Guard Passing
Guard passing is a skill set as much as a position. Rather than one pass per guard, strong passers build a system around a few control positions - headquarters, the body lock, the leg drag - and choose between speed (toreando, long step) and pressure (over-under, stack, smash) based on the opponent's reactions. Each variant below is one of those systems.
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Also called passing, passing guard, guard passes, passagem de guarda, how to pass guard.
Standing and Speed Passing
Passing on your feet by moving the legs faster than they can follow: toreando, leg drag, long step, X-pass and cartwheel.
- Standing Passing Concepts Distance, angle and grip principles for passing on your feet against seated and supine guards. 8
- Passes Toreando, long step, X-pass, cartwheel and stepping around the legs into side control or the leg drag. 15
- Handling Counters Staying safe from DLR, RDLR, SLX and X-guard entries while you pass on your feet. 2
Pressure Passing
Passing from the knees with weight and connection: over-under, stack, double under, smash and the knee cut.
- Pressure Passing Concepts How to be heavy, where to put your weight, and how to progress from the legs to the hips to the chest. 8
- Passes Over-under, stack, double under, smash and folding passes plus the knee cut from a kneeling start. 13
- Staying Safe Under Pressure Passing Head and arm position so pressure passing does not become a triangle, armbar or sweep. 3
Headquarters (HQ)
One knee up, one knee down, the opponent's leg pinned between yours. The hub that connects knee cut, leg drag, smash and backstep passes.
- Establishing HQ Stepping into HQ from standing, killing the hooks and controlling the trapped leg. 4
- Passes from HQ The knee cut, leg drag, smash and backstep options and how to choose based on the opponent's frames. 14
- Handling Guard Recovery from HQ Beating the knee shield, RDLR hook and inversion attempts that appear from HQ. 2
Body Lock Pass
Locking your arms around the opponent's waist from inside their guard and walking round their legs. The dominant modern no-gi pressure pass.
- Getting the Body Lock Entering from half guard, butterfly and open guard, and the grips that make the lock unbreakable. 4
- Finishing the Pass Walking round the knees, hip switching and finishing into side control, mount or the back. 5
- Defending the Body Lock For the bottom player: frames, hip movement and wrestling up to stop the body lock pass. 3
Leg Drag Position
One of the opponent's legs dragged across your hip and pinned. A passing position that leads straight to side control or the back.
- Leg Drag Control Entering the leg drag from standing and HQ, and pinning the leg so the opponent cannot recover. 3
- Finishing from the Leg Drag Finishing into side control, mount, or taking the back when the opponent turns away. 8
- Defending the Leg Drag For the bottom player: hip movement, frames and inversion to recover from a leg drag. 3