Retaining Guard

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marbowers

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As I've been putting a lot of focus into my closed guard lately, guard retention has been something that I've also had to put a lot of effort into. So do you guys have tips for retaining guard?

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Penn rolling with Leo Vieira. I noticed he does this thing that our instructor makes us do as a warm up drill sometimes. If my opponent passes my guard on my left side I take my right leg, post it across his body and use it to realign myself. But I've never actually done it in trainging? Anyone had any success with it? Seems like your opponent could just hold the leg and pass on that side.

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Demian Maia - Defending the Guard Pass instructional. Really basic. Really good.

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Jon Olav Einemo vs. Roger Gracie. Wow. JOE has obviously sold his soul to Thor to become some sort of Viking guard player. I have no idead how he prevents Roger from passing his guard. Anyone share any insight?
 
marbowers said:
Penn rolling with Leo Vieira. I noticed he does this thing that our instructor makes us do as a warm up drill sometimes. If my opponent passes my guard on my left side I take my right leg, post it across his body and use it to realign myself. But I've never actually done it in trainging? Anyone had any success with it? Seems like your opponent could just hold the leg and pass on that side.

<object width="425" he?
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I used to think the same thing, but I was wrong. As long as you are shrimping when you are realigning yourself you will have no problems. You aren't in near as much danger as you think. Especially no gi where your opponent cant grab cloth to keep you from shrimping. Braulio Estima shows a variation of that here.

YouTube - Braulio Estima Instructional



Personally my guard game exploded when I had a small moment of clarity. Instead of pushing my opponent away, I simply frame my arms and use his body as a base to push MYSELF away.

This is common sense to a lot of people, but I am a slow learner. After that guard replacement became easy and occasionally when rolling with lower belts I keep my guard vulnerable and practice replacing guard. It's a lot of fun for me.
 
Calibur said:
I used to think the same thing, but I was wrong. As long as you are shrimping when you are realigning yourself you will have no problems. You aren't in near as much danger as you think. Especially no gi where your opponent cant grab cloth to keep you from shrimping. Braulio Estima shows a variation of that here.

YouTube - Braulio Estima Instructional



Personally my guard game exploded when I had a small moment of clarity. Instead of pushing my opponent away, I simply frame my arms and use his body as a base to push MYSELF away.

This is common sense to a lot of people, but I am a slow learner. After that guard replacement became easy and occasionally when rolling with lower belts I keep my guard vulnerable and practice replacing guard. It's a lot of fun for me.
Click to expand...

Yeah that makes a lot of sense. Haha thanks for giving me a moment of clarity! I can't wait to try it.
 
I do that thing that BJ does when you cross your legs to retain guard...it takes some flexibility but seems to work for me.

That Maia DVD is something that I literally HEAR when I roll. "Escape your hips and put him in the same line again" lol
Maia straight line theory and his head control theories have helped my guard passing prevention a whole lot!
 
Any ideas on JOE vs. RG? He doesn't seem to be doing anything special but Roger just can't pass his guard.
 
In the rigan machado summer camp 06 there is a great section taught about guard retention from David Ruiz.

In general i think guard retention is pretty over looked, but it is one of the most important and most difficult aspects of bjj to learn imo.

Also anyone know why this page is messed up everything is stuck in a quote.
 
Question on the straight line theory. It all works well if the guy tries coming round the side. But what if he manages to press one leg down, say using his elbows, and tries to come up straight, OVER your guard hence not breaking the straight line? Shrimp again?
 
I'm pretty fair about my skill level and most aspects of my game have huge holes that keep me up at night. But I could write you an essay on retaining guard and using the quarter,half, half butterly, butterfly etc. to maintain position.

PM me if your interested. I'd rather not start a forum post. Actually maybe I'll make a forum post on retaining guard in my own forum. It'll give me an excuse to lose the time it takes to write it.
 
If you write something about retaining guard can you either post it here or post a link to it.
 
franz_grinder said:
I'm pretty fair about my skill level and most aspects of my game have huge holes that keep me up at night. But I could write you an essay on retaining guard and using the quarter,half, half butterly, butterfly etc. to maintain position.

PM me if your interested. I'd rather not start a forum post. Actually maybe I'll make a forum post on retaining guard in my own forum. It'll give me an excuse to lose the time it takes to write it.
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Your box is full. But dude you can def post any info you have on this thread.
 
Well, I'll share with you what I know... I don't know how advanced you are. This might seem elementary to you, but if not, this could be good advice.

- Certain submissions are very vulnerable to a guard pass. I find that armbars and triangles are very high-risk in comparison to a kimura or omoplata. I may be saying this because I have poor armbars and triangles, but I think they have a higher risk.

- If you don't allow them to posture up, they won't be able to work any guard passes.

