Brazilian Jiu JItsu, eh?

There are a myriad of different guards available. Not even world class athletes whip out all of them at once.

Foreword: Some guards work better for kneeling opponents, whereas some guards are primarily meant for standing opponents. Then, on top of this, some guards are excellent for bogging down the opponent (holding), whereas some guards come with very intuitive and powerful sweeping options in exchange for defensive potential (sweeping).

Even world class athletes actually use less than five guard pass techniques - one or two are their "favourites", and then the others are for dealing with something that truly requires a specialized technique.

Research indicates that as long as you hone your nervous system in the right way, physical reps are indistinguishable from mental reps (and it also keeps the grappling addiction in check).

This is the continuation of the "theory of guard passing part I". Here, box theory is introduced, which is then used to elaborate on how to successfully complete the passing phase.

Knowing a guard pass technique is not enough understand the nuances of guard passing. Also, getting lost in the myriad of "techniques" and "details", surprisingly little goes into actually describing underlying general principles at play in the area of guard passing.

Let us compile common scenarios in which specific guard pass techniques fail. Surprisingly, almost all failures stem from not fully controlling the shoulders or hips in some capacity .

To be pinned is to have your hips and both of your shoulders stapled to the ground against your will. "Position before submission" means to achieve a "pin" in some capacity first before going for the actual finish. While a pin only gets you points, there is a reason why settling into a dominant position still gives you points yet.

It is funny how similar situations can play out very differently depending on who had the initiative. I suppose another common theme here is: if you are losing position, bail out on your own terms rather than trying to hold onto it.