Open Full Guard
From FightWiki
Just because your legs aren’t closed doesn’t mean that you can’t control or attack your opponent - far from it! There are many positional variations, sweeps and submission setups for the Open Guard, making it the bread and butter for many Jiu-jitsu competitors.
You can transition deliberately from the Closed Guard to an Open Guard, or your opponent can do it for you by forcing your ankles to uncross as part of a guard pass attempt. Regardless of how you get there, in Open Guard the options and possibilities expand considerably.
Once achieved, the Open Guard isn’t quite as neat and tidy as the Closed Guard. There is less static control available in Open Guard and positions often change in an instant. You may be in Spider Guard one minute and in de la Riva the next. It becomes important to be able to transition between different Open Guards in order to stay a step ahead.
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BASIC OPEN GUARD
The Standard Open Guard applied against a kneeling opponent
It is difficult to exactly define the Standard Open Guard, because it is such a dynamic and variable position, seamlessly flowing into other guard positions and/or borrowing elements from them. Nevertheless, we first heard the term “Standard Open Guard” from BJJ black belt Marc Laimon, and think that it is a very useful term.
We define the Standard Open Guard as a position where your legs are not locked around your opponent’s waist, and at least one foot (but often both) is on your opponent’s hips. Having a foot on the opponent’s hip enables you to control the space between you. There are different upper body controls, each offering different sweep, submission and transition setups.
When the gi is worn the Standard Open Guard and the Spider Guard are very closely related: it is hard to use one without using the other at some point. Also keep in mind that in MMA it is imperative to control the opponent’s wrists or elbows, or to push your opponent away with your legs to prevent strikes.
SPIDER GUARD
The Spider Guard being used against a kneeling opponent (both feet on biceps)
The Spider Guard is a position mostly used in gi grappling. It is characterized by gripping your opponent’s sleeves and placing at least one foot on his bicep; the other foot can also be placed on the bicep, or it can push the hip, hook behind the knee, encircle the arm, or otherwise control/off balance your opponent. As the Spider Guard controls the opponent while your hips remain free it offers great off-balancing and sweeping options with the triangle choke remaining a constant threat as well.
The Spider Guard is applicable whether your opponent is standing or kneeling. It also transitions well to other guards like the de la Riva Guard, the Upside-Down Guard, the Grasshopper Guard, etc.
CROSS GUARD
The Cross Guard using a sleeve and pant leg grip against a kneeling opponent.
The Cross Guard is another gi-specific position. It relies on cross-grabbing the opponent’s opposite sleeve with one hand and gripping or underhooking his leg with the other. In the Cross Guard you have a number of sweeping and submission options, the most common being the omo plata submission, omo plata sweeps and the triangle choke. Pe De Pano is probably the most famous exponent of the Cross Guard.
GRASSHOPPER GUARD
Elliott Bayev demonstrates the Grasshopper Guard
Most commonly attained from Spider Guard or when an opponent is passing with double underhooks, this is a gi-dependent position named by Elliott Bayev. It is characterized by sleeve control and butterfly hooks or crossed ankles, with the opponent’s arms hooked under the legs.
The control over the opponent’s arms and shoulders offers a number of unique sweep, submission and back-taking options. There is always the danger, however, of the opponent passing your guard if you lose your grips or butterfly hooks.
UPSIDE DOWN GUARD
The Upside Down Guard in action
The Upside Down Guard is an unusual position in which the practitioner inverts himself, keeping his feet in contact with his opponent. This can be done either intentionally or in response to an attempted guard pass.
When used in gi competition this position is sometimes maintained for some time; in no gi situations it is more commonly only a momentary, transitional position. In either case, the most common submission from this position is probably the triangle choke, but it also leads into a variety of sweeps and submissions.
OCTOPUS GUARD
The Octopus Guard in no-gi
The Octopus Guard was named by BJJ and submission grappling competitor Eduardo Telles. In this position you duck under your opponent’s armpit and lock his body down by placing your arm across his back. This position opens up various sweeps and submissions, as well as a clear route to your opponent’s back. With slight variations the Octopus Guard can be applied from the Closed Guard, the Open Guard or even the Half Guard.
Once again, Telles is not the only person to have developed and used this position. BJ Penn, for example, used it to take Matt Hughes’s back in their second battle at UFC 63.
