Double Sleeve Guard is a fundamental open guard position where the bottom practitioner controls both of the opponent’s sleeves while maintaining distance with their feet on the hips or biceps. This position provides excellent control over the opponent’s upper body, preventing them from establishing grips or initiating passing sequences while setting up numerous sweep and transition opportunities. The position is particularly effective in gi jiu-jitsu, where the sleeve grips create a strong connection that can be used to manipulate the opponent’s posture and balance.
Double Sleeve Guard is characterized by its emphasis on grip fighting dominance and distance management. By controlling both sleeves, the bottom player neutralizes the opponent’s ability to grip the pants or control the legs, forcing them into a defensive posture. This guard excels at creating off-balancing opportunities and can transition seamlessly into more specialized guards like Spider Guard, Lasso Guard, or De La Riva Guard. The position requires good hip mobility and grip strength but offers a high return on investment for practitioners who develop proficiency with the fundamental sweeps and transitions available from this control position. From the top perspective, the challenge lies in systematically breaking the sleeve grips while maintaining posture and creating passing opportunities through angle creation and strategic pressure application.
Key Principles
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Maintain constant tension on both sleeve grips to prevent opponent from breaking grips and establishing their own control system
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Use feet actively to push and pull opponent’s body, creating off-balancing opportunities and preventing them from settling their weight
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Keep hips mobile and ready to follow opponent’s movements, adjusting foot placement as they attempt to change angles
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Break opponent’s posture by pulling sleeves while pushing with feet, creating a concave bend in their spine that compromises their base
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Transition grips and foot placement fluidly to prevent opponent from anticipating and countering sweep attempts
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Maintain visual contact with opponent and read their weight distribution to time sweeps and transitions optimally
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Use the guard to control tempo and prevent opponent from initiating their passing game
Top vs Bottom
| Bottom | Top | |
|---|---|---|
| Position Type | Defensive with offensive options | Offensive |
| Risk Level | Low to Medium | Medium |
| Energy Cost | Medium | Medium |
| Time | Medium to Long | Medium to Long |
Key Difference: Bilateral sleeve control optimizes distance
Playing as Bottom
Key Principles
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Maintain constant tension on both sleeve grips to prevent opponent from breaking grips and establishing their own control system
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Use feet actively to push and pull opponent’s body, creating off-balancing opportunities and preventing them from settling their weight
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Keep hips mobile and ready to follow opponent’s movements, adjusting foot placement as they attempt to change angles
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Break opponent’s posture by pulling sleeves while pushing with feet, creating a concave bend in their spine that compromises their base
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Transition grips and foot placement fluidly to prevent opponent from anticipating and countering sweep attempts
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Maintain visual contact with opponent and read their weight distribution to time sweeps and transitions optimally
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Use the guard to control tempo and prevent opponent from initiating their passing game
Primary Techniques
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- Success Rate: Beginner 35%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 65%
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- Success Rate: Beginner 30%, Intermediate 45%, Advanced 60%
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- Success Rate: Beginner 25%, Intermediate 40%, Advanced 55%
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Spider Guard Sweeps → Spider Guard
- Success Rate: Beginner 40%, Intermediate 55%, Advanced 70%
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Lasso Guard Sweeps → Lasso Guard
- Success Rate: Beginner 35%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 65%
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- Success Rate: Beginner 20%, Intermediate 35%, Advanced 50%
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Triangle Setup → Triangle Control
- Success Rate: Beginner 25%, Intermediate 40%, Advanced 55%
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- Success Rate: Beginner 30%, Intermediate 45%, Advanced 60%
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De La Riva Sweep → De La Riva Guard
- Success Rate: Beginner 25%, Intermediate 40%, Advanced 55%
Common Mistakes
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❌ Releasing tension on sleeve grips, allowing opponent to break grips easily
- Consequence: Opponent establishes their own grips on pants or belt and initiates passing sequence with dominant control
- ✅ Correction: Maintain constant pulling tension on both sleeves, using bicep curl motion and keeping elbows tight to body
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❌ Allowing feet to rest passively on opponent’s hips without active pushing
- Consequence: Opponent closes distance and establishes smash passing pressure, collapsing the guard structure
- ✅ Correction: Actively push with balls of feet, extending legs to create and maintain distance while adjusting pressure based on opponent’s movements
