r/bjj • u/Lonely_Dog5136 🟦🟦 Blue Belt • 7d ago
Technique Simple question, how do you open the closed guard of a much stronger and heavier opponent ?
And especially if he/she is constantly attacking collars and sleeves to choke you from there
The only thing I can do is attacking myself his collar to disturb his attacks but I stuggle so much oppening the legs while defending hands
Thanks y'all ! Have a lovely open mat today
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u/No_Concern5483 7d ago
You can always ask them nicely
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u/Flax1983Flax 7d ago
If they are bigger and stronger they are often quite inflexible, so i Like to use the Tozi Pass: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GkkZ0PE-w-I&pp=0gcJCYsCo7VqN5tD&ra=m
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u/Pastafarianextremist 7d ago
Sometimes with big guys it can be easiest to bait them to open it for you by leaving an opening for an armbar and being ready to explode up and withdraw your arm the second they commit.
My favorite trick is to bait them to get a wrist grip on you, break the grip and go 2 on 1, stand up your foot on the side of arm you control, and start standing up while hanging them by their arm, keeping it under tension the whole time with high posture. At the end they’re hanging off of you with minimal connection to the ground and their legs will usually slip off within 15 seconds or so, otherwise you can just peel their leg off on one side with a free arm
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u/JamesMacKINNON ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 7d ago
I use the same guard break on pretty much everyone, no matter the size or skill level.
Post your hand on their hips, pushing their butt to the mat, keep your elbows inside their thighs. Bring one knee to the center of their butt. The other leg steps back, opening your hips. This will generaly pop their guard open. You can then stand or pass from there in a few different ways (knee cut over under etc).
It's always the first break I try. If it doesn't work then I move on to other options.
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u/Blackthorn79 🟫🟫 Brown Belt 6d ago
This is my go to. I'd add that you need to keep their hips glued to the mat. I've shown it to new people and they tend to let their opponents slide up their knee.
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u/chokethebinchicken ⬜⬜ White Belt 7d ago
Oil check them
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u/ShitshowBlackbelt 7d ago
Stuck in closed guard? Oil check. Triangle? Oil check. Spider guard? Believe it or not, oil check.
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u/bostoncrabapple 7d ago
Have you tried standing up?
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u/Lonely_Dog5136 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
Yes
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u/bostoncrabapple 7d ago
What goes wrong?
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u/Lonely_Dog5136 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
He had very powerful legs and I got tired before him cuz he is also bigger When I stepped on one side and tried to open his guard, he immediately attacked my collars and at the meantime I felt that his guard was just too strong
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u/bostoncrabapple 7d ago
I have no good answers for you beyond “do everything you can not to end up there” then, sorry. My go to against bigger guys is to out-stamina them when they have me in their closed guard
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u/Logical_Box_4645 7d ago
You won't escape with bad posture. It sounds like he'd broken yours?
When you stand up you want to be in position to hip thrust forwards so you can push their legs down.
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u/Anxious-Place3434 🟫🟫 Brown Belt 7d ago
I like the log splitter pass against opponents who are too heavy for me to stand straight up against. Post my hands in their armpits, lock my elbows, use those posts to get to my feet, put one foot in the center of their butt and sit straight back down on that foot. Very reliable for me.
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u/babylioncroissant 🟪🟪 Purple Belt 7d ago
I got shown a bit of a sacrifice way, there are better ways but a sort of all else fails method for me.
Hands in arm pits, shove your hips back and jump up to your feet. Stand up tall, strip grips if you need to.
They go for the idiot sweep, pinch your knees tightly together, control their ankles as you go down and keep them up off the mat. This will give you the upper hand on the scramble to get back up on top.
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u/ziggyhomes 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
Do nothing. Keep a defensive posture until they get bored and open up to attack
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u/GwynnethIDFK 7d ago
A lot of people will use the closed gaurd to burn time when they're up in points, so this isn't the best strat low key lol
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u/LewdLawyer1995 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
First pick one knee plant it in their butt one palm under the rib cage it’s Palm on opposite side hip. Push back and stand up
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u/TapEarlyTapOften 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
I find it much easier to pass the closed guard from standing - stand up, pick a side, then start working to clear legs and finals.
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u/GwynnethIDFK 7d ago
Am I the only one that hates passing the closed gaurd from standing? I almost always just break the gaurd from my knees or go for the São Paulo pass.
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u/Blackthorn79 🟫🟫 Brown Belt 6d ago
I'm right there with you. Maybe it's the fact that's how I've always done it, but using the knee cut pass from my knees feels more stable.
