Understanding the open guard position is essential to mastering the art of Jiu-Jitsu. BJJ is a martial art that’s all about controlling as much of your opponent as possible. This position will allow you to do just that. So let’s examine what it is and why it’s beneficial:
The open guard position is when you’re on your back and have your legs around the opponent (not wrapped.) It’s also one of BJJ’s most dominant positions since it’s highly versatile and allows you to transition to various submissions or other dominant positions, such as back control.
Why not have your legs wrapped, as with the closed guard? Isn’t it better? How can I start to improve my open guard faster than my partners? And lastly, when and which variation should I use?
These are all questions I’ll answer in this article. I’ll also give tips to help you progress faster in your BJJ journey and learn this position faster and flawlessly.
I recommend reading this article in its entirety. I include mistakes that novice grapplers make in most sections when first learning this position. So make sure to follow through the entire article to conquer the open guard position.
What Is an Open Guard in BJJ?
There’s nothing more satisfying in BJJ than controlling your opponent while successfully submitting him through one of the submissions you’ll learn later in this article. You’ll be able to conquer more of your opponents if you get good at the open guard position. But first, let’s see what it is.
The open guard in BJJ is a dominant position that allows you to transition to more dominant positions or go for an endless set of submissions. It’s when you’re on your back and have your legs around the opponent, controlling him. Using various grips and techniques, your legs must be open while controlling the opponent.
When your legs are closed and wrapped around your opponent while on your back, it’s a closed guard position. But, when they’re unwrapped, open, you’re in the open guard.
Both have specific benefits, and you want to use them differently. So we’ll see when to use each one soon.
All you want to know for now is what this position looks like. Watch the video below to understand further what it looks like.
How to: Open Guard BJJ
So, you now know what the open guard is and what it looks like. Now, let’s dive into the juicy details you clicked on this article for.
You want to perform the open guard flawlessly. Well, that’s not what this section is for. First, however, you must understand the fundamental steps of this position before moving into the more advanced stuff.
And again, I encourage you to read the steps and understand them thoroughly before you move on, even if you already have a basic understanding and experience with the open guard position.
- Start by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet on the ground. Your feet should be about hip-width apart.
- Lift your hips off the ground and move your feet toward your bottom.
- Place your feet on your opponent’s hips or thighs to control their movement.
- Open your legs wide and create space between your opponent’s legs.
- Use your arms to control your opponent’s posture by grabbing their sleeves, collar, or wrists.
- Keep your hips elevated and your back arched to create space for your hips and legs to move.
- You can attack with sweeps, submissions, or transition to other guard positions from this position.
Indeed, you can eventually attack with sweeps, submissions, or transition to other guard positions. These will give you the advantage in the fight quickly while allowing you to be less expected and have a better foundation moving forward in your BJJ journey.
Now, it’s time you understand the more advanced tricks that’ll allow you to control your opponent better and win more fights using the open guard position.
Open Guard Basics
Now that you understand how the open guard works and how to perform it let’s review some basics you want to understand fully before you start practicing.
You’ll be able to practice each one individually before moving on to the next position.
You might know some of these basics. And still, I recommend reading each one since I include many other concepts and give tips on performing it flawlessly inside each section. Thus, it’ll be worth it if you don’t skip it and read everything.
That’s enough intro; let’s dive into the first concept.
#1 – Keep your opponent’s posture off-balance
The first fundamental concept of the open guard position in BJJ is to keep the opponent off-balance. Therefore, you want to do everything in your ability to keep his posture off.
What do you think would happen if your opponent could keep his posture straight and be more balanced? Unfortunately, the common mistake many novice grapplers make with this position is allowing the opponent to do whatever he wants.
They’re not using the pull-push motion, which we’ll discuss in greater detail in the 4th basic concept. As a result, their partners can evade their open guard and pass it, gaining a dominant position on them, such as side control or full mount.
So, this is the first concept you want to start paying attention to. Let’s now review the second one.
#2 – Bend your gripping elbow
The grip you should have is a collar grip. However, it shouldn’t be as high as in the cross-collar choke. Instead, the optimized gripping placement is a bit above his chest.
