Keeping your Closed Guard, well, closed—can be difficult. That’s why learning to retain it will be super helpful, especially for those who want to find more success using guards. And eventually, boosting your guard game will skyrocket your grappling skills, which is what we all want.
So this article will review eight things you want to implement in order to find more success with your Closed Guard. I know it might sound too good to be true, but it really is. By following the eight ways I’ll list in this article, you’ll be able to see immediate results.
Constant learning is the key to long-term success in BJJ. That’s why reading instructionals and watching instructional videos—will be beneficial to you. Even BJJ Grandmasters say they have more to learn – so who are we to stop learning?
Many types of guard positions exist in BJJ. To name a few:
Some of these might provide more offensive opportunities. However, the Closed Guard excels in one thing, and that is simplicity. It’s simple to use both to defend and attack. And this article will show you how you can use it properly.
So let’s dive in!
How to Retain Closed Guard in BJJ
Let’s start this article by diving into the juicy, practical ways you can implement today to find more success in your Closed Guard journey.
I want you to get on the mat already and gain real experience (the most valuable resource of BJJ.) Here’s the first one.
#1 – Control the opponent’s arms
The first thing you want to make sure you do is control the opponent’s arms. I know some exceptions exist for this tip. However, it’s a good rule of thumb to follow if you’re struggling with retaining your Closed Guard.
What does this do? You might ask. That’s a good question because there’s one thing it brings that will change your entire grappling game. Do you know what that thing is? The thing it brings is control.
BJJ is all about control. The more control over the opponent you have, the more likely you are to win. That’s because you’ll be able to attack effectively if you can maneuver both yourself and the opponent better.
Well, that sounds awesome. But how can I control the opponent’s arms? A solid way to start—is by grabbing both the opponent’s sleeves, with a same-side grip.
The next time you’re in Closed Guard, try controlling the opponent’s sleeves and see if that makes a difference.
#2 – Break the opponent’s posture often
Alright. The second way you can retain your Closed Guard better is by breaking the opponent’s posture more often. Think about it this way: when your opponent is sitting with his posture straight, he’s more comfortable.
On the other hand, when he’s slouched toward you, with his spine bent, he’ll be more uncomfortable. As a result, there’s a better chance you’ll be able to control him. And we already understood that the primary thing we want to get is control.
So how do we do that?
A good tip here is to bring your knees up to the opponent’s armpits. Only then do you want to execute the knee pull, as you have more leverage. If you imagine the spine, you can understand that pushing from the top of the spine toward you will be easier than from the bottom.
Again, you want to bring your knees to the opponent’s armpit. Pull him upward and forward and then pull him with your knees. The higher your knees are on the opponent’s spine, the more leverage and force you’ll have to pull.
#3 – Utilize the Cross-Collar Grip
The 3rd tip to retain Closed Guard more often is by utilizing the Cross-Collar Grip. You might be familiar with it already. But if you’re not, here’s what it is.
The Cross-Collar Grip is when you grab the opponent’s sleeve (same-side grip) and his collar (cross-grip.) This combination gives you plenty of control of the opponent’s upper body, which in turn brings you control, thus, allowing you to attack more often.
I want to explain a key point that you must understand. When you’re in bottom Closed Guard, the opponent is above you. His upper body is above yours. That’s easy to imagine.
However, what’s hard to imagine is that you have lower body control. Your hips are higher than the opponent’s hips. Look carefully the next time you have a chance of watching someone in Closed Guard. Pay attention to how the bottom Closed Guard grappler’s hips are above his opponent’s.
Anyways, the Cross-Collar Grip gives you more upper body control, which is excellent news for you!
#4 – Attack often
The next tip is a mindset shift. Many grapplers believe that Closed Guard is a defensive position. I disagree. You have endless offensive options from this position, and you want to utilize them.
