turn your head away from their leg over your shoulder and it should slide out of the way in front of you as you slide into side control (on the same side the leg was up). Keep your grip on their knee until you’ve fully cleared and have established control.

Question 11

[OPEN GUARD - TOP]
[TRANSITION/SUBMISSION]
Double underhook your opponent’s legs, establish choke and pass their guard into side control to finish the choke

Answer 11

1. If you have just broken out of closed guard, get double underhooks on your opponent and stack them.
2. Establish a cross-collar grip (thumb in the collar so the outside of your wrist is against their neck) and press down for a bit of uncomfortable choking pressure.
3. With your free hand, grab the back of your opponent’s pants (same side) so they cannot unstack themselves and use heavy pressure with your shoulder (on the choking side) so you pass their guard.
4. Once you have passed, do not release their pants and continue pressure to finish the choke (not always possible, but at least you land in side control).