Tag: jiu-jitsu

If you practice Jiu Jitsu, you probably know what open mat is and love it. This is a beloved training session amongst grapplers, where they get to hang out with their friends and train.

Some may see open mats as hang out sessions, but they are extremely beneficial to attend. Here are some of the numerous benefits of training at open mats and why you should attend them.

What is an open mat? 

Open mat is a time a BJJ schools sets a side for students to train when there are no scheduled classes. This training session usually takes place on the weekends or whenever the gym is closed for a holiday. 

A normal open mat training session usually lasts between 1-2 two hours. Just enough time to break a good sweat before students go back to spend time with their families.

There is no structure or lesson and the students are free to practice how they want. However, there is generally a black belt or high belt present to ensure the rules of the gym are being followed.

The benefits of open mat

There are numerous benefits to attending open mats. Here are the main reasons why you should consider hitting up these training sessions.

Get extra training in

Of course, the most obvious benefit of attending open mat is that you get the chance to get extra training in. Even on days where there isn’t an official Jiu Jitsu class, many students still want to train.

That is why nearly every gym sets a side one day a week for free training. Letting their students come in to free roll or work on their technique.

It’s highly recommended that you hit these training sessions if you’re serious about improving your Jiu Jitsu skills.

Make up for missed training time

There are certain weeks when your job and personal life get in the way of your training. That’s why some BJJ gyms will set aside a certain day of the week to have an open mat training session.

Just as a way to let students that missed training for whatever reason can get something in that week. 

Train for a competition

Open mat is extremely beneficial if you’re in the middle of training for a BJJ competition. During these free training sessions, those training for a competition can just go all out.

Training nonstop and rolling with all of your teammates to break a sweat and tire yourself out. Getting open mats in along with your regular training during the week will get you prepared for your competition.

They may even help you bring home a gold medal.

Drilling

Most grapplers come to open mats to roll, but there are others that come to these training sessions to drill. Getting this extra time to drill can infinitely improve your game by focusing on different movements.

Some of the drills you can do during an open mat include:

• Guard Passing
• Positional Escapes
• Takedowns
• Submissions
• Submission Defenses
• Transitions
• Sweeps

Trying new moves 

This extra training time gives you the opportunity to expand your game and try something new. Trying different moves that you don’t usually try in your normal BJJ game.

Doing anything from working on your guard if you’re a guard passer or vice versa. Maybe even trying a new submission or sweep.

The possibilities are endless and you should take this extra time to add another facet to your game.

Fix your technique

Not only are open mats extra time for you to roll, but also a time to fix your technique. If you’re having a problem with a certain technique, you can ask your instructor or teammates for advice.

Pick their brains and ask them how to correctly do a move that you’re having problems with. They’ll walk you through how to do the technique, then you can drill it until you get the move down.  

Taking advantage of open mats to fix your technique is beneficial to your progression in Jiu Jitsu.

Visit other BJJ schools 

Not only do open mats give you the chance to get extra training in, but also to visit other BJJ schools. You may have friends in other academies that you only get to train with sometimes.

By going to your friend’s Jiu Jitsu school, you get to train with a brand new group of people. New training partners that don’t know what type of game you play and you don’t know what they play.

Giving you a chance to see how your BJJ game stacks up against grapplers from another academy. You’ll find out what aspects of your Jiu Jitsu are good and other parts that you need to work on.

Socialize with your friends

For most of us that train, our circle of friends are the people we train with. We spend most of our day at work and then meet up with them a few hours a week. 

Attending open mats can give you an excuse to go socialize with your friends. Attending these training sessions every week with your friends is great for your mental health and will make good memories.

Having fun

Arguably the best thing about an open mat session is that they’re just fun to attend. Jiu Jitsu is a fun hobby that is really enjoyable to participate in.

Open mat gives you the chance to hang loose and just have a good time training the martial art you enjoy. There’s nothing more fun than a good training session at an open mat.

Argument against open mat 

While attending open mat has numerous benefits, there are some BJJ professors that aren’t fans of this type of training. Not that they are against free training, but the choices a small majority of their students make.

Some BJJ students prefer to just have fun and tend to only show up for non formal training sessions. Training sessions, where students just free roll and joke around.

