What Is The Most Important Guard?

By Fanatics Authors, November 27, 2018

So many guards, so little time

One of the biggest assets to a successful BJJ practitioner is the ability to stay safe off your back. While the passer has an inherent advantage on their side in the form of gravity, the guard player has the advantage of using four limbs to entangle and ensnare their opponent. So which guard is the best to use?

This question can be answered plenty of ways. The best guard is the one that works the best for you. There are many factors that help determine which guards will work best for you. Height, weight, and limb length are all factors that can help determine which guards to focus on. One guard that can be utilized by people most shapes and sizes is the closed guard.

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Closed guard can be looked at by some practitioners as just a beginning position, and it can be overlooked. Usually people just starting out will be exposed to the closed guard very early on. The reason this is is because it offers attacks while not having a wide open defense. Attacks can be set up while maintaining a safer form of control with our legs wrapped around our opponent.

Most reactions from the passer will be easy to see coming because of how much of our body is connected to theirs. If they stand you will receive plenty of signs that this tactic is coming. This will allow us to plot and scheme on how to set up attacks as our opponent makes strategic choices.

The first thing Tom DeBlass covers in the above video is our intention from the closed guard. He mentions that often times the first technique used isn't always the one we are looking to land. The closed guard slows down the opponent and allows us the time to set up our attacks.

Closed guard is a great starting point for many practitioners because the method of control is fairly simple. Close your legs tightly around your partners waist and control their posture. From here you can start to let your opponent make mistakes or you can force the issue.