Closed guard

Your legs are locked around their waist. Break their posture, then attack, sweep or take the back.

Closed & half guardFundamental
Lesson video · 1 of 42

BJJ for Beginners: Understanding the Closed Guard

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Essentials

Closed guard: Closed guard: legs locked around the waist of the kneeling opponent
You are the player underneath.MartialArtsNomad.com · CC BY 2.0 Source ↗

You’re on your back with your legs locked around their waist. It’s the first guard most people learn because it’s the most controlling: they can’t pass until they open your legs, and every attack you have starts from breaking their posture.

Your goals
  • Break their posture so their head comes below their hips
  • Control an arm and their head
  • Angle off to attack: sweeps, armbars, triangles, the back
What they want
  • Posture up tall with hands on your hips or chest
  • Stand or open your legs to start passing
Key principles
  • Pull with your legs, not just your arms
  • Never stay flat: angle your hips off to the side
Common mistakes
  • Lying flat and just holding on
  • Crossing your ankles low on their hips

Techniques to learn

Each one opens its own page and video.

Sweeps
Scissor sweepClosed guard · FundamentalHip bump sweepClosed guard · FundamentalFlower (pendulum) sweepClosed guard · FundamentalOmoplata sweepClosed guard · IntermediateLumberjack sweepClosed guard · Fundamental
Passes & back takes
Kimura trap back takeBack take · IntermediateArm drag to the back (guard)Back take · Fundamental
Submissions
Triangle (Sankaku Jime)Choke · FundamentalGuillotineChoke · FundamentalCross choke (Juji Jime)Choke · FundamentalArmbar (Juji Gatame)Armlock · FundamentalKimura (Gyaku Ude Garami)Shoulder lock · FundamentalOmoplataShoulder lock · IntermediateWristlockWrist lock · IntermediateTarikoplataShoulder lock · AdvancedMir lockShoulder lock · IntermediateBicep slicerArmlock · AdvancedChoi barArmlock · AdvancedBaratoplataShoulder lock · Advanced

Where it leads

Other side
Closed guard (top)
Moves from here
Butterfly guardSeated open guardHalf guardSide control (Yoko Shiho Gatame)Mount (Tate Shiho Gatame)Back controlRubber guard
Escapes
Escape the triangleEscape the armbarEscape the kimuraEscape the cross chokeEscape the omoplataEscape the guillotine
In courses
Foundations II: Closed guard
Seminars

If this happens…

  1. they sit back on their heels with hands on your beltPull with your knees first, then pull their collar or head down
  2. they post a hand on the mat to keep balanceThat arm is now a kimura or a hip bump sweep

Seminars

All seminars →

Longer seminars, classes and masterclasses that teach this. Free on YouTube.

Full seminarBothSubmissions

Guillotine Seminar

Cody Maltais

Covers the guillotine, which starts here

Cody Maltais' guillotine seminar, published by the academy.

YouTube ↗
Full seminarTopSubmissions

Armbar Mastery Seminar

Rener and Ryron Gracie

Covers the armbar, which starts here

Rener and Ryron Gracie's live armbar seminar on the Gracie Breakdown channel.

YouTube ↗
Class recordingTopSubmissions

Quick Kills

Daniel Bertina

Covers the armbar, which starts here

Daniel Bertina (Carlson Gracie Team) teaches four quick finishes: Russian two-on-one to a rolling reverse kimura, lapel drag and arm drag to the bow and arrow choke, and an outer reap straight into an armbar.

YouTube ↗
Full seminarBothSubmissions

Kimura Trap Proficiency

Knight Jiu-Jitsu

Covers the kimura, which starts here

A full seminar on the kimura trap: setups, entries, control and transitions.

YouTube ↗
Full seminarBothSubmissions

Kimura Seminar

Timothy Lee Peterson

Covers the kimura, which starts here

Timothy Lee Peterson's kimura seminar from February 2020, on his own channel.

YouTube ↗
Advanced detailsTransitions, threats, reactions, troubleshooting and a sparring drill

1. Overview

Your legs are locked around their waist. Break their posture, then attack, sweep or take the back.

Key controls

  • Head and one arm controlled
  • Ankles crossed high on their back
  • Hips mobile, never flat

In this position

7 transitions · 5 sweeps · 12 submissions · 3 reactions · 3 troubleshooting fixes · 1 sparring exercise · 10 techniques

Read about itGrapplearts articlesBJJ Heroes

Finish this lesson

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Test yourselfClosed guard lesson quiz5 questions · pass with 4