This is really the only negative against open mats, but it’s a valid complaint. There are some BJJ students who need to take their training more seriously and attend more classes than just open mats.

Go hit up an open mat

If you’re serious about your BJJ training, do yourself a favor and attend different open mats. They give you extra mat time to not only improve your Jiu Jitsu skills, but also your health. You also get to spend more time with your friends and practice the martial art you love.

The Ruotolo brothers, Kade and Tye are two of the most talented young stars on the Jiu Jitsu scene today. Kade and Tye have been making waves in BJJ even before they were teens.

Now as young black belts, they are positioned to set the Jiu Jitsu world on fire and become champions. Here is the story so far of the Ruotolo brothers and their rise to stardom in BJJ.

Detailing their start in Jiu Jitsu and how they trained to become two of the best in the world.

The Ruotolo brothers start in BJJ

The Ruotolo brothers started training Jiu Jitsu from the time they could walk. Their father is an avid grappler that encouraged them to train and got them in BJJ when they were just three.

All they ever wanted to do was BJJ training, which their parents fully encouraged. Cleber Luciano was the twins first Jiu Jitsu coach, who would train them for a few years.

The Ruotolo brothers become sponsored athletes 

While first training with Luciano, the Ruotolo brothers would compete every weekend and began getting noticed. Their commitment and look drew the attention of different companies that sponsored BJJ and MMA athletes.

The brand RVCA would approach the twins’ parents to offer their sons a sponsorship. This sponsorship would make the Ruotolo twins two of the youngest sponsored BJJ athletes in the world.

They would keep getting more attention and earning more medals at different tournaments throughout the west coast.

The Ruotolo brothers time with the AOJ Academy 

Two other brothers that the Ruotolo twins look up to were the Mendes brothers Rafael and Guilhereme. During the early 2010s, the Mendes brothers would partner with RVCA to open their Art Of Jiu-Jitsu Academy.

This connection with RVCA would lead Kade and Tye to join the AOJ team. They trained under the Mendes brothers for around four years learning their patented berimbolo attacks and leg drag passes.

The Ruotolo brothers join Atos 

When Kade and Tye were training at AOJ, the school was still an affiliate of the Atos team. Atos founder Andre Galvao quickly took notice of the twins and saw that they were already immensely talented.

Galvao would offer the twins a scholarship to train for free at his school and take them under his wing. Kade and Tye accepted the offer to train under the multiple time world champion.

This is when the Ruotolo’s really started to get noticed by the BJJ world. They were only green belts when they joined Atos, but everyone that saw them compete knew they were special talents.

Under Galvao’s tutelage, Kade and Tye would hone their talents. The twins would win every single major kids and juvenile competition multiple times without much resistance.

This would include at the rank of juvenile blue belt that they briefly stayed at before getting their purple belt. At 15, they would already consistently beat high level black belt competitors. 

The Ruotolo brothers win worlds at brown belt and earn their black belts

Galvo knew Cade and Tye and Tye were talented beyond their years and belt rank. When the boys turned 16, Andre would award the twins with their brown belts.

The two would continue their pursuit to greatness starting with the 2019 European Open. Kade would take gold in the brown belt absolute division, while Tye won the middleweight weight class.

Their next big test would be at that year’s world championship, where they would close out their division. Winning their first world titles at brown belts.

They wouldn’t repeat in 2020 due to the global pandemic, but would come back better than ever in 2021. Kade and Tye would once again close out the world winning their second world title at nearly 18 years old.

This would lead Andre Galvao to award the brothers with their black belts that were more than deserved.

The Ruotolo brothers sign with One Championship

The Ruotolo brothers made big news in early 2022, signing a multi grappling match deal with One Championship. This was at the same time, their coach signed his deal to make his comeback to competition. Kade and Tye would make their debuts later on in the year before the IBJJF Worlds took place.

Kade Ruotolo’s accomplishments

Kade Ruotolo has made some special moments in his young Jiu Jitsu career. He’s not even 20 years old and has already made a name for himself beating the best BJJ athletes out there. 

Kade Ruotolo’s early run on the pro grappling circuit 

Before Kade earned his black belt, he was already competing against high level black belts on the pro circuit. Early on in his career, he would be a regular on events like WNO, Grapple Fest, and Kumite.

Beating big names like B-Team founder Ethan Crelinsten twice and winning the WNO championship at 77 KG.

