Before you can pass guard you have to get and set your posture. Good posture leads to good passing, without it you aren’t going anywhere except down and then out.

If you are tired of struggling as you try to keep your posture and pass your opponents guard, try this five point check list.

Brazilian JiuJitsu Guard Posture Check List

1)Squeeze your knees in against the sides of your opponents hips. Wider isn’t better when you are building your foundation in the Guard. You want to connect your knees to the side of your opponent. Don’t force, just connect.

2)Posterior pelvic tilt. Bad posture for standing is good posture for BJJ. You want to tuck your hips under. This will put pressure on your opponents ankles and also make you hard to pull down.

3)Your extended arm is relaxed. Its purpose is to be used to stop your opponent from sitting up not to keep you from falling down, thats what your hips are for. If you use this arm to keep yourself up you will be pushing down and exposing yourself to arm bars. If your posture is getting broken use your hips and your posterior pelvic tilt to keep you up.

4)Pull from the shoulder. If your opponent tries to pull you down by pulling on your extended arm don’t pull back from your arm (biceps) pull from your shoulder while keeping your arm relaxed.

5)Tuck your chin back. Head down and you are going down. Keep your head looking straight and pull back as though you are making a double chin. This will help keep your head in line and make it considerably harder to pull you down as your opponent yanks on your collar.

The first goal of Jiujitsu is to stay safe. If you can attain and maintain posture while in your opponents guard then you are safe from attack. Work on the basics from this five point checklist and you will feel more confident and successful inside the guard.