[Ghost Dog]

by far my favorite is the sweep war machine used on fightnight.. however it doesnt work everytime. case in point matt serra vs hughes II.

[snotrag]

Thanks all. Closed guard is basically the only guard I use for now, like alot of you have said once I get good and feel comfortable with closed guard I will move on to others. My subs from closed guard are not half as good as my subs from the top position, so naturally I wanna get on top. Thanks guys. Keep more suggestions coming I need a strong guard game.

[Fozzy]

Originally Posted by Ghost Dog

by far my favorite is the sweep war machine used on fightnight.. however it doesnt work everytime. case in point matt serra vs hughes II.

they've never fought, so ofcourse the sweep never worked....

~Foz

[FLMikeATT]

Originally Posted by Frodo

The closed guard is underrated. You have to get a competent closed guard. The pendulum, flower, scissor, and hook sweeps are very basic sweeps which work very well. Getting good at these sweeps will improve the rest of your jiu-jitsu. Noobs often find that they need the newest Eddie Bravo move and that those basics don't work. More and more, I find that they do work well - I just didn't have the timing or a few details right back when I started jiu-jitsu.

I don't count hook sweeps as a closed guard sweep as obviously you have to open your guard to put the hook in, thus it ceases to be closed guard, and becomes more of a butterflyish type guard. You can call it a hook sweep setup from closed guard, but it isn't a closed guard sweep itself (at least IMO).

[FLMikeATT]

Originally Posted by Ghost Dog

by far my favorite is the sweep war machine used on fightnight.. however it doesnt work everytime. case in point matt serra vs hughes II.

This is the hip bump sweep. I don't know why it isn't used more in MMA.

And I think you meant Dennis Hallman/Hughes. I haven't seen the fight but I heard Hallman used the hip bump on him.

[Frodo]

Originally Posted by FLMikeATT

I don't count hook sweeps as a closed guard sweep as obviously you have to open your guard to put the hook in, thus it ceases to be closed guard, and becomes more of a butterflyish type guard. You can call it a hook sweep setup from closed guard, but it isn't a closed guard sweep itself (at least IMO).

That a little too strict of a taxonomy. By your definition, every triangle choke is from either closed guard or mount. Obviously that is not true. Every sweep is an open guard sweep too. It defeats the purpose of creating a taxonomy in the first place.

[FLMikeATT]

Originally Posted by Frodo

That a little too strict of a taxonomy. By your definition, every triangle choke is from either closed guard or mount. Obviously that is not true. Every sweep is an open guard sweep too. It defeats the purpose of creating a taxonomy in the first place.

I see what you're saying, and I mostly agree with you.

However, there are a few sweeps from closed guard where your guard remains closed throughout the sweep, thus being a 'true' closed guard sweep.

It's not really high percentage but in closed guard, you reach way around to one of your partners shins near the ankle and get your arm under it and pull his leg towards you. It destroys his base and your guard remains closed, and it's pretty easy getting the sweep once you got his leg out. However, most people won't let you get to the position in the first place, hence not high percentage.

Also the few closed guard sweeps where a guy stands up in your guard and you either grab both ankles, or get an underhook on one leg and pull it towards you while extending your hips and your guard remains closed. So not all sweeps are open guard sweeps.

[MongoMudd]

Originally Posted by killer_kicks88

it's all good dude, you're just curious. if you want to be good at sweeps though, you might look into a different guard than full...half guard, butterfly guard and x guard are some really good guards that combo together really well...de la riva (even though i don't like it personally) is good with those guards too...now hit up some youtube.

You are completely correct if you are talking pure grappling. As far as MMA goes, the De La Riva and X Guard are great ways to get killed in my opinion. Obviously every technique CAN work, but I feel like you have to have black belt level skill to use these guards effectively in MMA. In MMA full guard > all other guards in my opinion.

[Kimuralex]

Originally Posted by MongoMudd

You are completely correct if you are talking pure grappling. As far as MMA goes, the De La Riva and X Guard are great ways to get killed in my opinion. Obviously every technique CAN work, but I feel like you have to have black belt level skill to use these guards effectively in MMA. In MMA full guard > all other guards in my opinion.

recently, hansen has used the DLR to do upkicks on urijah faber, and so did aoki on calvanti....so DLR might not be as bad to work with in mma as some of you think. X guard i dont know about, havent seen it used in mma but then again i never seen anyone attempt it either.

I think the fullguard is also one of the best guards in mma, but i think butterfly guard is pretty good too...i seen a few fights with some nice butterfly sweeps, most recent was tim crueders victory on riddle.

[Frodo]

You're not supposed to hold guard in MMA. staying in DLR or X-guard will get you killed, but using them as a transition point like you're supposed to, in any case, is a different manner. I'm not sold on X-guard, but I won't discount someone for using it either. After all, DLR can be used in MMA as has been seen.