A part of controlling the opponent in BJJ is passing one’s guard. However, some of you may have difficulty doing so. It can be as severe as avoiding using passes because you have never succeeded. This article will fix that issue for you.
Guard passes are critical in BJJ. You want to use them whenever your opponent gets into his guard (either closed or open.) You want to ensure you got the basics mastered. For instance, you want your posture always to be neutral and not lean forward or backward.
It can be tempting to wait for the opponent to make a move. Nonetheless, you want to be on the offensive as well. If you’ll wait and wait until the opponent makes a mistake, you will end up losing more often.
Instead, you want to be on the offense more than on defense, primarily when the opponent relies heavily on his guard.
But we must go through the fundamentals before diving into the specifics. If you learn the techniques and don’t know the small details most people don’t know, you won’t pass guard as often as possible.
This article is organized in a way that will keep you engaged while logically teaching you. Thus, make sure to read it all without skipping a section (you can skip one technique if you don’t like it, but I don’t recommend it.)
What is a guard pass in BJJ?
You likely know what a guard is if you’re reading this article. However, I’ll still explain what it is and why many people resort to this position. The guard position is when you’re on your back with your legs wrapped around your opponent. Your legs can either close the wrap or be open, depending on your style.
A guard pass in BJJ is when you use a specific technique to pass the opponent’s guard. A guard pass will typically break the opponent’s closed guard by separating his legs. Once you separate the legs, you can continue with an entry. Lastly, it’ll often gain you side control, making it easier to submit the opponent.
There’s no better way to gain side control than to pass the opponent’s guard. It might surprise you that many BJJ trainees aren’t familiar with many defenses if you’re in side control.
As a result, you’ll find it easier to submit the opponent when you’re in a solid side control position. That’s why passing the opponent’s guard can be more than worthwhile. Therefore, you must work on your passing skills, especially if you don’t know how to react to the opponent when he’s in closed guard.
How to pass guards in BJJ
Most novice BJJ trainees will make the same mistake when trying to pass the opponent’s guard. By fixing these mistakes, you can rise above others and win more fights by gaining the side control position more often. There are a few questions you want to ask yourself when wanting to pass people’s guard in BJJ.
To pass guard more often in BJJ, you want to get your opponent’s hips and shoulder out of alignment. Ask yourself, how can I manipulate the alignment of his body? Likewise, you want his tailbone to be on the ground to reduce his maneuverability when you’re going for the pass.
Let’s step back and understand what manipulating the alignment of the opponent’s body will do for you.
The entire point with the guard position has the ability to maneuver and re-position yourself according to the opponent. As such, you want to prevent that when trying to pass the opponent’s guard.
How do you do that? By using these two rules.
You first want to manipulate the alignment of your opponent’s shoulder and hips. Doing so will significantly reduce his ability to maneuver himself according to the technique you have decided to use.
The second guideline is to ensure the opponent’s tailbone is on the ground before trying the pass. Again, this will significantly reduce his maneuverability and allow you to go for more effective passes. The best way to ensure the tailbone is on the ground is by pulling the opponent toward you before going for the pass.
You must follow these two primary guidelines to see results with your passes. First, make sure to manipulate the opponent’s alignment somehow (we’ll discuss these ways in the techniques themselves, so stay tuned.)
Now, let’s dive into the techniques and break them down!
| Guard Pass Name | Type | Simplicity | Effectiveness | Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartwheel Pass | Over | 5/10 | 7/10 | 6/10 |
| X Pass | Around | 6/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Knee Slide Pass | Through | 7/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 |
| Leg Drag Pass | Around | 7/10 | 8/10 | 8/10 |
| Stack Pass | Over | 5/10 | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| One Arm Throw Pass | Around | 10/10 | 6/10 | 8/10 |
| Toreando Pass | Around | 9/10 | 9/10 | 9/10 |
#7 – Cartwheel Pass
The Cartwheel pass is a fantastic way to get the opponent’s back and go for the rear naked choke. If you’re unfamiliar with the rear naked choke, follow the link to learn how to perform it perfectly. Anyway, you can go for the Cartwheel pass regardless of your weight, which is excellent news for the heavyweight trainees in our crowd.
You want the opponent to first reach for your hands. Then, you grab his wrist and step in between his feet. Next, your head goes for his shoulder, and you jump with your back foot, using leverage to your advantage. Next, you want to jump high and land on the opposite side, with the opponent’s back in front.
A ninja tip with this technique is to have your head fit the alignment of his head and shoulder before you jump. This will make it easier to land behind his back and start the rear naked choke smoothly.
