Closed Guard

What it is

Closed guard is the position where you lie on your back with your ankles locked behind your opponent's waist. Your legs own their hips and their posture, so you can sweep and submit while most of their attacks are shut off. The whole position is a fight over posture: they want to sit upright, you want them bent down onto your chest.

What you want from here

• On bottom: break their posture, control an arm or the head, then attack with armbars, triangles, chokes and sweeps.
• On bottom: you need a safe place to rest and reset after a scramble or a failed sweep.
• On top: stay upright, keep your elbows tight, and open the guard with good posture before you try to pass.
• On top: never try to pass or attack until your posture is back; everything from the bottom starts with breaking it.

Key details

• Ankles crossed and knees squeezing. Your legs should pull their hips toward you, not just hang there.
• Grips before attacks. Control a sleeve, a collar, a wrist or the head first, then the sweep or submission appears.
• Hips off the mat. Angle your hips and climb your legs higher when you attack, so your legs reach their shoulders.
• On top, head above your hips and hands on their hips or chest. Posture is your armor.
• On top, knees wide and elbows inside your knees. Elbows out are handles for the bottom player.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: on the bottom, lying flat and holding the guard closed with no grips. They stand up and pass at leisure.
• Mistake: on the bottom, opening your guard to attack before you have broken their posture. They pass the moment your feet leave each other.
• Mistake: on top, bending forward with your head low. Their arms wrap your head and the triangle or the sweep follows.
• Mistake: on top, putting both hands on the mat. Your arms are stretched out and the kimura or the armbar arrives.

How it is escaped or passed

• Standing to open the guard, then passing with a knee cut or a leg drag.
• Posture and a push on the chest or hips to open the locked ankles from the knees.
• Pinning one knee to the mat (the knee pin) and sliding the hips past it.