Have you ever pulled guard only to have it instantly passed? Or maybe they don’t pass, but you’re forced to defend their pass attempts. This is a super common problem I see people (particularly beginners) struggle with all the time.

Whenever I pull guard, I want to put my opponent to be on the defensive, not me.

In my last post, I share a video that covered one of the ways I set up the De La Riva guard pull. (You can read / watch it here)

In this article, I want to share another way I pull guard. That’s by attacking with a sacrifice throw such as Tomoe Nage or Yoko Tomoe Nage.

There are a couple of benefits to using these type of techniques to pull guard.

1. The throw might work. And if it does, you get two points and end up in a strong attacking position.
2. If the throw fails, it will be easy for you to recover to a solid guard position
3. Incredibly difficult for your opponent to attack straight off your throw attempt.

As I said, there are two throws I use to ‘attack’ for the guard pull. One is Tomoe Nage which is pretty well known, and the other is Yoko Tomoe Nage which is much less well known but equally effective.

Here is a breakdown of Tomoe Nage.

As Tomoe Nage is more well-known throw, I want to focus on Yoko Tomoe Nage. Here is a pretty complete breakdown on it, and some nice variations.

Yoko Tomoe Nage pt 1: The Basic Throw

Yoko Tomoe Nage pt 2: How to Counter the Cartwheel Defense

Yoko Tomoe Nage pt 3: An Easy Arm Bar When Yoko Tomoe Nage Fails

Obviously, you’ll need to practice these techniques, but they will be a really useful addition to your Jiu Jitsu arsenal and, hopefully, should allow you to pull guard more easily.

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