BJJ guard passing: how to pass the guard and build your passing game

What guard passing is

Guard passing in BJJ means getting past your partner’s legs from the top and settling into a position where their legs no longer stand between you, such as side control, north-south or mount. Our guide to BJJ guards covers the bottom player’s side of the exchange. This series covers the passes.

The guard player uses their legs to defend, to sweep and to set up submissions such as the triangle, so every pass has to take the legs out of play.

Pressure passes and standing passes

Instructors usually describe two families of passing. Pressure passes keep you close, often low or on your knees, and use your body weight to pin your partner’s hips so they cannot move them to rebuild their guard. The over-under, the smash pass, the stack pass, the body lock and the leg weave belong to this family. They are usually slow and patient, and the over-under in particular makes the guard player spend a lot of energy defending under your weight.

Standing passes, also called speed passes, keep you on your feet and away from your partner’s hips. You control the legs with your hands, move them aside and step around them, as in the toreando and the leg drag. Standing keeps your head and arms farther from your partner’s submissions, but it exposes you more to sweeps and leg locks.

The knee cut, also called the knee slice, is taught both ways. Some instructors use it as a fast pass that gets through before the guard player can react, and others build it into a slower pressure game.

A pressure pass needs you close enough to put weight on the hips. When your partner’s feet and grips keep you from getting there, a standing pass works on the legs from where you are.

Choose a pass in the map to read what it does and go to its article.

Principles every pass relies on

Keep your posture. Good posture limits the sweeps and submissions your partner can set up, so set it before you try to pass and rebuild it as soon as you lose it.

Deal with grips and hooks first. A guard player who holds your sleeves, collar or wrists, or hooks a foot behind your leg, can follow your movement and pull you into their attacks. Break the grip or clear the hook. When one will not come off, reset or pass at an angle where it matters less instead of forcing through.

Control the hips or the legs at every stage. Once both are free, your partner can turn toward you and put a knee or a foot back between you.

Do not wait at the distance your partner’s guard is built for. A guard works best where the guard player’s feet, shins and grips reach you while your weight is not on them, and time spent there lets them set up their attacks.

Finish the pass. Once you are past the legs, settle your weight and hold the position before you look for a submission.

Choosing passes for your game and ruleset

Start from the guards you meet most often. Some passes, such as the over-under and the knee cut, can be used against many guards. Others are tied to one guard in particular: the leg weave is a common answer to a knee shield half guard, and the leg drag is often used against De La Riva.

Check how each pass changes without the gi. Many toreando and leg drag variations start from grips on the pants. In no-gi, passers grip the ankles, shins or knees instead, and the leg drag can be harder to finish with no cloth to hold. The body lock needs no cloth, so it changes little.

Rulesets change what a pass is worth and what it risks. Under IBJJF rules, for example, a pass scores three points once you have cleared both legs and held side control or north-south for three seconds. In divisions that allow heel hooks, a leg left near the guard player gives them an entry to a leg entanglement, so practice your passes against partners who attack the legs.

Building a passing game

Start with two passes that connect, so your partner’s defense to one sets up the other. The knee cut and the toreando are a common pairing. Over time, learn passes from both families, so you can change style when one does not work against a particular partner.

Learn each pass to both sides. Many guard players defend better to one side, and a pass you can finish either way lets you choose the side they defend worse. Against closed guard, have two ways to open the legs, so a partner who stops one still faces the other.

When you watch your rolls, mark the moment each pass stalled and what your partner did to stop it. A verified black belt can find the same moments in your training rolls and matches in a roll review and set homework drills for the pass that keeps stalling.