Quick Tip

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The key to successful guard passing is how you position yourself and distribute your weight properly in a dynamically changing situation.

This is the case, especially if you try to pass your opponent’s guard standing.

If your opponent tries to sweep you by pulling you forward, you need to shift your body weight in the opposite direction – backward.

Or if your opponent tries to move you to your left side, you resist it by moving to your right side.

Something like that. Generally speaking.

You need to play around and experiment so you can learn to feel when you’re in a safe AND effective position. What I mean by “effective” here is something like a position where your opponent has to do more work to take your pressure off.

This kind of stuff can take some time to learn, though. Because it requires you to develop some intuition/awareness about where you’re and whether you’re safe in that particular position.

Having said that…

If you have a good sense of balance, your opponent will have a harder time sweeping you.

Live sparring is a great way to develop it, but this is not the only way.

You can simply try standing with one leg and try to hold that position as long as possible. This exercise doesn’t take much time or space, but you can improve your balance if you do it consistently.

And once it’s become easier, try doing the same thing with your eyes closed.

Try it, say, for the next 30 days and see how your balance will improve 🙂

p.s. I remember doing this exercise a few years ago when I focused on improving my guard passing skills. I don’t do it regularly these days, but I should get back to this routine!