It really is just about an individual's preferences. Earlier in my training I really liked the closed guard,but now I almost never close the guard. I play open/half guard 99% of the time, it works better for my game and body type.
Hmmm, sorry, JRockwell, I meant to say that my ankles aren't crossed, but my heels are digging and climbing up his back. I wasn't talking about having my feet in the air and say "ankle lock me please" ;)
Einar F....I'm not saying you should only have a closed guard
game. In today's world of BJJ you'd get killed if you did. I'm
talking about the white and blues that skip past mastering a good
closed guard and go right to open, de la riva, 1/2, "X" and all the
other guards out there now. I laugh when I roll w/ a white or blue
and they try to put me right in the open 1/2 guard from the hand
shake. Closed guard is not just your legs wrapped around your
opponent and ankles crossed. It also deals with hip movement,
hand placement, attacks and set ups and position. It's just my
opinion that if you don't have a good closed guard, then you don't
really understand what the guard is...I know it may seem outdated
to some, but look at Royce in the first few UFC's to know what I'm
talking about.
LOL @ Poodollar...Well in all the times I've rolled
w/ Caique, I don't think I've even opened his guard to find out
about his open or 1/2 guard :)
can't this just be attributed to the different "styles" of jiu-jitsu out
there which are differentiated by the Instructor's personal style?
for example, aren't De La Riva's students going to have more training
in the DLR guard, Eddie Bravo's guys will have more time spent on
rubber guard and half-guard. Gracie Academy will be focus more on
closed guard, and maybe Tinguinha's guys will focus more on spider
guard.
don't you guys think that "the basics" are different for each instructor's
particular style, or do "the basics" have to be Helio (or Carlos') original
flavor of jiu-jitsu.
i personally love the closed guard and feel very comfortable there.
"don't you guys think that "the basics" are different for each instructor's particular style, or do "the basics" have to be Helio (or Carlos') original flavor of jiu-jitsu."
actually, no. Regardless of who you want to connect it to, I'd say the closed guard would be "the basics" for guardwork. If you're just playing for sport, then I guess you could do it that way, but if you want to actually learn jiu-jitsu for use in any situation, you need to master the closed guard first. You don't see people pulling half guard in mma and there's a reason for it. Things like the rubber guard or high guard, are versions of the closed guard or many times extensions of the closed guard. Any good open guard players you see in mma as well end up half the time or more in closed guard before they can setup their open guard manuvers. So yes, closed guard is "the basics" of the guard.
Freestyle JJ is correct.... 'nuff said.
good post. I agree.