Get better at Guard Passing

Your guide for better Jiu-Jitsu

Guard Passing is an essential skill that needs to be developed in your Jiu-Jitsu Journey. This guide covers the basic concepts you need to succeed.

What we cover:

  1. Weight Distribution

  2. Staying Sticky

  3. Chest to Chest

  4. Opening the Closed Guard

  5. How to Pass

  6. How to Train

  7. Training checklist

  8. How 3000 students feel about guard passing

Clinch and guard passing are very similar. The goal is to get your chest on their chest and move past the legs. The legs constitute the guard. They will cause the most problems for you. They are 7x stronger than your arms. Clear the legs and you clear the guard.

Mechanics: Guard passing is all about weight distribution and angles; it’s not about dance moves. The guard players should be suffering and not happy.

  1. Objectives & Mechanics

Watch Video 1 | Guard Passing Objectives and Mechanics

2. Execution and Awareness

Weight distribution and angles is what makes this work! You want to make sure that your partner is carrying all your weight all the time. This limits their range of movement, makes them tired and only leaves their arms to defend.

Watch Video 2 | Guard Passing - Make it Work

Eat the Elephant. 

Your job is not to make things harder or fancier than what they need to be. Your job is to add weight and continue moving past the legs. When your opponent attempts to frame or block your movement you don’t restart the guard passing process; you keep moving forwards.

An important tip is not to overcommit your weight in any direction. This will lead to sweeps. 

Watch Video 3 | Guard Passing - How it Works

Opening the Closed Guard

Staying sticky is an important part of staying safe in the closed guard. By cupping your partner's triceps with your palms you are able to prevent them from striking or setting up chokes and other submissions. Your elbows should fluctuate between flaring and pinching to shut down space. 

You can make this drill by asking your partner to try and touch your face.

Once you feel comfortable staying sticky you can begin to stand up. When you stand you do NOT want your knees past your toes. You want to pull your tailbone to the sky and pinch your knees. You partners should feel as if they are being dragged underneath you.

Now comes the pass. From a standing position your goal is to stay sticky and keep the legs pinched. When they open their legs, your goal is to create an angle with your hips and slide the leg across. From there you stay connected and drop into cross body side control.

Watch Video 4 | Guard Passing - Opening the Closed Guard

3. Common Reactions

The most common reaction will be opening the closed guard to set up different attacks. Your goal remains the same:

Stay Sticky 

Apply your weight 

Pass the guard 


In this scenario if they try hipescape to create space, you can pin their leg to floor and get chest to chest to complete the pass.


Warning . . .

There has come to be 1000’s of different guards in sport Jiu-Jitsu. But the principles of passing stay the same. Weight distribution, connection, base and angles. If you apply these correctly the possibilities of guards that your opponents can use becomes severely restricted. Space is your enemy when you are passing. More space = more guards.

Watch Video 5 | Common Reactions

To get better at your guard passing your have to practice properly. Here are 4 simple drills that will get you kickstarted and passing the closed guard.

  1. Stay sticky from inside the closed guard. See if your partner touches your face. 

  2. Practice standing up from the closed guard. Remember don’t let your knees go before your toes. Your partner should try and put their feet on your hips. Keep your knees pinched. See if your partner can do a ‘dummy sweep’ on you. 

  3. Practice turning your hips and getting the legs across your body. Stay connected and slide into the cross body control. Start slow and build up the speed. This requires body wiring. 

  4. Get your partner to hipescape away and open their closed guard. You should practice staying sticky and using your elbow to flatten their knee to the floor. Replace your elbow with your knee, get chest to chest and finish the pass. Add resistance as you get more confident.

4. How to Train

Watch Video 6 | How To Train

Guard Passing Training Checklist

So you have watched all the videos and now have a better understanding of what you need to do to pass the guard. Now it’s time to tick off your practice and progress.

Actions

  1. Practise staying sticky in closed guard.

  2. Practise standing up when in closed guard.

  3. Practise passing the leg across your hips and sliding into cross body control.

  4. Practise passing when your partner opens their closed guard.

Progress Check In

You can survive in closed guard against some equal to you.

You can open the closed guard and pass against someone equal to you.

You can survive in closed guard against a higher belt.

You can open the closed guard and pass against a higher belt.

You feel confident in guard passing.

Unlock Guard Passing Series

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✔️Unlock all the videos in the Essential Guides

✔️ Surviving Back Control Series

✔️ Surviving Mount Control Series

✔️ Surviving Side Control Series

✔️ Surviving Knee on Belly Series

✔️ Escaping from Back Control Series

✔️ Escaping from Mount Control Series

✔️ Escaping from Side Control Series

✔️ Escaping from Knee on Belly Series

✔️ Control from Back Series

✔️ Control from Mount Series

✔️ Control from Side Control Series

✔️Control from Knee on Belly Series

✔️ Guard Passing Series

✔️ Guard Series (coming soon)

✔️ Standing Series (coming soon)

✔️ Submission Series (coming soon)

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How Other Students Feel About Passing Closed Guard.

The data from our BJJ Journey Score shows that most students struggle escaping back control.

If you would like to map your Jiu-Jitsu try our BJJ Journey Score below: