By Kevin
Guard passing is one of the most essential—but often overlooked—skills in jiu-jitsu. Even though many top-level pros are now selling instructionals on their passing systems, most academy students still don’t dedicate themselves to becoming true pressure passers.
Why?
Because passing guard is hard.
And it’s not flashy.
Submission-only grappling formats and the re-emergence of leglocks have pushed a lot of competitors away from chasing positional dominance. Why spend time grinding through someone’s guard when you can invert into an ankle lock and get the same result?
But if you want to become a complete grappler, guard passing must be at the center of your game.
Here’s why.
Positional Dominance Is Jiu-Jitsu
The entire framework of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is built around advancing position. It’s how you control your opponent, reduce their ability to fight back, and ultimately find the safest route to a finish.
Every position up the ladder—side control, mount, back control—reduces your opponent’s options and increases yours. A takedown removes the power of their hips. Passing removes the power of their legs. Mount and back take away their arms. And finally, the submission takes it all.
To quote John Danaher on the Joe Rogan Podcast:
“The purpose of jiu-jitsu is to impose control and reduce danger while maximizing finishing potential.”
You don’t get there without guard passing.
Guard Passing Builds Real Toughness
Guard passing is physically and mentally grueling. The constant pressure, the battle of grips, the resets—it all builds grit.
This is one of the overlooked values of jiu-jitsu as a martial art. It’s not just the techniques. It’s that we can simulate a full-speed fight, safely, again and again. That’s what makes jiu-jitsu different from striking or weapons-based systems. We can struggle. And that struggle builds something real.
Think about a hard round with an elite guard player. You’re chain passing, getting reset, diving back in, adjusting angles, forcing reactions. That’s a dogfight. And even though you’re not throwing punches, it’s training you to deal with adversity the way a real fight would.
When you avoid that struggle and play only from the bottom—or hunt only for submissions—you miss out on that.
Guard Passing Sets Up Submissions
If you’re still not sold, here’s one last point: guard passing improves your submission game.
When you control the hips, pass the legs, and climb to dominant positions, your opponent’s defenses shrink. You don’t need to rely on sneaky setups when your opponent can’t even move their arms.
Plus, pressure passing wears people out. A tired guard player makes desperate choices—exposing their neck, their limbs, or even giving up their back.
You don’t have to choose between being a passer or a finisher.
The best grapplers are both.
Final Thoughts
Guard passing isn’t sexy.
It doesn’t get you reposted by FloGrappling.
But it wins titles, builds toughness, and makes you harder to beat in every rule set.
So if you’re serious about leveling up—start putting the same effort into your passing game that you put into your leglock entries or berimbolo chains. Even if no one’s watching, your future opponents will feel it.
Want to Build a Complete Grappling Game? Start Here:
🔥 Leglocks for Dummies – A no-BS system to add leg locks to your game without becoming a spaz.
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🎓 UncleCoachKevin Online Academy (FREE Intro Course) – My beginner-friendly video series and community platform on Skool.
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