Why does Jiu Jitsu put such an emphasis on passing guard? From your first lesson in Jiu Jitsu you were told that if you are in top position your first priority is to get past your opponents legs and pass his guard. The reasons for this are important. A fundamental principle of Jiu Jitsu is to seek always an asymmetry in attacking potential in your favor. We always want situations where you can attack your opponent more readily and in more devastating fashion than he can attack you. The best way you can do this is to get past your opponents legs. Almost All of the major submissions and strikes from bottom position require the use of your legs. If you get past those there is very little to be concerned with. You on the other hand, now have a vast array of strikes and submissions that you can use. Even in matches that don't give points for guard passing it is still very much worth your while to pass an opponents guard just to be able to exploit this desirable asymmetry where you can attack at will whilst an opponent can barely attack at all. Think about a situation where you had no guard passing ability whatsoever. What kind of offense could you apply to your opponent from top position? You would be limited to leg locks – you could only attack 50% of the human body. Interestingly, when you can only attack the lower body your leg locks become predictable and easy to defend. When you can pass guard you can attack the whole body – you still have the leg lock option (even better leg locks because your opponent doesn't know if you will be passing or leg locking) and now arms locks and strangles as well. The whole realm of strangles only opens up when you can pass guard – and strangles are the single most high percentage finishes of them all. So even if you are, as I obviously am, a lover of the leg lock game, KEEP WORKING YOUR PASSING GAME AS THE FOUNDATION OF TOP GAME JIU JITSU. Only then will you be able to fulfill my ideal of Jiu Jitsu – to attack the whole body rather than half of it.
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