It’s the most athletic pass you’ll read in this article. As such, don’t be afraid of learning it because of its odd nature. Instead, the opposite is true. You want to have a broad toolbox to pull a pass from. That’s how you become an adaptive grappler—capable of surprising your opponents.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the Cartwheel pass:
- Start in a standing position
- Wait for the opponent to try and grab your hands
- Grab his wrist
- Have your head aligned with his head
- Plant your front foot in between his legs
- Lean forward in a swift motion
- Use your back foot for leverage
- Jump high and land behind your opponent
- You’re past his guard
From here, the best thing to do is to go for the rear naked choke, a highly effective BJJ submission.
If you want to learn everything about the Cartwheel pass, including a deeper breakdown of this beautiful guard pass, follow the link!
#6 – X Pass
The X pass is relatively simple, as it doesn’t require a profound grasp of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. You can learn and master it even if you’re a white belt. So, if you’re having trouble deciding which pass to learn first, you can definitely go with this one.
You want to start the X pass standing up. The first step is to push your opponent backward while putting one hand on his hip and the other on his knee. Then, you want to kick your leg back, breaking his closed guard. Finally, you go for the Knee on Belly, gaining side control.
There are really not many small details you want to perfect with this pass. However, the primary guideline with this one is to wait for the opponent to sit up and only then push him backward.
You don’t want to push him when he’s already in his guard position. Instead, you want to wait for him to make a move, utilize his misalignment and go for the X pass.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to the X pass:
- Wait for the opponent to sit up
- Push him backward
- Grab his hip and knee
- Kick your foot back, breaking his guard
- Step forward with your knee
- Go for the Knee on Belly position
Follow the link to read a complete guide I wrote about the X pass and how to perform it perfectly.
#5 – Knee Slide Pass
The Knee Slide Pass is a superb guard pass in BJJ. This is a great one for one primary reason. The opponent will usually expect you to go around them. This is why the Knee Slide is as effective as I say it is; it utilizes going forward instead of to the side, so stepping forward with your knee to gain side control. Here’s how you perform it:
You want to start standing with the opponent in his open guard position to perform the Knee Slide Pass. You then want to push his leg down, separating his legs more. The next step is to slice between his guard with your knee, moving forward and not to the side. Next, clinch his upper body and gain side control.
You must know a few things to master the Knee Slide Pass. First, you have to push his leg downward to have more acting room. You can’t expect to slide between his legs, literally – if his legs aren’t spread out more than his open guard.
Likewise, you want to grab the opponent’s ribs and push the other leg to the other side with your elbow, making even more space.
This all happens in a swift motion. You don’t want to take all the time in the world in a real roll or fight. Instead, you want to create as much space as possible before sliding with your knee and going for the side control.
You already know the drill:
- Start in a standing position
- Push one leg down
- Put your other hand on the opponent’s ribs
- Push both legs to contrary sides, making as much space between his legs
- Swiftly, slide your knee between his guard
- Clinch his upper body
- Gain side control
By the way, the best thing to do after the Knee Slide Pass is to underhook the opponent’s shoulder. And then you want to control his arms and go for the side control.
I have a complete guide on the Knee Slice pass on my website. I recommend reading it if you want to fix the small mistakes that all novice grapplers would make when they first learn it.
#4 – Leg Drag Pass
The Leg Drag Pass utilizes long-range rather than being closer to the opponent. As a result, you won’t need to make contact with the opponent, which is an excellent pro to this pass, as you won’t be in a vulnerable position once you perform it.
Begin by controlling the opponent’s ankles to perform the Leg Drag Pass. You then want to redirect the opponent’s legs and move the other way toward the opponent’s head. Now, you can finish the pass by going for the side control, which may require using your knee to control his legs.
The Leg Drag Pass can be used by both white belt and more advanced grapplers. You can redirect the opponent’s legs and go in the other direction. However, more advanced BJJ trainees will be able to redirect themselves if you don’t keep control over their legs.
You can maintain control over the opponent’s legs by constantly resisting his, trying to get back on guard. You can do that in several ways, such as locking your arm on his ankle once you redirect. Then, he won’t be able to move it toward you.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to the Leg Drag Pass:
- Start standing up
- Control the opponent’s ankles
- Redirect his legs by pushing his ankles swiftly
- Move the other way
- Maintain control over his legs
- Go for side control
Follow the link to read a complete guide on the Leg Drag pass in BJJ, including all the mistakes you’ll make when you first start out learning it and how to fix them.
