Purple belt curriculum

With survival and escapes in place, the guard becomes your home. Study the blue belt curriculum first.

1. Closed guard: kneeling opponent

Closed guard is the first guard most people learn, and every attack starts with breaking posture.

• Break their posture and keep it broken. Posture ›
• Attack the armbar. Armbar ›
• Attack the triangle. Triangle ›
• Chain to the cross collar choke. Gi only. Cross Collar Choke ›
• Do the hip bump sweep. Hip Bump Sweep ›
• Do the flower sweep. Flower Sweep ›

Read the Closed guard: kneeling opponent tutorial

2. Closed guard: standing opponent

When they stand to open your guard, their base becomes your target.

• Read their stance when they stand. Base ›
• Do the hip push sweep with both ankles. Double-Ankle Sweep ›
• Do the underhook sweep on one leg.
• Catch the guillotine when their head comes down. Guillotine ›
• Catch the kimura when they post a hand. Kimura ›

Read the Closed guard: standing opponent tutorial

3. Guard retention

A guard only helps you while you keep it.

• Keep hips, frames and knees between you and the pass. Frames ›
• Keep a connection at all times. Connection ›
• Defend the toreando pass. Toreando Pass ›
• Defend passes that go under or over your legs. Guard Retention and Recovery ›
• Attack straight from the defence. Omoplata ›

Read the Guard retention tutorial

4. Butterfly guard

Butterfly guard lets you sweep and get up when you sit close to them.

• Sit up with hooks in and chest close. Butterfly Guard ›
• Win the underhook. Underhook ›
• Do the butterfly sweep to the side of the arm you hold. Butterfly Sweep ›
• Arm drag to the back. Arm Drag ›
• Stand up when the sweep is not there. Technical Stand-Up ›

Read the Butterfly guard tutorial

5. Spider and cross-grip guard

Sleeve grips and feet on the arms keep a passer far away.

• Play spider guard: sleeves and feet on the biceps. Gi only. Spider Guard ›
• Use the cross grip: your right hand holds their right sleeve and pulls it across you. Grips ›
• Do the tripod sweep. Tripod Sweep ›
• Do the backroll sweep.
• In no-gi, use wrist and collar-tie control for the same sweeps. Gi vs No-Gi ›

Read the Spider and cross-grip guard tutorial

6. De la Riva and reverse De la Riva

These guards hook the front leg of a standing passer and take away their balance.

• Hook the outside of their front leg. De la Riva Guard ›
• Switch to the inside hook when they turn the knee in. Reverse De la Riva ›
• Do the rollover sweep.
• Do the knee push sweep. Reverse De la Riva ›

Read the De la Riva and reverse De la Riva tutorial

7. Sit-up guard

Sitting up lets you attack instead of lying back and waiting.

• Sit up with a post behind you and a grip in front. Sit-up Guard ›
• Do the classic roll sweep and the reverse roll sweep.
• Move to butterfly guard when they kneel close. Butterfly Guard ›
• Stand up when they back away. Technical Stand-Up ›

Read the Sit-up guard tutorial

8. Half guard

You will land in half guard often, so learn to play it on your side.

• Get off your back and onto your side. Half Guard ›
• Win the underhook. Underhook ›
• Use the knee shield to keep their weight off. Knee Shield ›
• Do the old school sweep. Old School Sweep ›
• Attack the kimura from half guard. Kimura ›
• Go to deep half guard to escape the crossface. Deep Half Guard ›

Read the Half guard tutorial