Tip of the Day: Breaking Guard

[flyingknee16]

I noticed there are posts that still pop up every now and then how to break the guard. I figured that there are still lots of people who are having trouble regularly breaking guard when they spar, so I decided to share my techniques that have always worked for me in successfully breaking my opponent's guards. More experienced grapplers will probably know these tips already, so just ignore them if they don't work for you or you already are aware of them.

I only do no gi jiu jitsu so I don't know the success of this one in gi jiu jitsu. Here goes.

The first break that I always try is one I learned off Mario Sperry's Submission Grappling DVDs. You start off with the fundamentals of many good guard passes: Having a good base, postured up in your opponent's guards. Next, place your left hand down on the neck of your opponent, with the space between your thumb and finger covering the neck (almost like you're choking). You do not necessarily have to push down HARD, but it should be enough so that you put pressure on him while you're basing yourself. Now I know you're thinking, "you're crazy, you're gonna get armbarred," but listen on. Then take your right hand and push down on the side of your opponent's left leg that is directly adjacent to his knee . . . not the kneecap, but the side of the knee that is exposed upwards, so that you're basically pushing down and loosening/breaking the guard. Push down as hard as you can and you'll eventually loosen up something or break the guard.

Now, you should be weary that any good jiu jitsu specialist will see the green light to go for either an armbar or triangle choke. For the armbar, they'll probably try to armbar the arm that is pushing down on the neck. All you have to do, however, is just move with them when they try to do the armbar. So if they try to armbar your left arm, move your body with your opponent to the left so that the armbar fails. As for the triangle, they will try to throw their leg over your shoulder on the same side as the arm that is pushing down on the side of the knee (to loosen up the guard). Just be aware of this and be sure to POSTURE as soon as this happens . . . by then you've also successfully opened the guard, since when they either go for the triangle or armbar, they'll open up.

More tips . . . if they push your arm off that is on the neck, switch your grip on their neck with your other arm and push down on their leg with the other hand. You can continue to keep switching like this until you succeed, or try a different breaking technique.

This is a great guard break, and if it doesn't work, you can/should always mix it up with other guard breaks to keep your opponent defending.

Comments?

 

[DonkeyKong]

Seems interesting. Im scared shitless of that armbar, and I dont know how legal choking with your hands is, but Im eager to try anything that might help me. thanks.
I was actually looking for some guard breaks as you typed this.
got any more? I could really use them

 

[Brendon Katz]

sounds good , i wanna give this a try. what bout grabbin the throat with the knee in the butt and the other leg bak guard opener?

 

[Bmonk**]

Now I know you're thinking, "you're crazy, you're gonna get armbarred," but listen on.

The funny thing is that is actually what I was thinking.

 

[knoxpk]

guard break thats safe and has worked for me on most every closed guard.
Assume the correct base, then with both of your hands you grab the belt(or press down on the belly or even grab the top of the shorts) lever your self away in a pushing type motion while getting one leg back and one leg in his tailbone. sometimes this alone break there guard but if the fight it you can use the points of your elbows to dig into the opponents thigh at the saem time.
I hope I described it well.

 

[triso]

I use this form of posture constantly to open the legs of my opponent.

You place your hands in a fist shape (with the thumb out) in the area of your opponent

 

[paulchu]

triso - right on the button. that's the best way to do it. if you posture up right and, it will squeeze one leg, making it uncomfortable or even painful. and the elbow to the charlie horse muscle will def break the grip if you dig it in. what you could add to that is to put a stiff crooked hand on his waist and use that as a fulcrum which will make the digging elbow that much more painful.

 

[TheHighlander]

The most reliable way to break guard is to stand up. If he tries to sweep you he will need to open his guard. Either pass from standing or drop back down and you're in open guard.

 

[Brendon Katz]

The most reliable way to break guard is to stand up. If he tries to sweep you he will need to open his guard. Either pass from standing or drop back down and you're in open guard.

theres that sweep where u underhook the leg with the same side arm and then pivot towards that leg .. no wat i mean ? u dont need to open ur guard to do that . i agree with u tho , i stand up in the guard whenever i can.

 

[El Tiburon]

I will try it tonight. I will post the results after class.

 

[Ybot]

For gi guys you can try this...

-Grab both of your opponent's lapels, on in each hand, your thumbs towards you. Grab them about center chest.
-Take one (in this case your right hand) and slide the lapel across their throat like your going to punch the mat next to your opponents right ear. At the same time stand up with your legs (Mark Kerr style) bringing all your weight into play, and pull on the lapel you are holding with your left hand.
-When done well the only way they can really defend (if they are equal size or smaller) is to open the guard push away with their legs or knees and pull the choak off with both hands. As soon as the guard opens psoture immediately.

-If they are strong and are able to pull the choak off with their strength without opening their guard, just switch the choak now attacking with the left hand. You can switch back and forth.

I usually use this to open the guard, but a lot of noobs will panic and tap to this too. If they do, show them the defence so next time you can work your pass.

 

[DirectDrive]

when soeone is working a closed guard they are either stalling and won't be too hard to pass or they ar good closed guard player and they are going to start working a high guard pretty quick. when people tart working a high tight gard i like to use the kne through pass.
place your hands on their biceps, to stop them from doing a ckick sweep, and then stand up.
circile a knee into the middle of their butt and sit down.
grab their belt and drive your forearms down onto their thighs while sitting down.
the pressue will break their guar and will leave you sitting in their guard with a knee up so they can't close their guard again.

 

[Rai_Polo]

Good thread, advice from Marcus Soares at our last seminar, "when breekin d gaud, keep d elbows in tight." Great advice, keeps you from Getting subbed in the process. Thanks Marcus.

 

[BulldogSIX]

Here's one we learned in class. Similar to the others but a little different.

Maintain good posture. With both hands prevent the opponent from sitting up by pressing down on his abdomen (you can hold the belt if wearing a gi). Ensure you keep your elbows in tight. Slide one knee into the center of your opponents butt. Slide the other knee out and to the side to maintain your base. Release one hand and press down on the knee while pushing back with your knee and back. Do this until his guard opens. When he opens his guard press the knee to the floor and slide your same side knee over it trapping it on the floor. With the arm that is still holding the opponent down pummel it under his arm and back keeping yourself low moving forward over his upper body and assume side control.

 

[krait]

Whats a good way to break guard that is a body triangle not the standard crossed feet. I've recently started rolling and there is one guy that is shorter than me and as soon as he gets me in guard he puts me in a body triangle. He's real stocky and shorter than me. So once he locks his knee over his foot its really tight. As soon as I reach back with one hand to lift the leg and push down with my other elbow on th crossing leg he reaches up and neck cranks me. The neck crank is easy to get rid of but I'm still stuck. But a couple of times I've had my head out to far gotten caught in a guillotine and had to tap. Should I just stack him up and lean him since I'm bigger to get him tired, or is there a bettter way?

This is no gi by the way.

 

[Cynic]

With gi :
Good psture, grab opponents sleeve and bring his hand down to his belt, grab his belt also so that you have his belt and sleeve in the same grip.
With your back straight stand up starting with the leg that is on the same side as the hand you grabbed of him. Do not stand up side ways but rather post your foot near his rib cage. Post up with your other foot straight back use your free hand to open his feet behind you and pass.

 

[krait]

With gi :
Good psture, grab opponents sleeve and bring his hand down to his belt, grab his belt also so that you have his belt and sleeve in the same grip.
With your back straight stand up starting with the leg that is on the same side as the hand you grabbed of him. Do not stand up side ways but rather post your foot near his rib cage. Post up with your other foot straight back use your free hand to open his feet behind you and pass.

Thanks for the response .

But we are doing No Gi. So i can't pin his hand at his waist. Any one have a technique that works in No Gi. Or should I just stick to stacking and tiring him out. My problem is I get impatient and do something stupid and usually get caught. I just get stuck in there and feel like I should at least be trying to do something besides leaning on the guy.

 

[Jimmy Cerra]

triso - right on the button. that's the best way to do it. if you posture up right and, it will squeeze one leg, making it uncomfortable or even painful. and the elbow to the charlie horse muscle will def break the grip if you dig it in. what you could add to that is to put a stiff crooked hand on his waist and use that as a fulcrum which will make the digging elbow that much more painful.

Digging your elbow into his legs is very bad technique!!! It takes too much power and sets your up for being broken down easily in most cases!

 

[skinny_dan]

It depends on who you roll with, I roll with some dudes who have strong legs and it makes it very difficult to break their guard especially when they are working on breaking your posture (peeling arms out etc.)

I don't know if this is a valid technique, but this sometimes works for me. I get enough space and bring my knee up, so I am resting on my leg and my foot, and inside their guard one of my knees is pointing up. From here I try and work a knee through guard pass (gotta watch out for being swept). Important to control the hips (well that is a fundamental anyway), and keep the elbows in to avoid being triangled.

Remember that sometimes you gotta wait for them to attack before you can pass guard.

 

[kishiro]

i use the log spliter