Passing Concepts: Grip Breaking

Understanding grip breaking from the top position is crucial for maintaining control and advancing your position. When dealing with a collar grip, it's important to address any hooks first, such as a De La Riva hook, before attempting to break the grip. This prevents the opponent from re-establishing the grip during your pass.

Breaking sleeve grips requires a different approach. If the opponent's knuckles are behind the midline of their thigh, a single-handed grip break will be ineffective. Instead, you must get off their feet, lean your weight in two opposing directions, and use your body weight to break the grip.

Identifying the side of greatest control is a key concept in passing an open guard. This is often the side you need to pass towards. To do this, you must clear any counterpoints, such as grips or hooks, that prevent you from passing to the side of greatest control.

For example, in a spider guard, the side with the foot on the bicep is typically the side of greatest control. By moving towards this side, you can unwind the opponent's control. Conversely, passing away from the side of greatest control allows the opponent to maintain their guard and follow your movements.

It's important to keep switching sides during guard passing to break the opponent's control and prevent them from establishing a dominant position. By understanding where their control is coming from and addressing it directly, you can effectively pass towards the point of greatest control and advance past their guard.