Core Jiu Jitsu Concept #6:
WORKING UP THE BODY
Passing the guard is hard. However, there’s a simple concept that can make passing much easier. Unfortunately, almost everyone misses this concept when they start training. And if you get this wrong, you’ll end up paying for it.
Passing guard is like climbing a ladder. You have to progressively work your way up the body.
If you try to jump up the ladder, there’s a real chance you’ll miss the rung you’re aiming for and full all the way to the bottom. Instead, you want to methodically climb each rung. That way if you miss a step you’ll only fall back down one rung.
In guard passing, the ladder starts with the feet or shins. Once you have control of them, you can move to the knees. After the knees come’s the hips. And so on until you’re in a strong top position.
If at any point you lose control of your opponent, you should try to only drop back one step. This will keep the pressure on your opponent and keep you working towards the pass.
What a lot of beginners do is jump straight from the feet to the head, without controlling the rest of the body. This will leave you incredibly vulnerable to being swept or submitted.
The ladder approach works the same for any position. And if you methodically work your way up the body, you’ll have a much greater success of controlling your opponent.
It’s not flashy, it doesn’t necessarily look cool, but DAMN it is effective. Just watch a Roger Gracie match to see what I mean. The video below illustrates this concept further.