Closed Guard Bottom represents the foundational offensive guard position in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu where you control your opponent from underneath by wrapping your legs around their waist with ankles crossed behind their back. Despite being the bottom player, this position grants you significant control, multiple offensive opportunities, and defensive security against advancement. The closed guard serves as the cornerstone of guard play from white belt through black belt, offering a versatile platform for sweeps, submissions, and transitions while maintaining a defensive barrier that prevents your opponent from advancing position.
The power of closed guard bottom lies in its dual nature: it simultaneously provides defensive protection while enabling aggressive offense. Your locked legs create a closed kinetic chain controlling your opponent’s hips, while your arms control their upper body through strategic grips on collar, sleeves, or wrists. This combination allows you to break their posture, create angles, and threaten multiple attack vectors that force constant defensive reactions. The position works equally well in gi and no-gi competition, self-defense scenarios, and mixed martial arts applications, making it one of the most universally applicable positions in grappling.
Master practitioners understand that closed guard is not a passive holding position but an active offensive platform. Success requires constant hip movement to create angles, aggressive posture breaking to prevent defensive frames, and systematic combination attacks that create dilemmas where defending one technique opens another. The position rewards technical precision, timing, and strategic planning, allowing smaller practitioners to control and submit larger opponents through superior leverage and technique. Your ability to threaten sweeps and submissions simultaneously while maintaining defensive security makes closed guard bottom one of the most strategically advantageous positions available to the bottom player in BJJ.
Position Definition
- Your legs wrap completely around opponent’s waist with ankles crossed behind their back, creating locked circuit that restricts hip movement and prevents disengagement. Heels pull into lower back to break posture while knees squeeze ribs to restrict breathing and movement.
- Your back remains flat on mat with shoulders in contact with ground, hips elevated slightly to maintain connection and prevent being flattened. Head and upper back maintain mobility to create angles and respond to opponent’s pressure while protecting against strikes in MMA.
- Opponent’s torso trapped between your legs with their hips unable to move laterally or create significant distance. Your hips stay connected to theirs, eliminating space that would allow them to establish posture or begin systematic passing sequences.
- Strategic grips established on collar, sleeves, wrists, or behind head to control opponent’s upper body posture and prevent them from sitting back or creating defensive frames. These grips serve dual purposes of breaking posture and initiating offensive sequences.
Prerequisites
- Proper back position with shoulders flat on mat and ability to maintain connection without being completely flattened by opponent’s weight
- Leg conditioning and hip flexibility for sustained guard closure with ability to cross ankles comfortably behind opponent’s back for extended periods
- Basic grip fighting skills to establish and maintain collar, sleeve, or wrist control against active resistance and grip breaking attempts
- Understanding of posture breaking mechanics using combined leg and arm pressure to pull opponent forward and break their structural base
- Core strength to create angles by shifting hips laterally while maintaining guard closure and offensive pressure
Key Defensive Principles
- Maintain constant hip connection eliminating space between your hips and opponent’s hips to prevent posture establishment and passing angles
- Control opponent’s posture through strategic grips on collar, sleeves, or behind head using combined arm and leg pressure to break them forward
- Create angles by shifting hips laterally to off-balance opponent and expose their base, setting up sweeps and submissions from advantageous positions
- Threaten multiple attack vectors simultaneously creating dilemmas where defending one attack necessarily opens another offensive pathway
- Manage defensive frames with arms to prevent opponent from establishing heavy pressure while maintaining offensive grips that enable attacks
- Use active legs to pull opponent forward with heels while squeezing knees together to restrict hip movement and breathing, creating cumulative fatigue
Available Escapes
Hip Bump Sweep → Mount
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 45%
- Intermediate: 60%
- Advanced: 75%
Scissor Sweep → Mount
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 40%
- Intermediate: 55%
- Advanced: 70%
Pendulum Sweep → Mount
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 65%
Flower Sweep → Mount
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 30%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 60%
Kimura to Back Take → Back Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 65%
Omoplata Sweep → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 25%
- Intermediate: 40%
- Advanced: 55%
Triangle Setup → Triangle Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 30%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 60%
Closed Guard to Triangle → Triangle Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 25%
- Intermediate: 40%
- Advanced: 55%
Omoplata to Back → Back Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 20%
- Intermediate: 35%
- Advanced: 50%
Elevator Sweep → Mount
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 65%
Overhook Sweep → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 30%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 60%
Decision Making from This Position
If opponent maintains strong upright posture with hands on hips or chest creating distance:
- Execute Hip Bump Sweep → Mount (Probability: 60%)
