Yeah, having your guard passed all the time isn’t fun. Knee Slices, Toreando Passes, Body Lock passes… The technique your training partners and opponents use doesn’t matter – as your guard retention sucks.
Here’s the number one reason why people keep passing your guard. It’s a simple concept that will go a long way.
#1 REASON WHY YOUR GUARD RETENTION ISN’T GREAT
Believe it or not, the number one reason why your guard retention needs a lot of work is because you’re allowing people to enter your elbow-knee space.
That is, your elbow and your knee need to stay connected at all times while you’re defending your guard. And if you’re allowing your training partners to separate your elbow and knee – as well as to close in on it themselves – you can be pretty certain that your guard will get passed soon enough.
So what are you supposed to do? That’s right: you have to become cognizant of this fact and not allow others to separate this space.
This will take different forms, depending on the guard pass your training partners use. But the key message remains the same – do not allow them to separate this connection and enter into it, as it will severely limit your ability to retain your guard with ease.
Brandon Mccaghren demonstrates three different variations of this principle in action, on the video below:
Improve Your Guard Retention So It Is Hardly Ever Passed: Even If You Are Older & Lack Flexibility.
41 Year Old Estonian Priit Mihkelson (It Is A Little Country Near Russia) Figures Out A System For Older Grapplers To Retain Guard Easily.
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