Neil Melanson and his Hidden Closed Guard

By Fanatics Authors, August 12, 2017

Are you familiar with Neil Melanson? If you’re not you may have been living under a rock. Neil is one of the pioneers of MMA coaching, he is a MMA coach for the Blackzillians and has worked with some of the best UFC fighters in the world. Some of the people he has worked with include Randy Couture, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and many more. Many people say that Neil has one of the best guards in the world. His primary focus is not on competing in grappling but on molding MMA champions.

Neil has a very unique and conceptual approach to grappling and if you have seen any of his instructional videos you can see his methodical approach in the way he teaches things. Neil is infamous for having one of the best closed guards in the world. He is not long, lanky, or super flexible. We recently wrote an article “Triangle Choke from Closed Guard” and discuss a lot of Neil’s concepts in it.

Today, we discuss his approach to closed guard. He does not focus on flexibility or anything crazy, but uses simple and effective concepts. One of the things Neil emphasizes is body position, and body control.

Neil Melanson Closed Guard Body Position

Neil believes that one of the most important things you should focus on when playing closed guard is your body positioning. He discusses the center line very often. Neil believes that when you want to start attacking you should find a way to get off the center line.

Many of the common attacks and sweeps from the closed guard come from creating angles and if you are in the center line it is difficult to create angles. Check out our article “Art of the Closed Guard” to learn more on angles. Also, check out this incredible video where Neil talks about getting off the center line in guard below.

Neil Melanson Closed Guard Leg and Foot Control

Neil has a very unorthodox approach to controlling your opponent’s body in the closed guard but it works. He uses a control system called “Leg and Foot Control.” He does not just want to control your leg, but he wants to get your foot as well because it will allow him to manipulate your lower body movement.

Leg and foot control is a great system for all grappling, MMA, or Self-defense. This control system will make your opponent’s base, posture, and attacks very weak and keep you safe. Enough of us talking about it, check out the video below where Neil shows us his infamous Leg and Foot Control.