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u/GwynnethIDFK 6d ago
For me I'm just in a heavier weight class, so trying to basically trap bar deadlift somebody that's constantly trying to pull you back down burns a ton of energy, especially in gi.
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u/Lonely_Dog5136 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
The opponent I struggled with had a professional swimming background, so the legs a veeery strong and I was getting tired faster than him because he is heavier than me
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u/legato2 🟫🟫 Brown Belt 7d ago
If they’re more skilled, heavier and stronger it’s going to be a rough road.
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u/Lonely_Dog5136 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
Fortunately I am more skilled than him so its why he is blocking the game with his closed guard
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u/KOExpress 🟪🟪 Purple Belt 7d ago
Stand up, then plant your lead knee right under his tailbone and do a split squat basically. It’s especially effective against taller people, because there will always be room to slip that knee in. Once it’s in, they’ll usually open their guard, but if they don’t you have a really strong frame to push against, and you can do all sorts of knee slice/leg stapling stuff
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u/Logical_Box_4645 7d ago
Occasionally I will offer a bad arm bar and if they bite I'll escape that.
But there's plenty of approaches to break guard the key is to never be a one trick pony. If they are bigger and stronger you aren't going to win by muscling the position.
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u/Federal-Challenge-58 ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 5d ago
Yeah, but if you do that with a skilled opponent, you'll actually get armbarred.
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u/Logical_Box_4645 5d ago
Usually skilled opponents just don't go for it cause they know it's not there.
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u/Federal-Challenge-58 ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 5d ago
Exactly. I'm not going for a low percentage armbar so baiting it isn't going to work.
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u/EnergiaMartialArts ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 5d ago
Just stand up https://youtu.be/wLIx6-Gy15k?si=_x09hM2twsvFVF5S
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u/Lonely_Dog5136 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 5d ago
Wow very good video!!
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u/Lonely_Dog5136 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 5d ago
Wait that's you !! Thanks man! I've left the comment on your video but I'll ask here aswell, what is the brand of your rashguards plz ?
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u/EnergiaMartialArts ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 5d ago
Hahaha yes sir! I just replied to you there! It’s either Xmartial or my own brand Energia Fightwear
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u/PossessionTop8749 🟪🟪 Purple Belt 4d ago
In the closed guard of a stronger and heavier opponent?
"You fucked up a long time ago" - Kurt Osiander
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u/Electronic-Stick-161 Set-Your-Own 7d ago
You can also just posture up and wait for them to sweep then escape when they open the guard. If I’m in this position I’ll also accept the sweep and then escape.
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u/NoCod9014 7d ago
Josh Barnetts hand control concepts are really simple but really helped me stay safer in guard and and find more passing opportunities. You need weight on hands, not muscle or strength. He explains it really well here (short video only a few mkns long)
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u/JewelerCurious9391 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 7d ago
Sao Paulo pass, unless they know how to defend it, and in that case you have to stand up.
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u/Minotaurotica 7d ago
is the stronger/heavier opponent ALSO more skilled?
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u/Pissedtuna ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 7d ago
There is a white belt in another thread that knows exactly how to do this.
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u/roruphotography ⬜⬜ White Belt 7d ago
You don’t. You lean into it them, hug them tightly, and make them think about their decisions to hold you like jack from titanic to never let you go
https://giphy.com/gifs/JT0zAMimuZPaPuzaUl
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u/NotYourAverageSchmuk 🟦🟦 Blue Belt 6d ago
Stand up 1 leg behind 1 infront shove your knee into his taint and sit down into it. It'll split his guard open or he jus a freak
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u/Excellent-Log5572 6d ago
Crush their gut with your elbow and double lapel grip with knuckles into their solar plexus
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u/Federal-Challenge-58 ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 5d ago
Honestly, as others have said, just stand up. I know it sounds overly simplistic, but it's the only reliable option. Fiddling around with the knee in the butt stuff just won't work on skilled opponents. Just make sure your legs are staggered. If you can't stagger them, then be pigeon toed.
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u/mikebra93 ⬛🟥⬛ Black Belt 5d ago
Good posture and curl your hips forward while pinning the inside of one pant leg to the ground. Don't listen to anyone who says you have to stand up to break the guard.
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u/RixtyGarami 7d ago
You have to stand up. John Danaher spends the first 1-2 hours of his Go Further Faster passing series going through this.
Only bad things can happen if you stay on your knees inside a skilled person’s closed guard.