closed guard

[treelizard]

Pretty high level of training, one guy fought UFC years ago... he lost his fights but he's still damn good. Background is wrestling, judo and a little TKD. I train at the powerlifting gym, the guys that show up are pretty serious, some IFL fighters, former champion wrestlers, etc. It is interesting to me what they emphasize and don't emphasize.

[DickHardman]

YouTube - Closed Guard BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) Techniques

[DickHardman]

YouTube - JJ Machado Online Training : Lapel Choke from Closed Guard

[DickHardman]

this is one of my favorite combinations. from the guard i attempt an armbar, and if they defend it i hit the sweep. this sweep is very simple and incredibly effective, it works on even much bigger opponents.

YouTube - sweep off of an armbar

[DickHardman]

treelizard, if you want to learn good grappling skills you may want to seek out a reputable bjj instructor to train under.

YouTube - dave and bj

[treelizard]

Originally Posted by DickHardman

treelizard, if you want to learn good grappling skills you may want to seek out a reputable bjj instructor to train under.

I searched far and wide and this guy's the best in town as far as I'm concerned. But it's interesting because I think i could do all those techniques from open guard. My legs are right where his are at it's just that my feet aren't hooked in like that.

[Hardball]

Originally Posted by treelizard

I searched far and wide and this guy's the best in town as far as I'm concerned.

It takes time, the true benefit of your training will come out when you least expect it. Perhaps it will be in a self defense situation on the street or perhaps with some spiritual awakening regarding your purpose. In other words why do you continue to train? Why do you put your body through all of that rigorous training? The answer will come if you just keep training and then the instructor will only be a small piece of the puzzle. Am I making sense?

[treelizard]

I think it's more about building character, perseverance etc. than anything really. I also really enjoy it and it's a good workout. But I like working out with guys that are serious; there is a higher level of rigor involved and I think it improves my game. I just go places that don't teach you shit techniques and that aren't mcdojo's and are solid and where I feel comfortable.

[aseepish]

Originally Posted by treelizard

Background is wrestling, judo and a little TKD.

The Judo background might explain it. My Judo instructors consider the closed guard to be "too passive" and dismiss it out of hand. If you close your guard in a match it's a signal to the referee that newaza-time is over and it's time to stand back up. It's just one of those institutional bias things.

To the argument that there are many many attacks you can do from the closed guard they typicallly reply that you have to open your guard at some point to get them, therefore the attacks aren't really from the closed guard. Of course this isn't 100% true.

[Clooneytkd]

closed guard is pretty important, it helps you figure out how the guy moves. usually i go closed guard to rubber after i get a feel for the guys movement. also it helps me set up my rubber if i'm closed. that way i can force a hand or an arm downward setting up an oma or arm bar while controling his whole body rather then if i was open he could move alot more making it more difficult. sure open is great if the other guy blows at sub defense and is weak, but realistically you should be practicing closed as much as open gaurd.

[doubleouch]

You can have a killer BJJ game without ever using closed guard. You can't have any BJJ game at all without having good open guard. Open guard is way more important. I know quite a few BJJ black belts who never close their guard. There are a ton of things you can do from closed guard for sure, but beginners and intermediate students need to spend their time working their open guard.

[treelizard]

Originally Posted by doubleouch

You can have a killer BJJ game without ever using closed guard. You can't have any BJJ game at all without having good open guard. Open guard is way more important. I know quite a few BJJ black belts who never close their guard. There are a ton of things you can do from closed guard for sure, but beginners and intermediate students need to spend their time working their open guard.

See that's the thing... I have definitely been tapped out over and over again when I was in closed guard so obviously it didn't improve my position THAT much... It seemed like it didn't matter much one way or the other... Now I've been wanting to watch more UFC to specifically pay attention to how often fighters use closed guard and for how long ... It's just not something I can recall off the top of my head but I will pay attention to it from now on.