Kade Ruotolo wins the EBI Combat Jiu Jitsu Championship 

One of Kade’s biggest accomplishments that took everyone by surprise was competing at the Combat Jiu Jitsu Championship in 2020. The Jiu Jitsu competition that includes slaps on the ground.

Kade would have dominant performances to make it to the finals of the event. He would face 10th Planet black belt PJ Barch, who was the favorite to win the event.

Ruotolo would hit his patented buggy choke to win the Combat Jiu Jitsu Championship.

Kade Ruotolo qualifies for ADCC 2022

Kade would compete in the west coast qualifiers for the 2022 ADCC Championship. In 2019, he let his brother Tye compete in that event, but this time Kade would get his turn.

In this qualifier competition, Kade would have 8 matches in one day against some of the best in the world. He had some outstanding performances that included beating Magid Hage and PJ Barch in a rematch in the semifinals.

The finals of this event would be Kade vs William Tackett that Kade would edge out by a referee decision. Punching his ticket to the ADCC 2022 tournament.

Kade Ruotolo beats Shinya Aoki

Kade and Tye would sign a deal to grapple for the Singapore based MMA promotion One Championship in 2022. In his debut, Kade would compete against MMA legend and grappling ace Shinya Aoki.

This was one of the biggest tests of Kade’s young career and he dominated Aoki. Creating some of the most spectacular moments of the event by using the cage to take Aoki’s back.

He would win a decision over the MMA veteran.

Tye Ruotolo’s accomplishments 

Tye Ruotolo has had some impressive wins of his own in BJJ competition. Beating some of the best grapplers in the world in numerous events.

Tye Rutolo’s ADCC debut 

At just 16 years old, Tye Ruotolo would compete in his first ADCC Championship in 2019. Facing some stiff competition in the 66 KG division.

He would win his first two matches, but drop his third match to Kennedy Maciel. Then losing the bronze medal match against world champion Paulo Miyao.

Tye Ruotolo early run on the pro grappling circuit 

Tye would get numerous offers to compete in events on the pro grappling circuit. Competing in events like WNO, F2W, and Grapplefest.

He would win the WNO 84 KG tournament in 2021, which included beating the highly touted  Micah Galvao in the title match. 

Tye Ruotolo bears Garry Tonon 

Ruotolo was able to pull off one of the most shocking upsets in 2022 at his One Championship. He came in a big underdog against veteran and fan favorite Garry Tonon.

Tye dominated Tonon from the opening second of their match. He was able to lock in a darce to get the win in just two minutes and shocked the world.

Tye Rutolo’s run at Worlds 2022

Tye would compete at the 2022 IBJJF World Championship, while his brother Kade sat out of this event. He would compete in the 76 KG division that was arguably the most talented division of the tournament.

In his first match, Tye would face young AOJ student Jonatha Alves. Beating alves by points 4-2

He would then shut out Levi Jones 8-0 in his quarter finals match and the shutout Gracie Barra standout Lucas Valente.

The finals of the 76 KG division would be Tye taking on Micah Galvao in a rematch. They would have a back and forth battle for 10 minutes with Micah Galvao winning the bout 2-0.

Ruotolo came up short, but said he would be back again next year to try and win the title again.

What’s the future for the Ruotolo brothers?

The Ruotolo brothers are two of the most talented stars in Jiu Jitsu with a bright future ahead of them. Kade is making his ADCC debut this year and Tye came in 2nd at this year’s IBJJF World Championships.

They are both at the beginning of their career and already accomplished more than many seasoned pro grappling athletes. We will no doubt be seeing more of the Ruotolo brothers in the future.

The buggy choke is the latest fade technique to hit the Jiu Jitsu world. Since it was introduced, the buggy choke has been attempted in everything from Jiu Jitsu competitions and MMA.

It has caught on like wildfire and now just about everyone is trying to do the buggy choke. Since everyone is going for it, a breakdown of the buggy choke seems to be needed. 

Here is everything you need to know about the buggy choke. From who invented it, how it works, and important details you’ll need to remember for locking it in.

Who invented the buggy choke? 

There are two different people that claim to have invented the buggy the choke. The first was a Ralph Gracie white belt named Austin Hardt that showed after tapping all of his teammates with it.

