Passing guard to the “wrong” side
By Leonardo Correa
May 24, 2018 - (2 min read)
I strongly believe competitions teach you great lessons, as long as you are open to critically analyze your performance and make improvements. Here is something that happened to me and I am sure I am not the only one.
Let’s go straight to the point: I am a purple belt (in 2018) and my passing guard to my left was at white belt level. It threw me completely off track and I didn’t know why.
My beginning
I didn’t spend much time in the white belt. As a blue belt, it was all about guard game. Then welcome to the world of purple belt. That’s when I started to explore guard passing, takedowns, transitions, control, and submissions.
The competition
The first time I competed with a very well-defined gameplan included De-la-Riva, Lasso guard, with a transition to Omoplata. I built a diagram for my gameplan with all details for positions. If you would like to know more about this tool, here is the website: https://bjjnerd.vercel.app/
In one of my fights, after a sweep, I ended up in my opponent’s open guard. He controlled my right foot, and with my limited knowledge, the option I had available was to pass to my bad side (left one). This “bad side” was so bad that I couldn’t break a grip on my right leg. I was totally unfamiliar and uncomfortable in my “bad” side. I won that fight in points, thanks to the lasso sweep. People often say you learn from your losses. I say you learn from wins and losses.
From my first training session after this competition, I set up a training rule for myself: Only pass lower belt guards to my left side. I struggled to adjust my body to the “wrong” side. I noticed after a few weeks I was comfortable performing the same moves. I continuously applied my rule for at least 3 months.
Now I feel comfortable taking my guard passing to the next level and start to get more dynamic, change sides, apply a mix of pressure and speed.
Take away
Make sure you drill and practice techniques for both sides. Put your ego aside and get uncomfortable at training. Then feel at home at competitions. What does passing guard on the wrong side look like for you? Share your experiences.
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