Stop Getting Stuck In Single Leg X-Guard With Leandro Lo!

One of the first things we learn when we start training is how to pass the closed guard.  Typically, we either learn the stack pass, knee over pass or knee slice pass, or potentially all three.  There is no disputing that being able to pass the guard is crucial to your Jiu Jitsu game, it’s something we all must not only learn, but continue to develop.  As we start to grow in our Jiu Jitsu and progress along the journey we will begin to learn, and likely be confronted with a variation of different types of guards. 

We may see things like butterfly guard, open guard, spider guard and X – guard.  As I’m sure you know, or are assuming, the passing techniques that work for one don’t necessarily work for all types of guard.  Sure the goal is the same, and at a very basic level so it’s the methodology, get over the legs or go under the legs and get to the side of your opponent.  The longer we train, the more types of guard passes we need to know. An opponent’s guard is only effective if we don’t know how to handle it but if we know how to pass, and have practiced doing so often, then it will not matter what type of guard you find yourself facing.  

Leandro Lo has a very simplistic yet effective approach to passing the single leg x that will help us understand the concepts of passing single leg x in a few basic steps.  Let’s break down “7 point guard pass from single leg X by Leandro Lo”.

 

Starting out in single leg X, the opponent has their left foot in Leandro’s hip preventing him from backstepping out of the position as well as a cross collar grip on his lapel.  Leandro is not worried about the collar grip as needs to be close to his opponent to do the pass anyway and the grip does not interfere with his pass.  

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The first thing Leandro is looking to do is to clear the foot that is in his right hip.  In order to accomplish this Leandro simply grabs his opponent’s foot with his fingers on facing down towards his hips and his thumb on the other side of their foot.  He is grabbing as close to the toes as possible giving him maximum leverage to push the foot away. This allows him to push the foot straight out to the opponent’s side towards the mat as much as possible.  Leandro then takes a small step back with his left leg creating a little bit of space allowing him to simply push the opponent’s leg that is between his through at the knee straightening it out and effectively eliminating the guard.  As the opponent’s leg falls to the mat Leandro is stepping forward with his left leg to position himself for mount. At this point he simply just drops his right knee to the mat as well to end in a very high mount.  

If you like setting up mounted triangles this is a nice setup for one as you can see in the video clip.  When you are looking at adding this to your game you can consider dropping your right knee over the opponent’s arm rather than under it to setup a triangle choke, if it’s available to you obviously. 

Being able to escape any guard that is thrown at you is a skill that will never go to waste.  If you are ready to take your guard passing to the next level it may be time to explore Systematically Attacking the Guard by Gordon Ryan.  Gordon is a professional grappler that needs no introduction.  As many of you are aware he is widely considered the best grappler on the planet, and is the self proclaimed “King”.  Gordon has trained with John Danaher for quite some time now and has developed a very similar teaching style to John. That being said you can expect that his video instructional is titled “Systematically” for a reason.  The Danaher Death Squad has taken a very specific approach to Jiu Jitsu techniques and transitions by systemizing them and training the sequences. Doing this type of training makes your reaction times faster as well as reducing the mental strain when training.  Having drilled the sequences likely thousands of times it is quite likely they are ingrained as muscle memory at this point.  

If you prefer a different style there are tons of other instructionals available on BJJ Fanatics website that focus on guard passing.  The key is that whichever instructional you decide you must drill the techniques over and over again. Drill the techniques properly, and drill them often.  Remember that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Drilling the technique improperly simply for speed will not yield in long term benefits so focus first on doing it properly and then move on to trying to make it faster and faster until you have built such consistency with it that you don’t have to think about it.  At this point you should be able to hit this occasionally in live training.

Leandro Lo is one of the most Accomplished athletes in ALL of Jiu-Jitsu. The Lo Guard and Matrix Passing is a collection of Leandro's BEST techniques. Learn the moves that made him the BEST today!

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