Guard retention
Learn how to keep your guard when someone tries to pass it. You use hips, frames and knees, then attack straight from the defence.
What guard retention means
Guard retention means keeping your knees and feet between your hips and their chest. A pass is finished when their chest lands past your legs.
Your hips and knees move first. Your hands only frame, to slow them down while your hips move.
Against the toreando
Toreando pass, also called the bullfighter pass: they grip your knees. They push your legs to one side and step around the other way.
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They stand over your open guard, ready to grip your knees and pass. Toreando Pass in the library ›
- Early: break the grips as soon as they land.
- If they drive forward with the head: collar drag them past you.
- If they stay upright: ankle pick the near leg.
- Late: turn to face them, knee across their hips, and hip escape.
Collar drag: you pull their collar or head so they fall past you. Ankle pick: you hold their ankle and push the other hip.
Hip escape: you move your hips away from them, also called a shrimp. Each step is harder than the one before, so take the earliest one you can.
They push your legs to your left and step toward your right. You turn onto your right hip to face them. Your left knee comes across their hips as a block.
Against under passes
Single under pass: one arm under one of your legs. They stack you, folding your hips over your shoulders, and walk around. Double under pass: both arms under your legs.
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You are stacked, with your hips folded up over your shoulders. Guard Passing in the library ›
Single under: before their shoulder gets under your knee, push their head down and across, and hip escape. Or swing that leg over their shoulder for the omoplata, a shoulder lock with your legs.
Double under: before your hips leave the mat, hook a leg over one arm. Grab the back of their belt or collar and roll them over that shoulder.
Against the knee cut pass
Knee cut pass, also called the knee slice: their knee slides across your thigh to the mat. They also reach for an underhook and a crossface, an arm across your face.
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Their knee has cut across your thigh, so frame and hip escape now. Guard Retention and Recovery in the library ›
- Bring your free knee across their hip as a knee shield.
- Frame with your forearm on their shoulder.
- Hip escape away from the cutting knee.
- Kick the pinned leg free and put a foot on their hip.
Which part of a pass is the easiest to stop?
Attack from the defence
| Their pass | Your attack |
|---|---|
| Single under, arm under your leg | Omoplata |
| Double under, hips still down | Roll them over the trapped shoulder |
| Toreando with the head forward | Collar drag to the back |
| Toreando standing upright | Ankle pick |
| A straight arm posted near your hip | Straight armlock |
They post a straight arm on the mat near your hip. You trap the wrist to your chest, put a foot on their hip and turn your hips in. Their elbow is clamped over your thigh.
Common mistakes
- Lying flat and fighting with the hands only.
- Pushing a leg down after their shoulder is already under it.
- Turning away from them during a knee cut.
- Lifting a leg high against the over-under pass (one arm over a leg, one under).
- Squeezing the knees too late, catching only a foot.
- Holding still when a pass is half done.
Train it on the Path
Reading is the first step. The Guard retention unit has 5 short lessons: you see a position and pick the best move.
Guard retention is part of the Purple belt, included in Rolla Plus. Start free with Foundations and the white belt.