The Open Guard offers you so much choice for setting up your attacking game! There are a number of ways to set up offense from here, and if you haven’t read our two articles about the Collar Sleeve Guard – one of the best Open Guards out there – you definitely should!
This guard grants you an opportunity to set up yet another powerful position, one with heaps of attacks within its disposal… The Cross Sleeve Guard.

BJJ black belt Jon Thomas explains the basics behind it and some of its great options.

THE CROSS SLEEVE GUARD ESSENTIALS

When you’ve set up the Collar Sleeve Guard, Alec explains that your opponent might try to break your sleeve grip. To prevent that from happening, you can grip that sleeve with your other hand as well; which will give you tremendous pulling power. You need this power to separate the opponent’s elbow from their knee, which is very important if you want to start setting up submissions!

This newly found pulling excellence, however, also means that you can use the second grip alone; and thus establish the Cross Sleeve Guard. Now, once you have that grip, Alec shows that you’ll use your other arm to underhook the opponent’s leg, getting their ankle into the creek of your elbow. You could try keeping your far leg on their body, Jon points out, but that isn’t terribly important; unlike the second leg, which needs to stay on their hip. This is the starting point for your attacks.

Master the cross sleeve guard with decorated Alliance competitor and Fabio Gurgel black belt, Thomas Lisboa.

• Anyone can use the cross sleeve guard to create new opportunities to attack and become a more dangerous open guard player.
• Discover multiple options to sweep, take the back, transition, and much more in this unique series with a multiple time IBJJF gold medalist guiding you every step of the way.