Austin and his professors claim that he came up with the move in 2016. After tapping all of his teammates, Hardt uploaded a buggy choke instructional and the BJJ community loved it.

Then after the buggy choke first started getting popular, black belt named Jacob Sebastian Magee claimed he invented the buggy choke. Claiming that he started doing it 5 years before Austin’s video was uploaded to Youtube.

There’s no way to confirm Magee’s claim, but either way the buggy choke has become quite popular.

Now, there are currently three different variations of the choke and many variations will be developed in the future. The choke has now been pulled off multiple times within both MMA and BJJ competitions.

How does the buggy choke work? 

The buggy choke is basically a variation of a reverse triangle choke from bottom side-control. It has caught a lot of grapplers off guard, because having side-control is one of the most dominant positions in grappling.

In this choke, you lock up your triangle with your arm in. Your arm blocks off blood to one side of your opponent’s neck and your legs block off the other part.

It comes on quickly and before your opponent realizes it, they’ll have to tap or go to sleep.

Ruotolo bros buggy choke 

The Ruotolo bros buggy choke from on bottom in side-control starts with you getting on your side and turning into your opponent. While you’re turning, you also bring your outside arm to the other side of your head.

It may feel like you’re giving up an arm triangle, but if you stay on your side, you should avoid the choke. When you turn in, your opponent will naturally react by trying to flatten you back down with force.

This is the reaction you want for your opponent to get as close as possible to you. If they’re really strong, you can cup their shoulder and lift up to relieve some of the pressure.

You’re going to stay on your side and bring your outside leg to your arm. Taking an underhook right under your knee to make the buggy choke tight.

Make sure to do a side crunch when grabbing your leg to keep your opponent’s head in place. Now, to lock in the choke, Gable grip your hands, triangle your legs, and pull your opponent in as you squeeze.

Buggy choke variation #2 

The original buggy choke that Austin Hardt came up with has exactly the same steps as the Ruotolo brother’s version. But Austin’s original buggy choke, he doesn’t triangle his legs or locks his hands together.

You start out the same in side-control on the bottom and frame on your opponent to get on your side. Pushing on them as you bring your outside arm to the other side of your head.

Your opponent will instinctively try to smash you back down to the mat. When they do this, stay on your side and bring your outside foot to your hand.

Grab the top of your foot and pull down on it to try and get the finish. The Ruotolo brother’s version is better with triangling your legs and palm grips, but the original is effective.

Buggy choke variation #3

There is another version of the buggy choke that was developed, that’s done turning away from your opponent. Austin Hardt also developed this version to attack the buggy choke from both sides.

For this one to work, you can’t let your opponent establish control of your inside. If they control this arm, then you won’t be able to do this buggy choke variation.

A good way to start this variation is to do the first steps of the normal buggy choke. Frame on your opponent’s neck and elbow escape out to make space.

When you make this space, you can pull your inside arm away and turn to your outside hip. Generally it’s a critical error to turn away from your opponent, but you’re using it as bait.

They will instinctively follow you and try to smash you to the mat. Your inside arm is going to go over your opponent’s neck as you’re basing on your outside elbow.

Now, bring your inside foot to you hand and grab your foot as you sit up. Your opponent will base out with their hand to defend this, which allows you to triangle your legs together.

To finish, scoop your hips, connect your hands, and squeeze to get the tap.This video demonstrates the last two buggy choke variations detailed above.

How to defend against the buggy choke 

BJJ grapplers have been getting tricky with the buggy choke, so you really have to watch out for it now. Here are some techniques that you can use to defend against the buggy choke.

Drive your head up

When your opponent brings their arm over your head, that is a clear sign that they’re going for the choke. If you keep your head down, this will allow them to continue their buggy choke set up.

But as you see them bring their arm over, you need to drive you head up towards their head. Driving your head up will create more space and prevent your opponent from continuing their set up.

Block opponent’s hip

If your opponent is already locking in their buggy choke, you have to react quickly to prevent being submitted. What you can do to try and defend it is block their hip using your elbow.

As you block their hip, you’re going to drive your head forward. Doing this will help open space between your neck and shoulder, which will take off the pressure.

Bend opponent’s neck

This is your last line of defense when your opponent has their buggy choke locked in. You’re going to do the same defense as the second option with extra detail added.

