Closed guard is the bottom position where you lie on your back with your legs wrapped around your partner's waist and your ankles crossed behind them. It is the first guard most BJJ players learn and the one most of the classic submissions start from.
- In BJJ: the base position for the armbar, the triangle choke, the kimura, the cross collar choke and the scissor sweep.
- The closed guard is the only guard where the top player has to open your legs before they can pass.
- Posture is the whole fight. When their head is above their hips they can work; when it is pulled down to your chest they can only defend.
What is closed guard?
With your ankles locked behind their back, your partner cannot stand up and walk away, cannot settle their weight on you, and cannot pass without first breaking the lock. Your legs do the holding, so your hands are free to fight for grips, break posture and start attacks.
The top player's whole job here is to stand up or wedge a knee in and open the guard. Your job is to keep them bent forward and make them pay for every attempt.
How do you play closed guard?
- Lock your ankles behind their back and keep your knees pinched on their ribs, so your legs hold them without constant squeezing.
- Break their posture: grip the collar or the back of the head with one hand and a sleeve or wrist with the other, then pull them down as you lift your hips.
- Keep your hips off the mat and moving. Angle them to one side so you are never flat and square underneath them.
- Control at least one arm at all times. An arm you control is an armbar, a kimura or a sweep waiting to happen.
- Attack in chains: armbar to triangle, scissor sweep to hip bump, so a defence of one hands you the next.
The most common mistake is lying flat and squeezing with the legs while waiting. That tires your legs and does nothing to the top player. Posture breaks and hip movement are what make the closed guard dangerous.
What are the rules for the closed guard?
The IBJJF Rules Book defines the guard as using one or more legs to block the opponent from reaching side control or north-south. Getting past the legs to side control or north-south and holding it for three seconds scores the guard pass, 3 points; a reversal from the guard held for three seconds scores the sweep, 2 points.
Two fouls catch guard players: pulling guard, sitting or kneeling without first taking a grip, and gripping inside the opening of the sleeve or trouser leg with the fingers. Both are serious fouls.
Two more rules apply. Jumping into closed guard on a standing opponent is a foul for everyone under 15 and for white belts of every age, flying triangles and flying armbars included. Squeezing the kidneys or ribs with the legs locked is illegal for everyone under 18 and for adult white belts. Holding the opponent tight without trying to submit or sweep counts as stalling.
In judo the IJF Sport and Organisation Rules stop a pin while the holder's leg or body is caught by the other player's legs, so the closed guard prevents osaekomi.
What do you attack from closed guard?
When they stand to open your guard, switch to an open guard or sweep them as they rise. When they wedge a knee in, move to half guard rather than letting them pass. The first months of guard work are mostly rounds spent exactly here; our BJJ training gear has the kit for them.
Sources
- IBJJF Rules Book, IBJJF
- IJF Sport and Organisation Rules, International Judo Federation
Related terms
Open guard, Half guard, Armbar, Triangle choke, Sweep, Posture.