He who controls the head…the human body is essentially a skull connected to a spine and everything else hangs off that. As such, if you control the head, you control the movement of the rest of the body. Now when someone puts on a gi, that lapel is functions like a noose around the neck and head – so if you control THAT, then you control the head. So one of the best skills you can develop are good lapel/collar grips. From open guard, these collar grips, in particular the CROSS COLLAR grip, are your single best means of getting quick and powerful control of the head in ways that make a real difference to your effectiveness on the mat. learning to attain, maintain and exploit the great value of this grip is a BIG part of your open guard journey. Use it whenever you can to enter and control open guard.
