Closed Guard Passing Playbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "Stuck in Closed Guard." Print it. The article gives the order: posture, grips, stand, open, pass. This book drills each stage until the order runs without thinking, and prints the checks t…
| Art | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
|---|---|
| Family | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Level | beginner |
| Format | playbook |
| Topics | groundwork, fundamentals |
Mat Manual companion guide to "Stuck in Closed Guard." Print it. The article gives the order: posture, grips, stand, open, pass. This book drills each stage until the order runs without thinking, and prints the checks that tell you a stage is yours.
Name: ______________________________ Academy: ______________________________ Coach: ______________________________
SAFETY, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE ☐ Tap early to triangles and armbars in every drill in this book. Posture training puts your neck and arms in reach on purpose; the tap is how the drill stays training. ☐ When you stand in a partner's guard, their head and neck are your responsibility. If you lose your balance, fall away from them, never onto them. ☐ No scissoring a standing partner's knee, no grabbing fingers, no small-joint manipulation, ever, in any drill here. Grip strips are done on the hand and wrist, never the fingers. ☐ Standing work starts on a cooperative partner and adds resistance in the stages printed. Nobody's first standing opening is done against a partner trying to sweep them at full intent. ☐ A partner who says stop, taps the mat, or taps you ends the rep. The reset is immediate and the question of why waits.
The Order, on One Page
Tape this sequence to the inside of your head. Every failure in closed guard is a stage skipped or a stage lost.
| Stage | The job | The check | The reset signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Posture | Tall spine, head up, posts on his body, elbows inside his thighs | Partner's one-hand pull cannot bring your forehead to his chest | Forehead travels: sit back up, re-post, start the stage again |
| 2. Grips | Remove the collar grip and the sleeve grip on your posting arm | You hold two posts; he holds nothing that folds you | A grip you stripped is re-taken twice: slow down, strip with both hands, re-post |
| 3. Stand | Staggered stance, hips back, posture tall, one of his arms or his torso controlled | You can stand for a three-count without your weight tipping over him | Weight tips forward: sit back to posture before a sweep does it for you |
| 4. Open | Knee wedged to his tailbone, legs open under control | Guard opens while your posture is still yours | Guard closes again with you kneeling and grip-less: return to Stage 1 |
| 5. Combat base | Knee up between his legs, hands controlling his legs | You hold combat base against his pushing for a five-count | You are kneeling upright admiring the opening: the stage was skipped |
| 6. Pass | One pass, committed: the knee cut is this book's reference | Side control held three seconds, chest to chest | You opened the guard three times and passed zero: the problem is this stage's commitment, not the opening |
Closed Guard Passing Playbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "Stuck in Closed Guard." Print it. The article gives the order: posture, grips, stand, open, pass. This book drills each stage until the order runs without thinking, and prints the checks that tell you a stage is yours.
What's Inside
- The Order, on One Page
- Stage 1 Drills: Posture That Survives Contact
- Stage 2 Drills: The Grip Strips
- Stage 3 Drills: Standing Without Being Swept
- Stage 4 Drills: The Opening and Combat Base
- Stage 5: The Reference Pass, the Knee Cut
- …and 20 more sections
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Free companion article: Stuck in Closed Guard — the full article, free in full.
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