4 Lazy Closed Guard Moves For BJJ From Rodrigo Artilheiro

Save Your Energy Against The Younger, More Aggressive Guys On That Mats Using This Efficient Style Of Guard Play From World Champion Rodrigo Artilheiro!

Learn how to use the minimum amount of effort for maximum efficiency while playing bottom closed guard in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

If you have spent any time on the mats, you are already familiar with just how wide spread closed guard is when it comes to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and other grappling martial arts. The closed guard is something you start studying on day 1 of your BJJ journey, and you will never stop using it… even if you move on the prefer other types of guards, the closed guard is the foundation of all guard play.

Rodrigo Artilheiro has a great instructional series called The Lazy Closed Guard available exclusively on BJJFanatics.com. In this series, Rodrigo shares an amazing amount of knowledge on how to improve your closed guard. Rodrigo emphasizes the importance of using the minimum amount of do sweep or submit your opponent. Jiu jitsu when done correctly is all about conserving your energy, and only exploding when you need too, so this series from Rodrigo is an excellent way to learn how to become incredibly efficient when fighting from bottom guard. 

AOne of Travis Stevens' best submissions is the wrist lock... and he hits it from everywhere. If you are looking to up your submission game then check out these dirty, dirty wrist locks!

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Rodrigo is one of the most knowledge BJJ players out there. He is a black belt in judo, a Brazilian National Champion in judo, a world class wrestler, and a 7 time National Wrestling Champion in Brazil. He also has won the Worlds master black belt in Jiu Jitsu and competed in ADCC. The list of Rodrigo’s achievements is endless. Let us check out some of the techniques Rodrigo shares with us on his latest instructional series, The Lazy Closed Guard. Here we go!

#1: Wrist Lock From Bottom Closed Guard

The bottom closed guard is often thought only as a defensive position, and not one you would think you could hit a wrist lock from. But Rodrigo knows better than that. Watch the video below of Rodrigo Artilheiro demonstrating this wrist lock from bottom closed guard and then we will discuss the technique. Check it out now!

The top player in closed guard is usually looking to establish his grips. Typically he will go for a wrist or gi sleeve grip in order to control your arms. Rodrigo first looks to counter his opponent’s grips. If his training partner takes hold over his gi sleeve then Rodrigo will grab his wrist and use his legs and hips to bump his opponent forward. This allows him to trap his opponent’s arm. To do this, Rodrigo swims his arm underneath his opponent’s arm in order to secure a firm grip. Now with the arm secure Rodrigo can switch the position of his legs to adjust his closed guard. He moves his legs to his training partner’s upper back and squeezes the arms and shoulders. From here it is a simple switch of the grip for Rodrigo to submit his opponent with the wrist lock.

This is a seriously low effort, low risk submission that everyone should know. It is very easy to hit and the set up for the submission is very straight forward. The chances are, you have experienced this kind of situation before but may not have known you could hit a wrist lock. So why not be lazy and get a quick submission?

#2: Scissors Sweep With Collar Bone Grip

The scissor sweep goes hand in hand with the closed guard. If the closed guard is the most fundamental guard then the scissor sweep is the most fundamental sweep. You might be wondering why anyone in the world would need any further instruction on how to nail a scissor sweep from closed guard, but Rodrigo shares some pretty high level details that can turn your scissor sweep from good to great. Watch the video below and then we will break down the scissor sweep with collar bone grip technique. Check it out now!

The scissor sweep may be a white belt technique, but Rodrigo’s approach to the sweep is one you can only get from years of experience competing at a world class international level. It is safe to say Rodrigo Artilheiro is the right person to listen to when it comes to learning the scissor sweep. If your training partner is controlling your hip and staying connected tightly to you the first thing you want to do is feed your hand up through for a collar grip and punch through. This will give you the space you need to escape your hip and set your knee shield. Now pull and kick with your feet. Remember, when doing the scissor kick you want to be very active with your foot. It should be hooking the side of your opponent in order to stay strongly connected. It is little details like this that make a fundamental technique that much more efficient. Awesome stuff from Artilheiro!

#3: Arm Bar From Scissors Sweep

Often times, when playing closed guard, when you go to set up a sweep you might not succeed. Being able to chain together sweeps, transitions, and submissions can help you continue to flow with your opponent, rather than getting caught in a tricky situation when things do go as expected. We just took a look at the most fundamental sweep, the scissor sweep;now let us take a look at how you can hit an arm bar off of a failed scissor sweep attempt. Check out the video below and then we will break down the technique!

As you can tell, this is a really tight arm bar that works very well from a failed scissor sweep attempt. Anyone can do this technique, no matter your level of experience. In this demonstration, Rodrigo goes through the steps for setting up the scissor sweep, but instead of hitting the sweep he shifts his far leg up over his opponent’s shoulder while adjusting his hips. Pay attention to the angle Rodrigo has, this is very important in order to get the submission. To finish the arm bar, Rodrigo brings his other leg to the other side of his opponent’s head, squeezes his legs, and lifts with his hips to straighten the arm.

The best part about these three techniques that we just looked at is that they are all very easy to do, even if you are a white belt. Rodrigo’s instructional series “The Lazy Closed Guard” is packed with tons of excellent tips and techniques for improving the fundamentals of your closed guard. Be sure to check it out if you are looking for ways to get better quicker!

Wrist locks are everywhere in jiu jitsu and all grappling arts. Attacking the wrist is a fairly simple principle that we see in many martial arts, not just "aikido". But the secret to the wrist lock is knowing where they show up in jiu jitsu - HINT it's EVERY WHERE, and how to set them up properly so they can't escape.

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