Here are some submissions you can execute from it:
- Ninja Choke
- Ezekiel Choke
- Guillotine Choke
- Kimura
- Americana
- Triangle Choke
- Helio Gracie Choke
- Wrist Lock
- Straight Foot Lock
- Armbar
- Bow and Arrow Choke
These are just a few that I’ve had the privilege to write about. You can learn so many more submissions from bottom Closed Guard you don’t even understand. Even I, who writes instructional articles about BJJ, don’t know 5% of all submissions.
So you want to think of Closed Guard as an offensive position, rather than the opposite. Do that—and your opponent will think about his steps cautiously. And who knows? You might be able to get a tap or two from it, which will boost your confidence and motivation!
And if you want to learn about the best submissions from Closed Guard, follow this link!
#5 – Switch your feet when the opponent pushes your knees
The best attack your opponent can go for to effectively break your Closed Guard—is by pushing your knees. You have one foot over the other when you’re in Closed Guard; you should know that.
So when your opponent goes to push one of your knees down, in hopes of breaking your guard, you want to switch your feet around. Essentially, you want to switch the placements of your right and left feet.
When the opponent pushes one of your knees down, he’ll go for the one on bottom, as that will ensure he faces minimized resistance. So when you switch your feet around, you now have more resistance to defend your guard with.
So the next time you feel your opponent pushing one of your knees down, with the purpose of breaking your guard, switch your feet around.
#6 – Transition between the types of guards
As I previously mentioned, there are many types of guards. The cool thing about them is the fact that you can transition between them. This gives you many benefits. But the primary benefit it allows you is being more unexpected.
If you switch from Closed Guard to Open Guard to Butterfly Guard, your opponent will not understand what you’re going for. He’s going to be confused. And then, you have more options you can go for, such as attacking from different angles.
Because this will make the opponent more careful in your fight, you’ll be able to, reliably, keep your Closed Guard closed.
You can, and definitely should, transition between the types of guards. So if you want to learn about BJJ’s best guards you want to familiarize yourself with and how to use each one properly, follow this link.
#7 – Learn many variations of attacks
The next way we’ll review is to learn many variations of attacks. We’ve already understood that attacking more often will provide you with a better capability of keeping your Closed Guard. That’s fantastic. Now there’s one more thing we want to understand here:
Learning to attack is great. But learning the uncommon ways to attack—is even better. We want to find ways to be more unexpected. That will help retain our Closed Guard. So learning more variations of the same attack will do just that.
The next time you stumble upon a variation you have never heard of – of a submission you might or might not have heard of—learn it!
#8 – Attack after you break the opponent’s balance
The last way to retain your Closed Guard is to attack right after you break the opponent’s posture. We’ve already understood that you have more control over the opponent when you break the opponent’s posture.
He’ll be less comfortable and more vulnerable to your attacks. Good. So when is the best time to attack? Immediately after you break the opponent’s posture. This will not only allow you to be less expected, but it’ll also pinpoint the moment the opponent is least capable of defending himself.
This pinpoint is when you want to attack.
How to Improve Guard Retention in BJJ?
Breaking the opponent’s posture more often is the best way to improve Closed Guard retention in BJJ. It allows you two primary benefits: the first is making the opponent physically uncomfortable, and the second is more control and maneuverability over the opponent.
What Can You Do From Closed Guard?
You can do almost anything from Closed Guard, including sweeping, submitting, and transitioning to another dominant position. The best attacks from Closed Guard will include at least two of these, such as sweeping the opponent and finishing with a Kimura.
Final Words
That’s it for this article. It was a blast to research more ways to retain your Closed Guard. I’ve also found it delightful to share my experience with you. I hope that you’re now capable of implementing some of these tips into your guard game and start seeing more results from it.
You can also sign up for our Email Newsletter to keep up with our blog posts and gain access to free martial arts/self-improvement courses!
Here are other articles you’d enjoy reading:
The 10 Top BJJ Chokes You Need to Master
BJJ 101: Half-Guard (And How to Finish From It)
11 Best Half Guard Submissions From Top and Bottom