Closed guard: standing opponent
Learn what to do when the other person stands up in your closed guard. Their base becomes your target, with sweeps and submissions they walk into.
Attack as they stand
Many passers stand up to open your closed guard. One foot up and one knee down is their weakest moment.
Pull with your legs and pull the hand off your chest. Swing your hips to pull them off balance. Make every step hard for them.
The hip push sweep
Use it when they stand tall and square: knees straight, feet side by side.
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They stand up in your closed guard, with their knees straight. Double-Ankle Sweep in the library ›
- Open the guard and put both feet on their hips.
- Grip behind both of their heels.
- Push their hips with your legs as you pull the heels.
- Do a technical stand-up into them and come up on top.
Technical stand-up: you post a hand and a foot and stand up safely, facing them.
The underhook sweep
Use it when they stand with one foot forward, knees bent, most of the weight on the front leg.
- Open and come up onto the far elbow.
- Wrap the front leg above the knee with your free arm.
- Drive your shoulder into the thigh, hips forward.
- Keep the leg as they fall and come up on top.
Their right foot is forward, on your left side. You wrap their right leg with your left arm. You come up on your right elbow.
Rollout: if they drop their hips and lean forward over you, keep the leg and roll back over your shoulder. Their drive carries them over.
Guillotine and kimura traps
| What they do | Your attack |
|---|---|
| Bend forward, head below their hips | Guillotine with the guard closed |
| Post a straight arm on your chest, wrist close | Kimura: sit up, figure four, move your hips out |
Figure four: one hand holds their wrist. Your other arm goes over their arm and grips your own wrist.
Which standing picture fits the hip push sweep best?
When one sweep fails
- Hip push stopped by a step back: underhook sweep on the front leg.
- Underhook sweep stopped by weight forward: rollout.
- Kimura stopped by pulling the arm and standing tall: hip push sweep.
You push their hips, but they step one foot back and lean on the front leg. That front leg now carries their weight. You wrap it and drive for the underhook sweep.
Common mistakes
- Opening too late, after their base is set.
- Chasing an armbar on a standing opponent.
- Trying the hip push with no grip on the heels.
- Trying the underhook sweep while flat on your back.
- Thinking the closed guard is lost once they stand.
Train it on the Path
Reading is the first step. The Closed guard: standing opponent unit has 5 short lessons: you see a position and pick the best move.
Closed guard: standing opponent is part of the Purple belt, included in Rolla Plus. Start free with Foundations and the white belt.