- Attacking with various sweeps and submission attempts will keep them off-balance. A good defense is a good offense. If you keep throwing different things at them, they'll lose their aggression and will be conservative about passing.

- Open guard is more vulnerable to a pass than a closed guard. I think certain open guards such as the X-Guard, De la Riva guard are awesome for sweeps, but I find can be passed easier than a closed guard.

- I just want to say it again... Break their posture down. Posture and base is everything from top position.

If you already knew most of this, sorry... that's all I got.
 
marbowers said:
<object width="425" height="344"></object>
Penn rolling with Leo Vieira. I noticed he does this thing that our instructor makes us do as a warm up drill sometimes. If my opponent passes my guard on my left side I take my right leg, post it across his body and use it to realign myself. But I've never actually done it in trainging? Anyone had any success with it? Seems like your opponent could just hold the leg and pass on that side.
Click to expand...



I always did that instinctively. It makes him do the work...
 
rarmonio8920 said:
Well, I'll share with you what I know... I don't know how advanced you are. This might seem elementary to you, but if not, this could be good advice.

- Certain submissions are very vulnerable to a guard pass. I find that armbars and triangles are very high-risk in comparison to a kimura or omoplata. I may be saying this because I have poor armbars and triangles, but I think they have a higher risk.

- If you don't allow them to posture up, they won't be able to work any guard passes.

- Attacking with various sweeps and submission attempts will keep them off-balance. A good defense is a good offense. If you keep throwing different things at them, they'll lose their aggression and will be conservative about passing.

- Open guard is more vulnerable to a pass than a closed guard. I think certain open guards such as the X-Guard, De la Riva guard are awesome for sweeps, but I find can be passed easier than a closed guard.

- I just want to say it again... Break their posture down. Posture and base is everything from top position.

If you already knew most of this, sorry... that's all I got.
Click to expand...

Great tips!
 
I have some pointers that might prove helpful.

- When your opponent drives into you make sure to pull your knees to your chest. That way you carry their weight on your legs, not on your chest. This makes defending your guard much less tiring. Knees to chest, frame with your arms, move your hips. 3-point mantra to defend the guard.

- You have to put them on the defensive. Unless there is a major discrepancy in your skill levels, YOU CANNOT SIMPLY PLAY GUARD RETENTION AND EXPECT TO DEFEND THE PASS FOREVER. Once you neutralize their pass attempt you must attack, attack, attack.

- Everybody emphasizes breaking your opponent's posture in closed guard, but no one really talks about breaking posture in open guard. I must tell you: it's the key to success with your open guard attacks. How do you break posture when playing open guard? Pull your opponent's upper body (eg with a collar and sleeve grip) while you push your opponent's lower body (put a lot of pressure on with the foot on the hip, push out their knees and thighs, breaking their balance -- you must do this EVERY chance you get).

- The infamous toreando pass: BREAK THEIR GRIPS. As soon as someone takes a knee grip, BREAK IT. Then IMMEDIATELY take an offensive grip on that arm. Yes, there are many other ways to counter the toreando pass after it has started. But you really, really don't want to wait that long. I know it's really cool and impressive to sort of lazily play guard, letting your opponent start any pass they want, then effortlessly moving into some simple, awesome counter. The truth is: just break the grip. Stop their pass attempt BEFORE it starts so that YOU can work your offense.
 
retaining guard is something which I think will always be a work in progress. I'm a blue belt and currently have reasonable success retaining an open guard with experienced whites and blues (one thing my instructor always says is use your feet and hands and your legs as arms) but against purples I really struggle, and I am sure the Purples are the same with browns etc.... my point is I don't think it's something which you can or can't do, but something will constantly develop and improve.
 
masada555 said:
- The infamous toreando pass: BREAK THEIR GRIPS. As soon as someone takes a knee grip, BREAK IT. Then IMMEDIATELY take an offensive grip on that arm. Yes, there are many other ways to counter the toreando pass after it has started. But you really, really don't want to wait that long. I know it's really cool and impressive to sort of lazily play guard, letting your opponent start any pass they want, then effortlessly moving into some simple, awesome counter. The truth is: just break the grip. Stop their pass attempt BEFORE it starts so that YOU can work your offense.
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Any tips on breaking the grips?
 
I had 2 moments of clarity that really changed my guard game for me. Especially when I combined them.

1. Shrimping is awesome. If you can keep a grip on his sleeve while shrimping you can make him constantly have to flail to keep up with you.

2. Combine Shrimping with constantly attempting to sweep them. This makes for a really good basic guard game.
 
1.Always look to break your opponents posture and base.
2. Face your opponent and keep your legs and arms between you and him.
3. Watch out for footlocks.
 
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