Take your far elbow over your opponent’s head and push it back into their neck. This bends their head away from their body, which makes their body unaligned with their head.

It is extremely hard to finish chokes when your head and body aren’t aligned. This video demonstrates the details of all three of these defenses.

Tips to remember for doing the buggy choke

The buggy choke is a great move to add to your arsonal, but you will need to get the details down. Here are important tips that you will need to remember when going for a buggy choke.

• Get on your side: For any variation of the buggy choke to work, you must get on your side. If you stay flat on your back, your opponent will get pressure on you and prevent the choke.
• Clear the head: When you do an elbow escape to make space, your arm needs to clear your opponent’s head. Your tricep needs to press down on the side of their neck as you stay on your side.
• Side crunch: Before you try to bring your leg over, do a side crunch to push your opponent’s head down. This will make it easier to underhook your leg and help make the choke tight.
• Arm under knee: To make the buggy choke tighter and harder to escape, make sure to underhook at the crook of your knee. Picture doing an uppercut to shoot your arm under your knee.
• The Locks: To finish the original buggy choke, you just grab your foot, but the locks make it tighter and harder to escape. After under-hooking your leg, triangle your legs, and Gable grip your hands together to make your choke even tighter.(Also harder to escape)
• The finish: You finish a buggy choke just like you would a traditional reverse triangle choke. Try to turn onto your outside hip as you squeeze in to get the most pressure possible.
• Base on elbow: Also, when doing the buggy choke variation on your outside hip to base on your elbow. If you do not base on that elbow, your opponent will flatten you out or even go for a back take.

The buggy choke is the latest fade technique to hit the Jiu Jitsu world. Since it was introduced, the buggy choke has been attempted in everything from Jiu Jitsu competitions and MMA.

It has caught on like wildfire and now just about everyone is trying to do the buggy choke. Since everyone is going for it, a breakdown of the buggy choke seems to be needed. 

Here is everything you need to know about the buggy choke. From who invented it, how it works, and important details you’ll need to remember for locking it in.

Who invented the buggy choke? 

There are two different people that claim to have invented the buggy the choke. The first was a Ralph Gracie white belt named Austin Hardt that showed after tapping all of his teammates with it.

Austin and his professors claim that he came up with the move in 2016. After tapping all of his teammates, Hardt uploaded a buggy choke instructional and the BJJ community loved it.

Then after the buggy choke first started getting popular, black belt named Jacob Sebastian Magee claimed he invented the buggy choke. Claiming that he started doing it 5 years before Austin’s video was uploaded to Youtube.

There’s no way to confirm Magee’s claim, but either way the buggy choke has become quite popular.

Now, there are currently three different variations of the choke and many variations will be developed in the future. The choke has now been pulled off multiple times within both MMA and BJJ competitions.

How does the buggy choke work? 

The buggy choke is basically a variation of a reverse triangle choke from bottom side-control. It has caught a lot of grapplers off guard, because having side-control is one of the most dominant positions in grappling.

In this choke, you lock up your triangle with your arm in. Your arm blocks off blood to one side of your opponent’s neck and your legs block off the other part.

It comes on quickly and before your opponent realizes it, they’ll have to tap or go to sleep.

Ruotolo bros buggy choke 

The Ruotolo bros buggy choke from on bottom in side-control starts with you getting on your side and turning into your opponent. While you’re turning, you also bring your outside arm to the other side of your head.

It may feel like you’re giving up an arm triangle, but if you stay on your side, you should avoid the choke. When you turn in, your opponent will naturally react by trying to flatten you back down with force.

This is the reaction you want for your opponent to get as close as possible to you. If they’re really strong, you can cup their shoulder and lift up to relieve some of the pressure.

You’re going to stay on your side and bring your outside leg to your arm. Taking an underhook right under your knee to make the buggy choke tight.

Make sure to do a side crunch when grabbing your leg to keep your opponent’s head in place. Now, to lock in the choke, Gable grip your hands, triangle your legs, and pull your opponent in as you squeeze.

Buggy choke variation #2 

The original buggy choke that Austin Hardt came up with has exactly the same steps as the Ruotolo brother’s version. But Austin’s original buggy choke, he doesn’t triangle his legs or locks his hands together.

