Basic Guard Passes every White Belt should learn

Passing the guard is one of the most important and most basic concepts that you should have instilled in your mind. In fact, if you know how to pass the guard – then you will be able to win many BJJ matches by virtue of this fact alone. And this is not a very complicated subject – there are some basic techniques that you could use as guard passes that work on all levels. So, if you read the rest of this article – you will learn more about Basic Guard Passes.

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Closed Guard Pass

This is one of the most basic guard passes that you can find in the entire BJJ arsenal. It’s pretty simple to do it too – but you will have to mind doing all of the constituent moves as you may get swept if you’re not careful. So, you start from the closed guard on top. Your opponent tries to grab your collar but you use your two hands to remove the grip. Then you pin his arm to his waist and you block his hip with your other arm. You start to stand up on the side where your opponent’s arm is pinned and then you follow suit with your other leg. You switch the grips on your opponent’s sleeve and then you use your arm to open up the legs of your opponent. Then it’s easy to pass from here – regardless of which side you will choose.

Half guard pass

The half-guard has evolved to be a much more equal position than it used to be. So, it makes perfect sense that you should learn a few techniques with which you can pass your opponent’s half guard. One of the most basic ones involves you falling on top of your opponent and isolating your head with your arm. Now you have both hands to the side – you will be able to attack the kimura. In most instances, your opponent will defend the kimura – but he will leave his knees unprotected. You will be able to use your hand to push his knees and release your leg from the half-guard. You can then decide whether you wish to move to full mount or to side-control.

Open Guard pass

The most basic pass that you can use for passing your opponent from the open guard is the Toreando pass. The way to do it is very simple. You grab both your opponent’s knees – you grab the GI in that area, to be more precise. Then you push his knees to the ground while you back up and move to the side to pass. It’s as simple as that – and now you can pick whether you wish to put a knee on his belly or to drop down to side-control.

And there you have it – you have learned about some of the most basic and most powerful guard passes that a BJJ white belt should know. Even though they are simple and easy to do – we still recommend you to practice them diligently on the mats. Only then will you be able to develop your confidence and your technique. You will see that they are all effective moves that you can implement in your game easily.

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