ADCC Vet Shares Aggressive Closed Guard This past week, Tom DeBlass was in the BJJ Fanatics studio filming his upcoming release which is going to change the way you look at the No Gi closed guard.  Best known for his half guard and...

Turn your closed guard into the danger zone for your opponent Closed guard sometimes gets a bad rap.  It can be perceived as just a stalling position if the person on bottom is just holding on and not trying to reverse or submit. ...

In the most recent installment of his popular "Move of the Week" series, Kurt Osiander comes to us from the UK with an extremely simple choke that you can add to your arsenal right away.  With the popularity of different complex guard styles,...

Being stuck inside the closed guard of a good guard player can be extremely frustrating.  It's easy to spend endless energy trying to combat and break open the legs, while being pushed and pulled by the hips and also dealing with the guard...

The kimura is a powerful shoulder submission that has roots in catch wrestling and judo, but became known as the kimura after a famous jiu jitsu match between Helio Gracie and Japanese fighter Masahiko Kimura who defeated Gracie in a legendary match where...

Your guard is one of the first lines of defense against an opponent.  Being able to keep the opponent controlled and at the proper distance is a crucial skill that you will work on for the entirety of your jiu jitsu life. Having...

These days, more and more we see people who are training bjj and neglecting self-defense.  There is nothing wrong with that, to each his own.  The problem lies in the fact that people may develop a false sense of security.  Self-defense is a...

Claudio Calasans is considered to be one of the best middleweight jiu jitsu competitors on the scene today.  This judo and jiu jitsu black belt, has reached the top of the podium at the IBJJF Worlds, Pans and was the 2015 ADCC Absolute...

In simplest terms, the guard in BJJ serves to keep distance between us and our opponents, typically by using our legs and hips as the first line of defense, supplemented by our arms and the grips of our hands.  The guard can be...

The butterfly guard is often considered one of the classic guard games in BJJ.  The use of the feet or hooks to elevate an opponent or work to stay connected can be traced back to the pre-BJJ days of Judo's ground techniques.  Butterfly...

Playing closed guard always seems like a good idea until your opponent manages to stand up.  This is when things can get complicated and it can be difficult to find some closed guard attacks.  Why is this?  Well, the basis of the closed...

The gi can be an advantageous tool that we learn how to utilize.  Many people love training in the gi and then there are some who would prefer no gi.  Sometimes the lapels can become a nuisance, but if we learn how to...

 Breaking the posture may be the single most important detail to getting sweeps and submissions in the closed guard.  The closed guard has long been considered the foundation of the guard and it has been utilized at the highest levels of both MMA...

The closed guard can be one of the most difficult positions to pass.  As beginners, many people are exposed to the closed guard early on in their career.  The closed guard is a position that even mainstream MMA fans are familiar with.  This...

Being inside someone’s closed guard is one of the worst places to be.  When we first start training bjj, this is one of the only guards that many people are familiar with and we find ourselves in the closed guard very often.  Many...