Postured Guard

Postured Guard refers to the position where the top player maintains a strong, upright posture while inside the bottom player’s Closed Guard or Open Guard. The purpose of this posture is to control the engagement, defend against submissions, and prepare for effective Guard Pass Overview. Maintaining a Postured Guard minimizes the risk of being broken down or off-balanced while maximizing mobility and control.

Key Features of Postured Guard

Posture

  • Keep your back straight and head aligned with your spine, avoiding leaning too far forward.
  • Engage your core to resist the bottom player’s attempts to break your posture.

Base

  • Your knees should be wide, creating a stable base that resists sweeps and maintains balance.
  • Feet should remain active, driving into the mat for additional stability.

Frames and Grips

  • Hands are used to control the opponent’s hips, sleeves, or belt to manage distance and prevent their attacks.
  • Forearms may frame against their torso or thighs to limit their hip movement.

Objectives of Postured Guard

Control the Bottom Player

  • Limit their ability to break your posture or set up submissions and sweeps.

Prepare for Guard Passing

Defend Against Attacks

Common Techniques from Postured Guard

Guard Passes

Knee Cut Pass

  • Maintain posture while controlling their leg, then slide your knee through their Guard to pass.

Over-Under Pass

  • Scoop under one of their legs and drive forward while maintaining your upright posture.

Toreando Pass

  • Use grips on their legs or hips, maintain posture, and circle around their guard.

Escapes

Posture Break Defense

  • If they attempt to pull you forward, engage your core and push back against their grips.

Closed Guard Break

  • Maintain posture, stand up, and use your hands to open their legs.

Armbar Defense

  • Stack them forward to relieve pressure and pull your arm out while maintaining posture.

Counter-Offense

Double Underhook Guard Pass

  • Use strong posture to scoop under their legs and stack them forward, passing their guard.

Stack Defense

  • If they attack with a Triangle Choke or Armbar, posture up and stack them to nullify the submission.

Tips for Effective Postured Guard

  • Focus on maintaining an upright spine and engaged core to resist their attempts to pull you down.
  • Control their hips and grips to limit their mobility and prevent attacks.
  • Use your base to stay balanced and resist sweeps, ensuring your knees are wide and feet are active.
  • Transition smoothly into passing sequences once you’ve established control.

Postured Guard is a foundational position for guard passing and defensive play, emphasizing the importance of posture, weight distribution, and frames to control and neutralize the bottom player’s offense.

Advancing Postured Guard

Postured Guard serves as a neutral position for setting up passes, defending against attacks, and transitioning into more dominant positions while maintaining control and minimizing risk. It emphasizes strong posture, base, and grip fighting to dictate the pace of the engagement.

Transitions from Postured Guard

To Standing

  • Maintain posture, grip their belt or pants, and stand up while controlling their hips to prepare for guard breaking.

To Combat Base

  • Shift one leg forward into a knee-up position, maintaining posture, to enter Combat Base for additional stability.

To Open Guard Passing Position

  • Break their guard and establish grips to transition into a dominant passing position like Headquarters.

To Half Guard Top

  • If their guard opens, drive one knee through their legs while keeping posture to establish Half Guard Top.

Submissions from Postured Guard

Stack Choke

  • If they attack with a Triangle Choke, stack them forward and use pressure to apply a counter-choke.

Wrist Lock

  • If they grip your collar or sleeves, control their wrist and apply pressure to finish the lock.

Can Opener

  • Secure grips behind their neck and apply pulling pressure if permitted by the ruleset.

Sweeps from Postured Guard (Bottom Player Defense)

Hip Bump Sweep

  • If they overcommit their posture forward, sit up and bump their hips to destabilize and sweep them.

Scissor Sweep

  • Break their posture and use your shin and grips to topple them to one side.

Tripod Sweep

  • Grip their pants and ankle, push on their hip, and pull their base out to sweep.

Passes from Postured Guard

Knee Cut Pass

  • Maintain posture while pinning their leg, then slice your knee through their Guard to pass into Side Control.

Over-Under Pass

  • Scoop one leg under your arm and drive forward while keeping an upright posture to control their hips.

Toreando Pass

  • Grip their pant legs, maintain posture, and circle around their guard to pass.

Double Underhook Pass

  • Establish strong grips under their legs, stack them forward, and slide past their guard.

Leg Drag Pass

  • Drag one of their legs across your body while pinning their hips to secure a pass.

Escapes from Postured Guard (Top Player)

Breaking Closed Guard

  • Stand up from your posture, control their hips, and use your hands or knees to open their guard.

Posture Break Defense

  • If they attempt to break your posture, grip their hips or shoulders and drive backward to reestablish control.

Armbar Defense

  • Stack them forward and pull your arm out of danger while maintaining posture.

Triangle Choke Defense

  • Posture up, control their hips, and stack them forward to relieve pressure and escape.

Takedowns from Postured Guard

Guard Pull to Trip

  • Engage their legs and grips, break their guard, and sweep their base to take them down.

Double-Leg Takedown

  • If they attempt to sit up, use your posture to drive forward and shoot for a Double-Leg Takedown.

Ankle Pick Takedown

  • Stand up from posture and control their ankle and collar, driving them backward for the takedown.

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