You’ll now be able to push and pull the opponent, breaking his posture easily. The push-pull motions are critical when you’re playing open guard.
You don’t want to allow the opponent’s posture to be balanced. Rather, you must do everything in your ability to make him imbalanced (I’ll review another neat trick you can use in the 5th basic)
#3 – Follow the opponent’s reaction
An essential thing to understand about BJJ is that you can react to the opponent. You don’t have to stay fixed on one move or technique to make you win the fight. So, no, that’s not the case.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is similar to chess. You want to adapt to the opponent constantly. What would happen if you were to play the same set of moves in a chess game? You would get swept by someone who knows just the basics.
The same applies here.
If the opponent pulls you, you can follow through by allowing him to do so and going for an offensive move, such as standing up and gaining full mount.
Likewise, if the opponent stands up, you can transition into the closed guard position; your options are endless.
So, start experimenting with various reactions to see which are suitable. Please don’t be afraid to lose a fight or two because you’re getting more creative and reacting to the opponent.
Losing and learning are better than winning and not learning.
#4 – Use push-pull motions
The 4th basic concept of the open guard position in BJJ—is to push and pull motions to confuse the opponent and gain the advantage quickly.
So first, what are pushing and pulling? As I’ve mentioned, you want to grip the opponent’s collar right above the chest. The next step toward a flawless open guard is to use your arm to push and pull the opponent. What is your goal with that? You might ask.
Concisely, your goal with these motions is to keep the opponent as off-balanced as possible. Do that, and you’ll be able to master these dominant positions sooner than your partners.
You also want to use them wisely. For example, it’ll be better not randomly to push and pull your opponent. Instead, react to the opponent’s offensive and defensive means. This is the first step in understanding the deep world of BJJ.
#5 – Make the person look down
When you want to step forward, where do you look? It’s obvious; we look at where we’re going. Then, when we reverse in our car, we look backward.
When you’re in open guard, you want to disallow your opponent the ability to look at you or forward, for that matter.
Instead, you want to force him to look down; what will that do? That’ll ensure he’s incapable of passing your guard, especially when you’re in open and not closed guard.
How do you do that? You want to use your collar grip to pull the opponent. In addition, your elbow should be bent.
So, these are the basics of the open guard position in BJJ. Now, let’s review some basic setups to get into this dominant position more often and easily.
Best Submissions From Open Guard
BJJ is like chess. You can go for endless moves and react in countless different ways. Still, coaches have developed specific strategies that they’ve found more effective and suitable for particular purposes.
These submissions and moves will allow you to finish a fight swiftly from the open guard position.
Here are the best submissions you must learn if you want to call yourself an open guard master:
- Kimura
- Triangle Choke
- Armbar
- Back Control to Rear Naked Choke
- Wrist Lock
- Guillotine Choke
- Loop Choke
And if you want to learn more about individual submissions, follow the links of the techniques you want to master.
How to Pass an Open Guard in BJJ
You can go about passing the open guard in many ways. Likewise, it’s too much to cover in a single article, let alone a single section. However, I aim to open your mind to one new idea in this section.
Passing the opponent’s open guard is easier than if it were closed. You want to use the opponent’s leg placement to decide which guard pass you wish to use.
Before I reveal the primary pass you should use, if you want to learn about BJJ’s best guard passes and how to master each one, follow this link.
The Toreando Pass is one of BJJ’s most effective open guard passes. You can learn it first and keep using it at the highest levels, such as in competitions. The Toreando Pass utilizes sweeping the opponent’s leg to the side while moving in the other direction and gaining side control.
If you want to learn how to perform the Toreando Pass flawlessly, follow this link!
What’s the Difference Between Open and Closed Guard?
There are two primary differences between the open and closed guards. First, you want to understand them to help you decide which one to use. So, let’s see what they are and the difference between them.
The two primary differences between the open and closed guard are the distance between you and your opponent and whether your legs are wrapped. The open guard entails that the distance between yourself and the opponent is significant, and your legs are unwrapped. The opposite applies to the closed guard.
So, when should you use each one?
