Competition training is in full swing!  Standard stretching opening, then we warmed up with maintaning guards and guard passing.

I worked with a complete beginner, so we stuck with closed guard and 1 guard pass.  The others worked any guard and pass combo they liked – one man stayed in guard and the top passed.  After several minutes, people switched and the other man got his turn on top.  I stuck with this guard opening. After that, I hit combat base and went for the knee cut pass.  I note that I’m moving my knee to the tailbone before I shift my other leg during my guard opener, and, like mentioned in the video, I often get swept or bumped out of posture – I’m going to try his method of shifting one leg and establishing the angle before wedging the knee in to provide pressure to open the guard.

Then it was 10 6 minute rolls with a 30 second rest between each – grab a new partner, hit a position and go.  Lower ranking person got to pick their starting point – so I got to work rear mount, mount, top side control, etc.

Left without free rolling – I’d had a good workout and was feeling better than when I arrived and wanted to keep that good vibe going!

Since there was such a focus on opening the closed guard and passing it in this class, I might as well link to some relevant videos.

Ritchie Yip’s version of breaking open the closed guard.

Ritchie Yip’s staying safe in the closed guard.

Ritchie Yip – Knee cut pass with back step

Ostap tips with Stephan Kesting – standing pass, but important detail at 3:45 about weight shift to avoid a sweep during the knee cut pass.

Kurt Osiander – closed guard passing and grip fighting.

Marcelo Garcia – good tips about keeping posture and not getting swept from a standing pass.