At the end of my previous post, I shared a video of a match between Tainan Dalpra vs. Jeferson Guaresi. I recommended you to take a look at how Tainan passes Jeferson’s guard.
Here’s the video if you haven’t watched it.
How Tainan chains his guard passing options and changes sides is impressive, but you’d also notice how great Jeferson is at keeping his guard.
I want to mention some of the things Jeferson is doing in this match.
1. Jeferson almost always has a frame or more against Tainan. Establishing a proper frame is one of the most critical elements in playing the guard successfully. A frame creates a barrier between you and your opponent. When there are multiple frames, your opponent has to deal with them before getting closer to you.
2. Jeferson makes use of shallow lasso. The lasso control is generally more difficult to get rid of, and Jeferson slows down Tainan with it.
3. Jeferson bends his legs in an L-shape and keeps that 90-degree angle almost all the time. I think one of the most common mistakes beginners make is to extend their leg/s when they try to escape from their opponent’s guard pass attempt. In defensive scenarios, I bet there’s almost no good reason to do so. Good guard passers will certainly take advantage of such extension. So… if you tend to do it, stop it.
4. Jeferson makes sure to connect his elbows with his knees at all times, especially when Tainan gets close to passing Jeferson’s guard. After all, that’s often one last layer the passer needs to clear before securing the side control. So, if you cover that space, the passer can’t usually complete the pass.
These are all fundamentals of guard retention, but Jeferson executes them masterfully. That’s another thing you should keep in mind – don’t panic when you try to keep your guard. Keep your movements as small and compact as possible, stay calm, and avoid making unnecessary moves.
Tainan eventually passes Jeferson’s guard twice, and he does so by attacking from an angle where Jeferson can’t make effective frames.
Overall, it’s an excellent match where you can learn from both Tainan and Jeferson.