The Closed Guard By Bernardo Faria

 

The Closed Guard or Inverted Mount as the cool kids call it, is easily one of the most significant and important guards in ALL of Jiu-Jitsu. SO why do so many Jiu-Jitsu practitioners neglect to train this staple of a position. While the reasons may vary, many people avoid it simply because it’s “basic”. Well guess what, the same person who thinks that probably has a good chance of not being a very good grappler!

The Closed Guard By Bernardo Faria is one of the best instructionals to ever cover the position! In the 4 pt set Bernardo covers the Do’s and Don’ts of the position, and shares his high percentage attacks. Check out this “Old-School” Omoplata from the series!

Bernardo’s omoplatas are known around the world as some of the most vicious, yet he lands it from this “Basic” position. First let’s check out how he sets it all up. Obtaining an overhook is the initial goal here. Bernardo shows a couple of ways to do that, one is by circling your hands inside which forces theirs to the mat. He also shows a way to use the sleeve grip, while swimming your opposite arm through to get the overhook. Bernardo spends some time explaining that your opponent should feel constantly threatened with armlocks, chokes, and omoplatas. This will create tempo and put them on the defensive.

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Now that we have our overhook, let’s transition into the omomplata. As you can see from the video once the overhook is obtained Bernardo uses a cross lapel grip to help control his partner’s posture. With these grips Bernardo shifts his hips out from under his partner. This creates a hole for them to drop into, further controlling their posture. Controlling the posture will assist in swinging the legs into place for the omoplata. As Faria’s top leg starts to reach the back of his partner’s shoulders, he grabs his shin with his free hand to finish putting the top leg into place. Bernardo crosses his feet and prepares to defend the roll through. 

Bernardo immediately shifts towards his partners hips, while reaching for a belt grip. Once his head is approaching the legs, Bernardo uses his grips to sit up into the position. Here his goal is to keep his partner from rolling, he does this by draping his arm across his partner’s back. Faria starts to shift his weight with a hip escape type motion to bring his partner flat to the mat. This flattening can assist greatly in finishing the omoplata. To finish Bernardo simply starts to put his head over his partner’s back and lift his hips. 

The closed guard is notoriously neglected, but NO MORE! The closed guard is coming back in a HUGE way. Currently you have athletes like Gordon Ryan, Jake Mackenzie, and of course Bernardo Faria leading the way in giving Jiu-Jitsu practitioners the tools to be successful from one of the most important positions in Jiu-Jitsu. Throughout the 4 parts in The Closed Guard By Bernardo Faria you will learn everything from old-school omoplatas, grip breaks, and world class submissions!

Bernardo is easily one of the most important figures in all of Jiu-Jitsu. The Closed Guard by Bernardo Faria further exemplifies this! Now is the time to tighten your guard up, stop getting passed, and finally LAND some submissions!

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