Frustrated: Passing the closed guard of taller stronger players

[sickc0d3r]

When dealing with a skilled player who has long legs and superior strength, I work well from the guard but if I find myself in closed guard I have way too much trouble defending sweeps standing or kneeling. I am usually very successful against equally sized or smaller opponents.

It may just be a matter of physics that I have to overcome, but...

Are some passing techniques considered to be more suited than others when faced with this situation? Does anyone have some tips for defending the sweep while passing?

 

[Paige]

the best thing you can do is drill it over and over and over agian. i'm always matched with larger opponents and still have the same troubles. this helped me out alot...

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=36363

 

[Chinaboxer]

all answers lead to leg locks! =D

if that don't work, you can always do double unders via BJ Penn...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oDwQdhSm_G4&feature=related

 

[hayliks]

So basically you're rolling with a guy who is taller, stronger, and more skilled than you and you're getting owned and frustrated? How about... GET BETTER?

 

[Sean-Roberts]

Hayliks instead of just saying Get better why dont you give him some tips or something. Well Sickc0d3r my advice to you is to learn how to pass standing personally i think standing passes are superior to passing sitting

 

[sickc0d3r]

all answers lead to leg locks! =D

if that don't work, you can always do double unders via BJ Penn...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oDwQdhSm_G4&feature=related

Nice video, thanks. it seems when I stay low to break I get caught in a scissor sweep or pendulum because I can't control the legs well enough.

I usually stand to break and then go for a single under or inside knee over the leg while trying to control the other leg. But this often results in landing right back in closed guard, z-guard or I am fighting the spider guard... then the sweep is coming...

I agree the previous poster the main thing is to drill but I thought maybe one technique is better suited to longer opponents than another.

I should mention I train traditional Gracie-Barra with Gi so no leg locks until I reach purple belt.

 

[sickc0d3r]

So basically you're rolling with a guy who is taller, stronger, and more skilled than you and you're getting owned and frustrated? How about... GET BETTER?

touche.

i was just looking for thoughts on passing larger opponents, but you are correct of course.

 

[hayliks]

Hayliks instead of just saying Get better why dont you give him some tips or something. Well Sickc0d3r my advice to you is to learn how to pass standing personally i think standing passes are superior to passing sitting

It really depends on the game your opponent plays. Some guys I prefer passing from standing and others I prefer to pass on the ground and low.

The bottom line is the kid is looking for advice on beating somebody who is better at every aspect. That would be like me posting a thread on how to pass roger gracie's guard. He's bigger than me, stronger than me, and more skilled, how do I pass his guard? Well, probably I never will, but I will continue to improve my game and not worry about beating one person who is above me in every aspect.

 

[DaRuckus337]

I kind of agree with Hayliks, in that your best bet OP is to start drilling closed guard passes against guys who aren't better than you, so that you can get a lot of reps and a lot of trial-and-error/success feedback from each training session. Drilling moves against a guy who has an answer for everything you bring to the table can sometimes be counterproductive (not that there isn't a place for receiving a bit of a butt-whooping every now and then, it's just not the best way to practice aspects of your game you aren't very good at).

 

[_Glorfindel_]

Hayliks instead of just saying Get better why dont you give him some tips or something. Well Sickc0d3r my advice to you is to learn how to pass standing personally i think standing passes are superior to passing sitting

Yup i agree. May i suggest you a very good dvd? It's : Attacking the guard, from Josh Barnett. I realy love this vid 'cause usualy, they always said : passing the guard, but in this video, he give some usefull tricks, like 'the tripod' position to attack the guard by making your opponent very uncomftable. by doing this, it's your opponent who will change his guard and give you some opening 'cause he dont like the way you're handling his close guard ;-)

 

[Dedicado]

Are some passing techniques considered to be more suited than others when faced with this situation? Does anyone have some tips for defending the sweep while passing?

If you really don't like being faced with sweep atempts, pass low. This leaves you very vulnerable to subs howeve so be careful.

The best tech I have for passing the closed guard of a long legged fighter is to dig BOTH arms under his legs once I create space between his hips and my body. I stress both because you should know by now that sticking in just a single arm will get you triangled.

Also, always preassure your pass with your hips driving forward. This will give you great base and will keep him from sweeping you. Good luck.

 

[Dedicado]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add to my post. Stack him with both his hams on your shoulders, double under pass, then walk around untill his legs pop off of you, keep preassure on him and a strong collar grip with your hands which should both be free to grab.

Also, do you ever try the knee slide guard pass once you break open the guard? It works really well especially if you can control a collar grip on the side you want to pass to.

 

[ozarkdt]

Our coach went to a seminar with John Anderson some yers back, Johns philosaphy on ground work was "never make a move without causing pain ". When facing a closed guard opponent, grab the belt and dig both elbows inside the thighs above the knees and press down, make it very uncomfterble for him, get one leg on the ground and go for a leg trap pass. There is a book called Passing the Gaurd that might be helpfull, we have it at our dojo and i have looked at it a few times, it has some good techniques. As we are a Judo club, we stick to basic sweeps and gaurd passes, sometimes they do not look very pretty, but are effective.

 

[sickc0d3r]

Yup i agree. May i suggest you a very good dvd? It's : Attacking the guard, from Josh Barnett. I realy love this vid 'cause usualy, they always said : passing the guard, but in this video, he give some usefull tricks, like 'the tripod' position to attack the guard by making your opponent very uncomftable. by doing this, it's your opponent who will change his guard and give you some opening 'cause he dont like the way you're handling his close guard ;-)

This sounds interesting, thanks for the tip.

 

[sickc0d3r]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add to my post. Stack him with both his hams on your shoulders, double under pass, then walk around untill his legs pop off of you, keep preassure on him and a strong collar grip with your hands which should both be free to grab.

Also, do you ever try the knee slide guard pass once you break open the guard? It works really well especially if you can control a collar grip on the side you want to pass to.

I will definitely drill dbl unders more this sounds reasonable. Our instructor is classic gracie-barra so he stresses the standing passes mostly which is why I have drilled them more often.

I use the knee slide frequently and find it works well, especially if we are starting from the sitting position and I pull an ankle to me and attempt to pass without ever getting caught in closed guard... but if I am caught in the guard I have to stand and break to get there and that's where I am having problems.