It all depends on your grappling style and what position you’re currently in. Likewise, it depends on your opponent’s reaction to each position.
The most critical thing you want to do is experiment with both until you grasp them better. And if you want to learn everything about the closed guard, follow this link.
Open Guard Variations
Alright, we’re in the fun part of this article. You’ll now learn about some of the variations the open guard offers. You want to understand them all to amp up your grappling skills up a notch.
Reading them all and experimenting with them will be worth it. After experimenting and using them all, I’m confident you’ll find a favorite one.
So let’s dive into the first variation.
#1 – Collar Sleeve Guard
The first open guard variation is the Collar Sleeve Guard. It’s special because it utilizes you gripping the opponent’s collar and sleeve on the same side.
What this does is give you more control than you can imagine. You’ll be able to maneuver the opponent and prevent him from grabbing both your feet, which you want to avoid.
You’ll be able to use the push and pull motions easily since it’ll provide you with firm grips. This will make you a more aggressive grappler, capable of controlling the opponent quickly.
#2 – Spider Guard
The Spider Guard is the second variation I’ll review. Unlike the Collar Sleeve Guard, it utilizes you gripping both the opponent’s sides.
And again, it’s all about proper control. Of course, you want to maintain as much control over the opponent, so this guard does this perfectly.
You want to grip the opponent’s sleeves (by the end of them) and place both your feet on each side of the opponent’s arm.
Here’s what it looks like
#3 – De La Riva Guard
The De La Riva Guard is another variation of the open guard. It allows you to control the opponent by underhooking one of your legs around his leg while placing the other one on his thigh. This will enable you to gain more control than the average position and transition into more dominant positions.
#4 – Butterfly Guard
The Butterfly Guard is one of BJJ’s most dominant and effective submissions for sweeping the opponent. White and black belts can use it as one, so make sure to learn it.
Your feet need to be on the inside of the opponent’s leg, each facing the other direction and pushing the opponent’s leg. You should also use underhooks and overhooks to control the opponent as much as possible.
Now that you understand these basic open guard variations let’s review some tips you want to implement to use the open guard more effectively.
Open Guard Tips
This section will be relatively short, as I want you to start training and practicing what you learned in this article. So let’s dive into the first tip.
Tip #1 – The open guard isn’t only one variation
The open guard, unlike the closed guard, is many variations. If you want to get into closed guard, you have one thing to manage and think about.
However, there are so many variations of the open guard position. So understanding this fact will help you take your time to understand the different variations and thus progress faster.
Please don’t rush things.
Tip #2 – Learn one variation at a time
Learning only a single variation at a time will help you master the open guard quicker. But, of course, you’ll need to invest a handful number of years in mastering this position. That’s why you want to learn one variation at a time.
Tip #3 – Focus on a handful of variations
The last tip is to only focus on a handful of variations. Your aspirations shouldn’t be to learn all the variations in the world; that won’t be any good.
Instead, you want to start learning one at a time and not learn more than 3-7 variations total. Then, once you master the ones you chose, you can advance into more techniques. But take your time and don’t rush things.
Good luck.
Final Words
You’re now a proud owner of essential-to-understand knowledge that many novice grapplers don’t bother examining. You can use what you learned now in two primary ways, practice or not practice it.
You want to practice what you learned in this article to ensure you implement the basics, variations, and tips correctly.
The Open Guard isn’t the most effective type of guard. Follow this link to learn more about BJJ’s best guard positions you must learn (and how to use each one!)
Here’s another article you’ll enjoy reading!
The 7 Best Positions in BJJ: Dominate Your Opponent
BJJ 101: Reverse De La Riva Guard
X-Guard – BJJ 101 (How to Use and Finish)
BJJ 101: Spider Guard (The Proper Way)
BJJ 101: De La Riva Guard (Sweeps & Submissions)
BJJ 101: Butterfly Guard (Lots of Sweeps & Submissions)
Closed Guard 101 – Complete BJJ Guide
Pull Guard BJJ – Everything You Need to Know
13 Best Submissions From Closed & Open Guard (BJJ)
11 Best Half Guard Submissions From Top and Bottom