You start out the same in side-control on the bottom and frame on your opponent to get on your side. Pushing on them as you bring your outside arm to the other side of your head.

Your opponent will instinctively try to smash you back down to the mat. When they do this, stay on your side and bring your outside foot to your hand.

Grab the top of your foot and pull down on it to try and get the finish. The Ruotolo brother’s version is better with triangling your legs and palm grips, but the original is effective.

Buggy choke variation #3

There is another version of the buggy choke that was developed, that’s done turning away from your opponent. Austin Hardt also developed this version to attack the buggy choke from both sides.

For this one to work, you can’t let your opponent establish control of your inside. If they control this arm, then you won’t be able to do this buggy choke variation.

A good way to start this variation is to do the first steps of the normal buggy choke. Frame on your opponent’s neck and elbow escape out to make space.

When you make this space, you can pull your inside arm away and turn to your outside hip. Generally it’s a critical error to turn away from your opponent, but you’re using it as bait.

They will instinctively follow you and try to smash you to the mat. Your inside arm is going to go over your opponent’s neck as you’re basing on your outside elbow.

Now, bring your inside foot to you hand and grab your foot as you sit up. Your opponent will base out with their hand to defend this, which allows you to triangle your legs together.

To finish, scoop your hips, connect your hands, and squeeze to get the tap.This video demonstrates the last two buggy choke variations detailed above.

How to defend against the buggy choke 

BJJ grapplers have been getting tricky with the buggy choke, so you really have to watch out for it now. Here are some techniques that you can use to defend against the buggy choke.

Drive your head up

When your opponent brings their arm over your head, that is a clear sign that they’re going for the choke. If you keep your head down, this will allow them to continue their buggy choke set up.

But as you see them bring their arm over, you need to drive you head up towards their head. Driving your head up will create more space and prevent your opponent from continuing their set up.

Block opponent’s hip

If your opponent is already locking in their buggy choke, you have to react quickly to prevent being submitted. What you can do to try and defend it is block their hip using your elbow.

As you block their hip, you’re going to drive your head forward. Doing this will help open space between your neck and shoulder, which will take off the pressure.

Bend opponent’s neck

This is your last line of defense when your opponent has their buggy choke locked in. You’re going to do the same defense as the second option with extra detail added.

Take your far elbow over your opponent’s head and push it back into their neck. This bends their head away from their body, which makes their body unaligned with their head.

It is extremely hard to finish chokes when your head and body aren’t aligned. This video demonstrates the details of all three of these defenses.

Tips to remember for doing the buggy choke

The buggy choke is a great move to add to your arsonal, but you will need to get the details down. Here are important tips that you will need to remember when going for a buggy choke.

• Get on your side: For any variation of the buggy choke to work, you must get on your side. If you stay flat on your back, your opponent will get pressure on you and prevent the choke.
• Clear the head: When you do an elbow escape to make space, your arm needs to clear your opponent’s head. Your tricep needs to press down on the side of their neck as you stay on your side.
• Side crunch: Before you try to bring your leg over, do a side crunch to push your opponent’s head down. This will make it easier to underhook your leg and help make the choke tight.
• Arm under knee: To make the buggy choke tighter and harder to escape, make sure to underhook at the crook of your knee. Picture doing an uppercut to shoot your arm under your knee.
• The Locks: To finish the original buggy choke, you just grab your foot, but the locks make it tighter and harder to escape. After under-hooking your leg, triangle your legs, and Gable grip your hands together to make your choke even tighter.(Also harder to escape)
• The finish: You finish a buggy choke just like you would a traditional reverse triangle choke. Try to turn onto your outside hip as you squeeze in to get the most pressure possible.
• Base on elbow: Also, when doing the buggy choke variation on your outside hip to base on your elbow. If you do not base on that elbow, your opponent will flatten you out or even go for a back take.

In Jiu Jitsu, practitioners use two different kinds of guard in the martial art. Either closed guard or a variation of open guard.

There are different camps in the debate of these BJJ guards that one style is superior to the other. 

Here is a short breakdown of the closed guard vs open guard debate. Going over the history of both guards and the positives and negatives of each style of guard.

