Kids: Guard Games

Game 1: The Posture Battle (Foundations of Opening)

Before a student can open the guard, they must learn to win the battle of posture and grips.

• Starting Position: Top player is inside the bottom player’s closed guard.
• Bottom Player’s Goal: Control the top player’s posture by controlling their head and at least one arm to keep them pulled down.
• Top Player’s Goal: Prevent the head control, keep their posture up, and eventually open the legs to disengage.
• Win Condition: The bottom player wins if they can break the posture and keep the top player’s chest glued to theirs. The top player wins by opening the guard and getting back to their feet.
• Key Source:How to teach BJJ without drilling (ecological game design with Greg Souders)Resource•26:08

Game 2: The Triangle Defense Game (Safety While Opening)

This game teaches kids how to open the guard without getting caught in submissions (like the triangle).

• Starting Position: Closed guard, with the bottom player starting with an overhook and a collar tie.
• Constraints: The bottom player is trying to create a “one arm in, one arm out” scenario to setup a triangle.
• Top Player’s Task: Keep both arms inside or both arms outside, avoiding the split. They must use this safe positioning to work on opening the legs.
• Win Condition: The top player wins if they can open the legs and disengage without being caught in a submission setup.
• Key Source:How to teach BJJ without drilling (ecological game design with Greg Souders)Resource•29:54

Game 3: Passing the Knee Line (The Transition)

Once the guard is open, the game changes to a “passing” game. This helps kids understand the goal of the “open guard” phase.

• Starting Position: Supine Open Guard (the bottom player is on their back with legs open, top player is standing or kneeling).
• Top Player’s Task: Get past the “line of the knees.” Once they pass the knees, they must “cover the hips” (putting two points of contact, like a hand and a knee, on the bottom player’s hips).
• Bottom Player’s Task: Use their feet and legs to keep the top player away. They win the game if they can knock the top player over (putting them on their butt).
• Win Condition: Top player wins by covering the hips for 3 seconds. Bottom player wins by destabilizing the top player.
• Key Source:Ecopalooza Spring 2024: Practice Design & Scaling Tasks w/ Greg SoudersResource•36:34

Game 4: The Three-Touch Game (Outside Passing)

This is an excellent game for teaching the footwork and angles required to pass around the legs once the closed guard is open.

• Starting Position: Standing passer vs. supine (on back) guard player.
• The Constraint: The passer must touch the outside of the guard player’s body (like the hip or shoulder) three times (e.g., Left side, Right side, Left side) before they are allowed to “win.”
• Win Condition: After the three touches, the passer wins by connecting their hands around the guard player’s torso. The guard player wins by making the passer’s hips touch the mat or by wrestling up.
• Key Source:Standard Goes to B-Team: Day 1Resource•6:06

General Teaching Tip for Kids

When designing these games, remember the concept that jiu-jitsu is a zero-sum game: what is good for the passer is bad for the guard player. If the passer’s task is to stay outside the feet and pass, the guard player’s task is to get their feet back in front and sit up. By giving the kids these opposing tasks, they naturally learn the “why” behind the techniques.