18/06/2019 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Sit through pass (aka Sao Paulo, Wilson, Tozi, etc)

Teaching #882
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 18/06/2019

This pass breaks all the rules: you don't even bother opening the guard before you start. It can be effective, but it is also easy to miss a detail and end up getting swept or worse. The goal is to create that supine twist: their upper body going in the opposite direction to their knees. Begin with a deep underhook, grabbing the back of their collar and pulling it towards their same side hip.

Your head then goes into their armpit on the other side, driving forwards slightly. Walk towards that armpit, as far as you can. Once you've gone as far as possible, go a little further, then sit through. If you've walked enough, then there should be enough tension on their ankles that a push from your elbow or hand breaks their guard open. Be careful on your arm positioning for this: if your elbow is up high, they can potentially hook it with a foot or a hand.



Also don't be lazy with your underhook. Any space and you risk not only losing the pass, but you're open to omoplatas and the like. Once you've got the guard open, you've got a few options for keeping it open in order to pass. The classic method is to simply step over the leg. Often this will result in half guard, but at least it's a half guard where you have an advantageous position due to your high head position in the armpit along with your underhook.

Alternatively, push your shin behind their leg and do a big step. Finally, you can quickly staple their leg with your other shin, giving you time to roll your hips over for the pass. Be careful you don't leave their hip free, or they can re-establish their guard. Block it with your hip, or if necessary your hand.

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Teaching Notes: There is a meaner version of this where you push their head to their shoulder with your elbow, but I'm not a fan as that's quite neck cranky. I'm also not comfortable stacking people, though that is also something that can help make this pass more effective. The big thing is getting people to walk enough and properly sit through. The typical mistake I was seeing is people trying to open too early.

Make sure your head is right in their armpit too, as otherwise you're taking off the tension and giving their hips room to move. When people were trying this on me in sparring, I tended to find that either my upper body wasn't locked enough, so I could adjust for a sweep, or the lower body was given too much space, so again I could sweep.