Worm Guard Pass

Pass Gi only

The Worm Guard Pass is used when the bottom player has threaded your lapel around your leg and is controlling you from worm guard. The goal is to neutralize the lapel grip, free your trapped leg, and pass to a dominant position such as side control or half guard top.

Quick Reference

Key principles

  • · Posture up and create distance before addressing the lapel wrap to prevent sweeps and off-balancing.
  • · Strip or neutralize the lapel grip as the first priority, since passing over an intact worm guard grip is nearly impossible.
  • · Pin the opponent's controlling hand or sleeve to prevent them from re-feeding the lapel.
  • · Drive your trapped knee toward the mat and away from the opponent's centerline to extract it from the lapel loop.
  • · Anticipate the opponent transitioning to lasso, De La Riva, or squid guard as you free the lapel and be ready to pressure pass immediately.

Execution

  1. 1 Stand up with good posture, keeping your base wide, and identify which hand controls the lapel thread around your leg.
  2. 2 Use both hands to grip the lapel fabric near your leg and peel or strip it away, or pin the opponent's gripping hand to their chest with strong downward pressure to break the control.
  3. 3 Once the lapel tension is broken, immediately circle your trapped leg back and out of the loop while pushing the opponent's knees to one side.
  4. 4 Drop your weight forward into a knee slice or pressure pass, driving your shoulder into the opponent's face or chest to flatten them.
  5. 5 Consolidate side control by securing crossface and underhook before the opponent can re-establish any open guard.

Common mistakes

  • × Trying to pass without first addressing the lapel grip, which allows the bottom player to sweep or transition to other lapel guards.
  • × Bending forward at the waist instead of standing tall, which loads your weight onto the opponent's frames and makes sweeps easy.
  • × Freeing the leg but hesitating to immediately pass, giving the opponent time to re-feed the lapel or establish a new guard like De La Riva.

Do it from

Positions and situations where the Worm Guard Pass shows up.

Worm Guard Top

Where it lands

The position you end up in.

Side Control Top

Use it against

The Worm Guard Pass is an answer to these.

Worm Guard Bottom