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❌ Keeping hips flat on mat instead of mobile and ready to move
- Consequence: Unable to follow opponent’s circling movements, making sweeps ineffective and allowing easy passing
- ✅ Correction: Keep hips elevated slightly off mat, ready to pivot and follow opponent’s direction changes
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❌ Gripping too high on opponent’s sleeves near the shoulders instead of at the cuffs
- Consequence: Opponent has greater range of motion and can use leverage to break grips more easily
- ✅ Correction: Establish grips at or near the cuffs where opponent has minimal leverage and maximum control can be maintained
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❌ Attempting sweeps without first breaking opponent’s posture and balance
- Consequence: Sweeps fail as opponent maintains strong base and can simply step through or around sweep attempts
- ✅ Correction: First use push-pull dynamics to break posture, then time sweep when opponent is off-balance
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❌ Failing to transition grips when opponent adjusts position
- Consequence: Opponent creates angles for passing that cannot be controlled with static double sleeve grips
- ✅ Correction: Be ready to transition one sleeve grip to lasso, spider, or collar grip as opponent moves
Playing as Top
Key Principles
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Maintain strong upright posture with chest forward and hips back to prevent being pulled forward into submissions or sweeps
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Systematically break grips using proper grip breaking mechanics rather than relying purely on strength
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Create angles and circular movement to diminish the effectiveness of the sleeve grips and create passing opportunities
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Control the distance by managing your own sleeve position and preventing bottom player from establishing additional controls
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Use strategic pressure and timing to advance grips on opponent’s legs, belt, or collar while managing their sleeve controls
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Prevent bottom player from establishing foot-on-hip or foot-on-bicep controls which strengthen their guard retention
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Transition between different passing approaches based on how bottom player adjusts their leg positioning and sleeve grip depth
Primary Techniques
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- Success Rate: Beginner 35%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 65%
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Knee Slice Pass → Side Control
- Success Rate: Beginner 30%, Intermediate 45%, Advanced 60%
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Leg Drag Pass → Leg Drag Control
- Success Rate: Beginner 25%, Intermediate 40%, Advanced 55%
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- Success Rate: Beginner 20%, Intermediate 35%, Advanced 50%
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- Success Rate: Beginner 25%, Intermediate 40%, Advanced 55%
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- Success Rate: Beginner 30%, Intermediate 45%, Advanced 60%
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Double Under Pass → Side Control
- Success Rate: Beginner 20%, Intermediate 35%, Advanced 50%
Common Mistakes
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❌ Allowing posture to break forward while opponent maintains strong sleeve grips
- Consequence: Creates vulnerability to sweeps, triangles, and omoplatas as your weight shifts forward into their offensive range
- ✅ Correction: Maintain upright posture with chest up and hips back, using core engagement to resist forward pulling while systematically addressing grip breaks
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❌ Attempting to pass immediately without addressing the sleeve grips first
- Consequence: Opponent uses sleeve control to redirect your passing momentum, leading to sweeps or guard retention with minimal effort
- ✅ Correction: Break at least one sleeve grip before committing to a passing sequence, or use grips and angles that neutralize the sleeve control’s effectiveness
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❌ Using only upper body strength to break grips without proper mechanics
- Consequence: Depletes energy rapidly while often failing to break grips of skilled opponents, leaving you exhausted mid-pass attempt
- ✅ Correction: Employ proper grip breaking mechanics using hip rotation, stepping patterns, and leverage rather than pure arm strength
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❌ Remaining static in one position allowing opponent to set up their preferred attacks
- Consequence: Bottom player establishes rhythm, finds optimal grip depth, and sets up sweeps or submissions from a stable defensive position
- ✅ Correction: Maintain constant motion through angle changes, circling, and pressure variations to prevent opponent from settling into comfortable defensive patterns
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❌ Failing to control distance after breaking grips, allowing opponent to immediately re-establish
- Consequence: Creates a frustrating cycle of grip fighting without making forward progress toward passing
- ✅ Correction: After breaking grips, immediately advance your own grips on their legs or belt while controlling distance to prevent re-establishment of sleeve controls
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❌ Ignoring opponent’s foot placement on hips or biceps while focusing only on sleeve grips
- Consequence: Even with weak sleeve grips, strong foot frames can maintain distance and facilitate sweeps or guard retention
- ✅ Correction: Address both the sleeve grips and leg positioning simultaneously, using strategies that diminish both control mechanisms