- Execute Scissor Sweep → Mount (Probability: 55%)
If opponent drives forward with shoulder pressure attempting to flatten you and establish control:
- Execute Pendulum Sweep → Mount (Probability: 55%)
- Execute Flower Sweep → Mount (Probability: 50%)
If opponent places arm inside your guard to frame or attempt guard break sequence:
- Execute Triangle Setup → Triangle Control (Probability: 50%)
- Execute Omoplata Sweep → Side Control (Probability: 45%)
If opponent posts hand on mat to defend sweep or create stable base against off-balancing:
- Execute Kimura to Back Take → Back Control (Probability: 55%)
- Execute Omoplata to Back → Back Control (Probability: 45%)
If opponent stands up to break guard or create distance for standing guard break:
- Execute Pendulum Sweep → Mount (Probability: 40%)
- Execute Hip Bump Sweep → Mount (Probability: 35%)
Escape and Survival Paths
Shortest Path - Direct Triangle
Closed Guard Bottom → Triangle Control → Triangle from Closed Guard (2 steps)
High Percentage Path - Triangle to Armbar
Closed Guard Bottom → Triangle Control → Armbar from Guard (3 steps, 65% advanced success)
Back Attack Path
Closed Guard Bottom → Kimura to Back Take → Back Control → Rear Naked Choke (4 steps)
Omoplata System Path
Closed Guard Bottom → Omoplata Control → Omoplata from Guard or Omoplata to Back → Back Control (3-4 steps)
Sweep to Submission Path
Closed Guard Bottom → Hip Bump Sweep → Mount → Armbar from Mount (4 steps, positional dominance)
Guillotine Opportunity Path
Closed Guard Bottom → Guillotine Control → Guillotine Choke (2 steps, requires opponent error)
Success Rates and Statistics
| Skill Level | Retention Rate | Advancement Probability | Submission Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 40% | 35% | 20% |
| Intermediate | 60% | 55% | 35% |
| Advanced | 75% | 70% | 50% |
Average Time in Position: 1-3 minutes depending on skill differential and guard breaking proficiency
Expert Analysis
John Danaher
The closed guard represents the fundamental position of control from the bottom in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, embodying the core principle of what I call Inside Position Theory - where controlling the inside space between you and your opponent is paramount. The closed guard’s genius lies in its ability to create a closed kinetic chain with your legs, which allows you to control your opponent’s hips while simultaneously threatening their upper body. I emphasize to my students that closed guard is not a single position but rather two interconnected attack systems: the upper body attack system focusing on triangle, armbar, and omoplata submissions, and the lower body attack system focusing on off-balancing and sweeps. The key is understanding that every action in closed guard should systematically break your opponent’s posture while simultaneously advancing one of these two systems. When you grip the collar and pull down while driving your heels into their lower back, you’re not just breaking posture - you’re creating the angle and proximity necessary for upper body attacks while preventing them from generating the base required to defend lower body attacks. This dual-threat system is what makes closed guard so effective across all skill levels, from white belt fundamentals to black belt mastery.
Gordon Ryan
Honestly, I view closed guard primarily as a transitional position rather than a place to live, especially at the highest levels of competition where guard passing has evolved significantly. In my game, when I end up in closed guard, I’m immediately working to either sweep to a dominant top position or transition to a more dynamic guard system like butterfly, single leg X, or open guard variations that offer better control and offensive opportunities. The reality is that modern guard passing has evolved to the point where elite competitors are very difficult to submit directly from traditional closed guard, so I focus on using it to create reactions that open up better positions. That said, the fundamentals still matter tremendously - I still break posture aggressively and threaten submissions, but primarily to force my opponent into defensive reactions that allow me to transition. When I do attack from closed guard, I heavily favor the triangle system because it offers the best combination of submission threat and sweep opportunities. If the triangle isn’t there, I’m looking to off-balance with hip bumps or pendulum sweeps, but always with the intention of either sweeping to mount or using their defense to transition to a more offensive guard position. The key is staying active and never letting them settle into a comfortable passing position or rhythm.
Eddie Bravo
Traditional closed guard is where I started, but I’ve evolved it into something much more dynamic with the rubber guard system and mission control positions that maximize offensive capability. The problem with conventional closed guard is that it’s too easy for opponents to posture up and stall, especially in no-gi where there’s no collar to grab for posture breaking. That’s why I developed the rubber guard - by using extreme flexibility to bring your leg over their shoulder and achieve mission control, you create a much more controlling and offensive position that’s nearly impossible to posture out of. From mission control, you’ve got the whole 10th Planet system: gogoplatas, omoplatas, triangle variations, and the invisible collar for no-gi chokes that work without gi grips. Even if someone’s not flexible enough for full rubber guard, the concepts still apply - you want to be constantly off-balancing them, creating angles, and threatening multiple attacks simultaneously to create decision dilemmas. I also emphasize the lockdown from half guard more than traditional closed guard because it gives you similar control with more sweep and back-take opportunities. But whether you’re playing rubber guard, traditional closed guard, or lockdown, the fundamental principle is the same: create dilemmas where defending one attack opens up another. That’s how you beat someone from the bottom - make them choose between bad options and capitalize on whatever they give you through systematic combination attacks.