Guard passing without a gi: The single most common activity from top position in Jiu jitsu is passing guard – the act of getting past your opponents legs into dominant pins where no part of your opponents legs intervene between your upper body and his upper body. By removing your opponents legs from the equation you shut out the vast majority of his attacking options and open up your own attacking options. When it comes time to pass an opponents guard with no gi my favorite methodology by far is to use standard methods of passing as a distraction and in the ensuing passing vs retention battle – DROP INTO YOUR OPPONENTS HALF GUARD IN A CHEST TO CHEST POSITION AND PASS FROM THERE. The great advantage of this method is that it enables you to control your opponents head PRIOR to passing, as opposed to most passing methods that ask you to pass first and control the head last. This prior head control takes away much of the confusing high paced scrambling that besets most no gi passing methods. Next time you're struggling to get control of and pass slippery and dynamic opponents without a gi – drop into half guard and let that chest to chest head control work in your favor!