#3 – Stack Pass
The Stack Pass is BJJ’s signature pass. This article wouldn’t exist if the Stack Pass didn’t exist. It has built the foundation for everything you have read thus far. Therefore, learning it will help you better understand the concept of passing the opponent’s guard. Let’s examine how you can perform it yourself:
First, start in a mounted position to perform the Stack Pass. Then, you want to start standing up, one leg at a time. The next step is to block the opponent’s legs by placing your elbows on your knees. You continue by pushing the opponent’s on his hips and then turn him sideways (with your belly) to gain side control.
The Stack Pass is rather complicated. However, learning it will grant you a better grasp of all the other passes you have learned and will learn in the future.
You want to break the opponent’s closed guard by standing up and pushing your hips to the side. If you don’t turn to the side, his legs will stay closed, preventing you from completing the pass.
- Start in the mount position
- You stand up with one leg at a time
- Place your elbows on your knees
- Move your hip to one side to break the opponent’s guard
- Insert your hand between his leg
- Push the opponent backward on his lower back, flexing him
- Move him with your belly to gain side control
There’s more to cover about the Stack Pass than one section in an article can do. Thus, I encourage you to keep learning from different teachers to maximize your learning potential.
I have a complete guide about the Stack pass on my website; follow the link to read it and start performing the most effective pass in BJJ flawlessly.
#2 – One Arm Throw Pass
This is perhaps the easiest pass out of all the ones on this list. So, if there’s one I would encourage you to learn first, it would be this one. But first, let’s see why it’s simple but effective and how you can perform it:
You want to start standing up to perform the One Arm Throw Pass. Then, you grip his one ankle while jamming the same leg inwards. You then circle in the same direction while throwing his leg back. You want his leg on the floor when you go for the side control.
Throwing his leg on the mat when you circle would be best. But, for example, it won’t suffice if his leg is in the air. So instead, you want his tailbone on the floor, making it more difficult for him to re-guard.
This is really that simple. You redirect his leg and go to the other side while dragging his leg to the floor. You will then be free to attain side control.
- Start standing up
- Grab one ankle
- Push the same leg inwards
- Redirect the leg to the other leg
- Go in the other direction, where you created space
- Drag his same leg to the ground
- Make sure his tailbone is one ground to limit movement
- Attain side control
Follow the link to read a complete guide I wrote about the One Arm Throw pass!
#1 – Toreando Pass
The Toreando pass is, in my experience, the most important one to know. It can be effective both against white belts and more advanced grapplers. Likewise, both advanced grapplers and white belts can master it to ensure they begin to pass guard easily. These are the basics of the Toreando:
You want to start standing up to perform the Toreando pass in Jiu-Jitsu. Then, push the opponent’s leg inwards and clear them to the side. You then want to go in the other direction quickly. Next, you step over and go forward. Finally, you can finish the Toreando by going for the Knee on Belly.
Now, it’s essential to gain experience by constantly trying new variations of the Toreando.
You won’t learn to fix the small details if you’re not constantly trying it in real time. So don’t fear failure; you can learn from every training session.
It’ll be best to start practicing the Toreando pass slowly and amp up the speed once you’re ready.
I have a complete guide to the Toreando pass on my website; read it to learn more about it and how to fix the small mistakes all white belts make.
Which guard passes should I learn first?
The guard passes you should learn first is the One Arm Throw Pass. Its simplicity and effectiveness justify every white belt or advanced grappler to learn and master it. It uses one swift motion to pass the opponent through. If you can manage to do it fast enough, you can even pass advanced trainees’ guards.
But you can learn any guard pass you want, as they aren’t as complicated as some finishing moves.
If you want to learn more about the best BJJ submissions and how to perform them perfectly, follow the link!
What is the easiest guard pass in BJJ?
The easiest guard pass in BJJ is the One Arm Throw Pass since it uses one motion to gain side control. Everyone, especially novice grapplers, can and should learn it to start winning more fights. It’ll be best to start with the One Arm Throw and move to the Toreando and even the Stack pass.
Final words
Passing guards and gaining side control is the first thing you must do if the opponent is in a closed or open guard position.
You have to learn and master these passes to ensure you know how to react if the opponent traps you or starts going for any submission from the guard position, such as the Triangle choke.
There’s no more fulfilling way of ending a BJJ fight than to pass the opponent’s guard, gain side control, and finish the fight with an effective submission, such as the Guillotine choke.
You can learn these passes now and become a better grappler after every training session. Hopefully, this article has given you the basics to start working on your first pass. Good luck training!
But there’s so much more to learn about guard passing. Follow the link to read what are BJJ’s best guard passes you must learn to call yourself a solid grappler.