Master the transition from the closed guard

Between sweeps and submissions, the back take is one of the best positions you can achieve in sport jiu-jitsu and self-defense situations. There are many submissions and ways to end a fight once you have taken your opponent's back, but it is not easy to get there.

In the following video, Rickson Gracie will teach you how to make the perfect transition from the closed guard to the back. The master will show the invisible details to make the position efficient without relying on power or strength.

"So, of course, to go to the back, I cannot go if her posture is high like this. So, I have to make her fall forward, somehow here or there. Whatever the position it is. Sometimes, she wants to grab my neck. So, when this position is here, I feel like she is close to me. It is the perfect approach to go to the back."

"So now, sometimes I see, I mean, for a lot of students who are not one hundred percent familiar with the position... grab my neck Cassia, grab the head, yes! So, they think about: I want to explore this situation and go to the back. So, what they normally do is put their foot on the floor and move the hip away. Keep moving the hip away, and now they try to go to the back. But now, I don't have a connection. I have to have strength. I have to have power. I have to have, you know, it is like rock climbing. I have to really, from here... keep going Cassia, keep holding. Trying to lift my… raise my… it is very hard for me to raise myself from here."

"So, the perfect idea here is never ever to move your hip away from the guy. You want to uncross the legs and keep the pressure on the inner thigh on my opponent's ribcage. So, I did this. Now, instead of moving my hip away, which gives me, which take the connection away from. I keep together, open my legs and start to put pressure. If she is weak, I can just mount. Hold my neck Cassia, keep your base... Now, in the end, instead of just lifting with my head first, I keep my head down and use my shoulder to go to the back."