Guard pass compilation

**UpaLumpa** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:02pm

Recently my grappling has become somewhat stagnant for a variety of reasons. One part is that I have been very, very successful with only a small repertoire of passing methods (basically only off of an under one leg approach). As always happens my training partners have begun to get wise to my methods which is resulting in a lot of time sitting in their guard and not a lot of time actually improving position. My methods still work on the purples but I'm not passing the browns like I used to.

My passing specialization has actually gone so far that I can barely even think of alternative passing methods, hence this thread. Please add instructional footage of passes that you've had success with or just quality passing instructionals. One I plan to start working tonight is a no-posture pass described very well here:
http://www.aesopian.com/403/the-no-posture-pass/

Sorry if this sort of thread (I think its more than a blue belt level?) should be in the basic forum; please put it wherever appropriate.

**UpaLumpa** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:17pm

To try and help others, I'll try and describe what is one of my money passes. I suck at textually describing things though.

Starting out in someone's guard I'll get a strong grip on their pants similar to as is shown here:

Except higher up, closer to their waist band. I then pin my elbow to the ground which kills their hips and keeps one of their legs pinned which keeps me out of danger from triangles. I'd also be in closer on them otherwise they may be able to pull out releasing the pin and creating the opportunity for an inverted triangle or other assorted silliness. With that grip I have a variety of options that are all highly effective for me. One that works quite well comes when they bring the free leg up higher, sometimes to where they're trying to triangle me. Even if the leg is only half way up to there what is very effective is to baseball slide under, keeping really low. As I come around I'll keep the grip and if possible also trap the leg I slid under between my shoulder and my head. From there I switch my hips and under hook their head with my free arm. I often also keep the grip (which now is basically me holding the front of their pants with my arm between their legs) and use that to turn their hips and square their shoulders to the mat and turn their hips away from me which makes taking mount or knee on belly easy.

Sorry I suck at describing things but I'm happy to clarify.

**Kokujin** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:20pm

Hell...I seem to have the same problem. In my case it's not a matter of people knowing what I'm going to do, it's a matter of size. I'm way bigger then most people in my gym, at least at the hour when I practice. So it's a matter of using one or two of my favorite guard passes and see their legs opening up like a...well you know what I mean.

YouTube - Alliance Jiu Jitsu Cobrinha Guard Pass
This is a good one for those guys like me that love the spider guard.

**Kokujin** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:23pm

What you were describing...is it something like this?

YouTube - Alliance Jiu Jiutsu Open guard pass

**Zapruder** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:42pm

Do you happen to have any footage of you rolling? How are the browns stuffing your pass? It will probably be easier to just "combinate" a pass or two together than anything else.

**1point2** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:45pm

Tim Cartmell ( Shen Wu founder, CMA lineage holder, BJJ BB, Tim Cartmell? - No BS MMA and Martial Arts ) and Ed Beneville wrote and self-published the excellent Passing the Guard: http://www.budovideos.com/shop/custo...45&cat=&page=1 and http://www.grapplingarts.net/passingguard/about.html and Amazon.com: Passing the Guard: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Details and Techniques (Revised and Expanded Second Edition) (9780972109765): Ed Beneville, Tim Cartmell: Books

He just came out with a revised and expanded 2nd edition of Volume 1 (volumes 2 and 3 are about the guard itself, not passing; I liked Volume 2 much much less than volume 1, but my opinion means white-belt-jack-****) which I can't speak for, but the original is widely known as awesome.

**UpaLumpa** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:52pm

Kokujin, No, I like that pass though. It will be interesting to see how the basic premise works from other spots.

Zap,
Lots of it is head control as well as being able to anticipate it. The problem with simply building off of what I already do is that's how I ended up where I'm at. Double under passes -> paper cutter pass -> weird baseball slide pass. That whole family is where I've specialized and since there are similar principles involved in all I think it would be beneficial to diversify.

Also, there's pretty much no footage of me rolling (youtube has my first white belt tournament from 2004 as well as a purple belt match from last fall when I only went to the tournament to run a scorers table and the organizers asked me to compete to fill out a weight class despite not having trained in a month).

1point2, Yeah, I have heard really good things about the passing the guard book. I'll pick it up when it shows up on amazon.

**Asriel** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 3:56pm

I second the Ed Beneville book. I have it and it's an excellent resource

**Ryno** · Posted On: 8/03/2009 4:04pm

I've been screwing around with the no-posture pass and need a hell of a lot more practice, but I think it has a ton of potential for me. I've been struggling against lighter guys who play really quickly from the bottom. The no-posture pass let's me use my weight to slow them down and be a lot more methodical rather than the quick act-and-react game that can sometime happen when I posture up but can't get good grips. I've been hitting the pass on less experienced folks, but it's still a work in progress against senior guys.