Closed guard is a tough guard to break, especially if you’re a beginner and you’re up against a good guard player. Breaking the guard can be even harder if you’re rolling without a gi, where you not only lack any grips, but you’re slipping and sliding all over your sweaty opponent. I actually lost a competition that way when I was a white belt.
It turns out that Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Nick “Chewy” Albin also had some problems with breaking closed guard when he was a lower belt. In this video, he goes over some of the stretches he used to help break the guard.
Check them out below:
