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6 Mat Tips to Improve Your Closed Guard Attacks (Part 2)!

Author: Paul Greenhill
Date Posted: November 26, 2008

In the last Wise Grappler Ezine, I wrote about the first 3 mat tips necessary to improve your closed guard. In this ezine article, I want to cover the remaining 3 mat tips for improving your closed guard:

Tip #4: Your hands must always be making controlling contact with your opponent at all times while they're in your guard - Too often doing a grappling match, a grappler will be holding on to his opponent and, once fatigue starts to settle in during the match, the grappler will let go of his grip and do something like put his hand behind his head or sit up on an elbow without executing any kind of technique. If you break contact with your opponent so that you can sit up to breathe or give your hand a rest because it's tight from gripping so hard, how are you going to stop them from passing your guard? You won't!

Tip #5: Learn to dictate your opponent's bodyweight and base by the way you "drive their head" - Everyone has heard at one time or another to grab your opponent's head and pull it down to your chest. But rarely do you hear what to do next. Most times, grapplers will pull their opponent forward by grabbing their head and pulling it to their chest, waiting for your opponent to free their head and hoping they create space for you to sit up once they re-establish their base. That's possible, but requires a reflexive action to take advantage of during that transition which may be difficult to execute at the right time, especially when you're fatigued during a match. But what if you steered your opponent's head by grabbing the back of your opponent's heard and turning it like you would turn the steering wheel on a car? You would force your opponent to break his own base by crossing his centerline while trying to free their head, making it easier for you to sweep to one side of their body (due to putting too much weight on one side) while creating space on the other side that would enable you to maneuver from underneath them.

Tip #6: Transition from closed to open guard BEFORE your opponent's breaks your guard AND attack immediately - Most grapplers have heard that you shouldn't wait until your guard is broken before you move to the next position (which tends to be open guard), but the problem is the fact that many grapplers do absolutely nothing immediately after making the transition. Transitioning from closed to open guard should give you the ability stay one step ahead of your opponent while attacking them from a position since they haven't made the full adjustment to dealing with since they're still concentrating on opening your legs or maintaining their posture.

And there you have the remaining three tips that should improve your guard attacks. Make sure that you practice these steps often and don't get discouraged if your guard is passed while trying to perfect these tactics. With patience and persistence, you'll have one of the most feared closed guard attacks at your academy.

About The Author

Paul M. Greenhill, "The Wise Grappler", is the creator of The Wise Grappler System, OG Shadow Grappling http://www.OGShadowGrappling.com and author of The Wise Grappler Ezine, a weekly ezine that provides grappling and mental mindset training tips and products for the older (over 30) and non-traditional/non-competitive martial artists of all ages. To learn more about "The Wise Grappler" and to sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit his site at http://www.thewisegrappler.com

(c) 2008 Paul M. Greenhill

Article Source: JKD Street Combat - online collection of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu articles.

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