How Dean Lister Beats The Open Guard

By Corey Kuropas, December 13, 2016

Any experienced Jiu Jitsu competitor knows how dangerous the various open guards can be. When you try to pass the guard of a good open guard player, you can quickly see how tricky that it can be. While you need to learn how to pass guard, there is one tool that can work well as an option. That option is to foot lock that open guard player. Dean Lister shows this effective way of avoiding the open guard, and finishing your opponent.

In the video, you can see the opponent is flat on his back. He is attempting to establish an open guard, such as De La Riva, X Guard, etc. So instead of easily playing into his game, you need to turn yourself sideways. When you go sideways, make sure your front leg is in deep between his legs, while your other leg is on the outside of his. Immediately after, you need to use your hand to grab his same side foot (example; your right hand grabs his right foot). With the foot grab, make sure you grab the foot up by his toes, then lock up a standard toe hold grip.

Once you have the toe hold grip, you need to roll over your own shoulder and use your inside leg to hook his far leg. This will ensure that he does not just roll out and escape. When the roll is completed, triangle his leg with both of yours. Now that everything is locked up properly, push his foot to his butt and twist it to finish your opponent with the toe hold.

Leg locking someone to avoid their guard is not a new concept. It was something done by the Japanese Pro Wrestlers that were Catch as Catch can trained who fought in the days of Pancrase and Shootfighting. But in recent years, this concept has had a resurgence due to the success of the Danaher competitors. Dean Lister is one of the OG’s when it comes to leg locking. He shows this technique and more in his K.A.T.C.H DVD set. This comprehensive set is available at BJJ Fanatics for only $97!

Click here to see Dean Lister’s K.A.T.C.H Leg Attack System.