I’ve got a couple of guard “openers” and guard passing strategies: Cesar, Margarida, PTMU and GTS are my main standing guard openers. Saulo is my one ground guard opener. My guard passes are Rodeo and Butler.
I want to add another ground guard opener and another guard pass. The ground guard opener is identical to the Saulo opener. The key difference is that this new ground guard opener, Buddha, has you keep both knees on the ground rather than standing out perpendicular with one leg. As with Saulo, Buddha requires you to turn COMPLETELY SIDEWAYS and let your hip “slice” through the locked hooks of the closed guard.
The new guard pass, Master, is the opposite of Butler. Where with Butler you grab the pants near the ankle and stretch the legs out as you slide around into Watch Dog (a sort of torreano move), with Master you reach under both thighs and bear hug the legs into your chest. You can go to Watch Dog from Master, also.
Both of these new additions come from watching a B.J. Penn class over at his website. Nothing new, of course, but some nice detail to remember when practicing these moves. I’ve already mentioned the key detail with Buddha. Another detail with that guard opener is to initially put your knee against the butt. True, you don’t want it “in the middle”, but you do want to cinch it in a little more so that his hips won’t shift over as you pressure to open the guard.
Key details with Master include stacking the guy as deeply as possible. Try to put his knee on his nose, as Matt Serra would say. Also, your head should be right there behind the knee, so your head should be very close to his head. With your northmost arm, reach over and across to grip the far shoulder. That will help you wedge yourself into position as you posture up and into the side control. Another tip is to use your southmost arm/hand to keep the guy’s hips up, tilting him back toward his neck where all the pressure is.
