Passing the guard is one of the most difficult things to do in all of grappling. Against anyone who is even close to your own skill level it can be a real battle!
But there’s one simple thing you can do to make it MUCH easier.
Ready? Here’s the secret…
Begin your guard pass IMMEDIATELY after you sweep or throw your opponent!
Don’t sweep and then back out to reset your grips – it’ll just give your opponent a chance to get his own grips.
Don’t pause to congratulate yourself for a successful throw and allow your opponent to lock you in his favorite guard.
Instead continue to go HARD for a few seconds longer to pass the guard and then catch your breath when you get to a dominant position like side control.
To sweep your opponent you probably had to have some pretty dominant grips, right?
Well, use those grips and drive on through to victory!
I’ve got a really good example of exactly how this works in real life for you today…
It’s the Margarita Pass which combines very well with the butt double reversal from butterfly guard which I also recently posted about.
Here’s the Margarita Pass broken down for you in video format, and then in step-by-step pictures taken from Nonstop Jiu-Jitsu, the book.
Step 1: Start with a cross collar grip with your right hand and controlling his right knee with your left hand. Your right knee is up and your left knee is down.
Step 2: Maintain your grips and post up on your left foot.
Step 3: Drive your right knee forward onto the middle of his chest.
Step 4: Maintaining your grips now cut your right knee sideways down to the floor.
Step 5: Let go of his pants and grab his left shoulder with your left hand to set up the x-choke position.
Step 6: As he defends the choke with his hands slide your knee down and away from him. Your hips should slide towards the mat and block his legs.
Step 7: Continue to slide your knee down and let your hips hit the floor to pass the guard while continuing to attack his neck.
Step 8: Keep on choking as you begin to turn your hips towards him.
Step 9: Square your hips up in side control and finish the choke.
The takehome message is this: don’t rest on your laurels too soon. Continue working hard for a few more
seconds after a sweep or a throw, taking advantage of your grips and the momentum, and then rest only AFTER you get to a dominant position.
Cheers,
Stephan
P.S. The pictures in this article come from the Nonstop Jiu-Jitsu book that Brandon and I recently released. It is available on Amazon.com – click here to check it out!
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