Open Guard Starter Playbook: Connection First, Three Starters, and a Planned Way Back

Mat Manual companion guide to "How to Start Open Guard Without Getting Passed." Print it. The article teaches connection before position. This book installs it: guard safety first, connection as a gated habit, the three distance zones trained as named rounds, three starter guards built in order (feet on hips, collar and sleeve, de la Riva-lite), first threats at beginner scope, danger-zone recovery and the re-close as a scored skill, positional games, and trackers that log every loss by zone until your open guard stops being a starting line for passers.

Name: ______________________________ Academy: ______________________________ Belt: ______________ Primary starter: ______________________________ Grip hand (stronger): L / R

SAFETY, BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE — OPEN GUARD RULES ☐ Falling standard: work against standing passers happens on clear mats, and a bottom player who is lifted or unbalanced calls the reset rather than riding a fall. No throws are improvised out of guard pictures in this book. ☐ Tap rules apply in every positional game: a guard picture that becomes a leg entanglement or submission follows normal tap and release rules instantly (beginner leg rules per your coach and room policy). ☐ Neck protection: no starter in this book requires inversion or rolling over the head. De la Riva work here is the light version only (Part 8); advanced entries are coach-gated and outside this playbook. ☐ Grip safety: fingers stay out of sleeves and collars in the prohibited ways of your ruleset; grips are stripped by technique, never by wrenching a partner's fingers. ☐ Knee care: feet placed on hips and biceps are pushed off by technique, not kicked off; any knee or ankle complaint in a leg picture ends the rep.

Part 1: Open Guard Scoring — How This Book Measures a Starter Guard

Passes prevented flatter. Connection time tells the truth. Every game in this book scores the guard's foundations first.