The history of closed guard vs open guard

Before we lay out the positives and negatives of closed guard vs open guard, we have to detail their histories. The stories of these BJJ techniques intertwine and symbolize evolution of Jiu Jitsu and grappling

The open guard

Many grapplers may think that the closed guard came before the open guard, but that would be incorrect. The open guard is one of the oldest grappling techniques in existence.

When a fight would go to the ground, early grapplers would use primitive versions of open guard. Using unrefined sweeping techniques to reverse their opponents and get on top.

The person responsible for refining the guard and open guard was Helio Gracie. When he and his older brother began developing Jiu Jitsu, it was Helio that began developing the open guard.

His reasoning behind developing early open guard techniques was to help weaker grapplers beat bigger and stronger opponents. Using leverage and timing to beat bigger opponents.

These open guard techniques help lay the foundation for BJJ and the importance for knowing how to fight on your back. Through open guard, different types of guards would be developed in the years to come.

The history of closed guard

The closed guard would actually not be developed until decades after BJJ was first being developed. This style of guard began being developed during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

BJJ historians pinpointed that the closed guard first started to be developed in Master Osvaldo Alves’ school. Alves was actually a Judo practitioner, but didn’t want to pay licensing fees to call his gym a Judo school.

He chose to say he taught “Jiu-Jitsu” at his school that was in a rec center. Which was actually just a front for an illegal casino run by an organized crime group.

Alves was also friends with members of the Gracie family, which made cross training at his academy. Two Carlson Gracie students named Otávio Peixotino and Marcio do Santos would routinely go train at Alves’ school.

Osvaldo’s students Sergio Penha and Pascoal Duarte would share guard concepts with Carlson’s students. These brainstorming  sessions would lead to what we now refer to as the closed guard.

The four grapplers would begin testing closed guard at different competitions. Peixotino would submit Sylvio Behring with a closed guard armbar in competition. Pascoal Duarte would submit Royce Gracie using the closed guard and Sergio Penha would become an all time great BJJ athlete.

They showed that the closed guard was incredibly effective and was widely adopted by almost every BJJ school.

The positives of open guard

Open guard has many positive qualities, which is why it is the most used style of guards in BJJ. Here are the most positive aspects of open guard.

Maneuverability

In an open guard, you are far more maneuverable than you are in a closed guard. Your hips are more free to move around and create space to do sweeps and submissions. 

Endless possibilities

In an open guard, there are endless possibilities for evolution. As we’ve witnessed, there are constant innovations made to the open guard. 

There are now numerous types of open guards used in Jiu Jitsu along with even more sweeps and submissions.

Types of open guards include:

• Butterfly Guard
• Spider Guard
• Lasso Guard
• De La Riva Guard
• X Guard
• Worm Guard
• Sit-Up Guard
• Shin to Shin Guard

The positives of closed guard

Close guard has some really good positive aspects, as well. Here are some of the biggest positives of the closed guard.

Best Guard For Self Defense 

The closed guard is one of the best guards that you can use for self defense purposes. In a closed guard, you make the distance shorter between you and your opponent.

Making it easier for you to hold onto their arms and keep them from hitting you. Also stopping them from creating distance to try and land a knockout shot.

Easier & Tighter Submissions

Not only is closed guard better for self defense, but submissions from the guard are easier to get and tighter. In closed guard, there is less space to cover to get submissions and they’re tighter than closed guard submissions. Also making them harder to escape than if they were done in an open guard.

The negatives of open guard

Even though open guard allows for better maneuverability and has endless possibilities, they do have flaws. Here are some of the biggest flaws with playing an open guard.

More space

To pass any type of guard, you need to create space in order to pass it. When you play open guard, there is a large amount of space already given to your opponent. 

They have less steps in order to escape your guard and can also easily strike you.

The negatives of closed guard

Hard to play if you’re small or against a bigger person

If you’re a smaller grappler going against someone that is quite larger than you, closed guard isn’t the best option. Especially if you can’t lock your ankles together to close your guard.

You will not be able to move well and highly unlikely to submit your larger opponent. The larger opponent will also more than likely drop heavy pressure on top of you, which can be unbearable.

Stalling position

Sometimes a person that is playing closed guard realizes that they can’t submit or sweep their opponent. When this happens, they will usually just resort to holding their opponent in their guard.

Doing this turns the closed guard into a stalling position, where no advancements happen and is boring to watch.