If I said that I could provide you with 6 simple tips that could
make your closed guard more threatening to your opponents, would
you be interested? If you’re a grappling nut like I am, the answer
is yes! But I have to warn you, the tips that I’m going to provide
you aren’t anything profound like discovering a cure for the common
cold. And yet while these tips may seem basic, they could mean the
difference in you controlling and submitting your opponent or just
waiting for your guard to break down before you get hammered.
Here are Tips 1-3 for improving your closed guard:
Tip #1: Don’t allow your opponent to get their grips – When
grappler are sparring and they start out in the guard position, all
too often I see the grappler on the bottom allowing the grappler
inside their guard to get their grips first. Whenever you allow your
opponent that’s trying to pass to your guard to get their grips
first, you give them an advantage over you that will enable them to
pass your guard. You need to attack their grips and force them to
deal with you tying them up instead of passing your guard.
Tip #2: Keep your opponents head in front of their hips – Someone
may be asking right now how I’m supposed to make that happen while
sparring. You do that by forcing your opponent to keep leaning
forward in bad posture and not allowing them to sit back trying to
get correct posture. The easiest way to do that is by pulling your
opponent forward off his base by bringing your knees towards your
head while keeping your heels pressed down on their lower back. You
should do that along with pulling down on their head while keeping
them from establishing their grips (Tip #1). If your opponent can’t
keep good posture, it’s highly unlikely they’ll be able to pass
your guard.
Tip #3: Try to get into your opponent’s “blind spot” by using angle
attacks – Whenever you start with your opponent in your guard and
you’re aligned or parallel with each other (as if your opponent
could lean forward and head butt you with ease), your opponent has
you in their full vision. But once you start breaking down their
posture while scooting out your hips off their centerline
(requiring them to have to turn their head to keep you in full
view), you’re in their “blind spot” and that makes re-establishing
their body alignment more important than trying to pass your guard
because they’re vulnerable to sweeps and submissions.
Apply these three tips and you should notice that your opponents
will find your guard more difficult to pass as well as providing
you more opportunities to set them up for your favorite attacks.
In the next article, I will reveal Tips 4-6 for improving your
closed guard.
The other day, I was having a conversation with one of my students and he wanted to know what gave me the idea of using a folding chair to demonstrate and teach the proper posture for the “Bullfighter” Guard Pass (as he saw in on the OG Clinic DVD) since he had never seen anyone use furniture to teach a grappling concept before. I told him the reason I was able to use the chair to successfully teach the concept of proper body placement and weight distribution was based solely on the fact that no one ever told me that I couldn’t use a folding chair to teach my students. And since no one told me I couldn’t use a chair (or anything else that comes to mind), my teaching was bound ONLY by my creativity.
The motivation for using the chair was to teach my students the proper hand positioning and to show them where the weight should be distributed to neutralize their opponent while doing the pass. The reason I used the folding chair was the fact that they’re light and mobile, which allows me to put several on the mat at one time to create a unique drill for the students that immediately catches their attention and presents them with a simple training tool that most of them have in their homes and workspaces. Once they put their hands on the chair in the proper position, the feeling they feel in their hands lets them know exactly where the weight is being distributed and if their feet and hips are properly positioned for successfully neutralize their opponent for a successful guard pass.
The whole idea of using a folding chair seems so foreign to many grapplers (of all experience levels and ranks), but that’s one of the reasons that so many grapplers can’t improve outside the traditional setting or without black belt level instruction. They lack the imagination and creativity required to help them learn, understand, and to teach grappling techniques and concepts outside of the traditional setting that you see in lots of training academies, grappling books, and instructional DVDs.
Would I consider myself an innovative genius for using chairs (among other things) as training props? Well…yes and no! I am innovative because I haven’t seen anyone else doing it and no one’s accused me of stealing it from someone else…yet! At the same time, I know that I don’t own the patent on training creativity and quite certain that there are TONS of non-traditional training methods being used in gyms around the world that teach grappling concepts that are unknown to the masses.
THAT’S what I consider “thinking outside the box” in grappling. So, if you’ve got some “crazy” idea that helps you or your students understand a grappling principle, keep up the good work and continue to think outside the box. And if you think using a folding chair as a guard passing training tool was cool, wait until you see how I use a stationary bike seat and an umbrella in my OG Shadow Grappling DVD, which will be available within the month!
The other day, I was having a conversation with one of my students and he wanted to know what gave me the idea of using a folding chair to demonstrate and teach the proper posture for the “Bullfighter” Guard Pass (as he saw in on the OG Clinic DVD) since he had never seen anyone use furniture to teach a grappling concept before. I told him the reason I was able to use the chair to successfully teach the concept of proper body placement and weight distribution was based solely on the fact that no one ever told me that I couldn’t use a folding chair to teach my students. And since no one told me I couldn’t use a chair (or anything else that comes to mind), my teaching was bound ONLY by my creativity.
The motivation for using the chair was to teach my students the proper hand positioning and to show them where the weight should be distributed to neutralize their opponent while doing the pass. The reason I used the folding chair was the fact that they’re light and mobile, which allows me to put several on the mat at one time to create a unique drill for the students that immediately catches their attention and presents them with a simple training tool that most of them have in their homes and workspaces. Once they put their hands on the chair in the proper position, the feeling they feel in their hands lets them know exactly where the weight is being distributed and if their feet and hips are properly positioned for successfully neutralize their opponent for a successful guard pass.
The whole idea of using a folding chair seems so foreign to many grapplers (of all experience levels and ranks), but that’s one of the reasons that so many grapplers can’t improve outside the traditional setting or without black belt level instruction. They lack the imagination and creativity required to help them learn, understand, and to teach grappling techniques and concepts outside of the traditional setting that you see in lots of training academies, grappling books, and instructional DVDs.
Would I consider myself an innovative genius for using chairs (among other things) as training props? Well…yes and no! I am innovative because I haven’t seen anyone else doing it and no one’s accused me of stealing it from someone else…yet! At the same time, I know that I don’t own the patent on training creativity and quite certain that there are TONS of non-traditional training methods being used in gyms around the world that teach grappling concepts that are unknown to the masses.
THAT’S what I consider “thinking outside the box” in grappling. So, if you’ve got some “crazy” idea that helps you or your students understand a grappling principle, keep up the good work and continue to think outside the box. And if you think using a folding chair as a guard passing training tool was cool, wait until you see how I use a stationary bike seat and an umbrella in my OG Shadow Grappling DVD, which will be available within the month!
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Paul M. Greenhill, “The Wise Grappler”, is the creator of The Wise Grappler System and author of The Wise Grappler Ezine, a weekly ezine that provides grappling and mental mindset training tips for the older (over 35) and non-traditional/non-competitive martial artists. To learn more about “The Wise Grappler” and to sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit his site at www.thewisegrappler.com or contact The Wise Grappler.
