Kinesiology of jiu jitsu: proper posture in the closed guard
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When you are sitting in someone’s closed guard you have one objective: Clear the legs while not getting swept of submitted.
This is more easily accomplished while maintaining balance and proper posture.
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What is proper posture for jiu jitsu? In jiu jitsu when you are sitting in someone’s closed guard you are mainly resisting a forward pull from the guard player. ✳️Physics of balance: To remain balanced you have to keep your center of mass between your base of support. If the guard player manages to pull your center of mass outside your base of support you will be unbalanced.
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❌Faulty posture: Active toes. When you are on your toes your weight is shifted too far forward.
❌Faulty posture: Neutral spine alignment. While this seems correct it is inefficient. If you have neutral spinal alignment and they pull then your center of mass will be much closer to the edge of your base of support. Therefore the force they will need to unbalance you is considerably less.
✅Proper posture: Posterior pelvic tilt. Tuck your tailbone underneath you. When your pelvis tilts posteriorly it shifts your center of mass back. The spinal and pelvic alignment puts you in a mechanical advantage to resist the guard player’s anterior pulling force without having to use a lot of energy.
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Your arms can be used to open the legs and prevent them from sitting up.
✳️The most stable alignment is a neutral spinal with abdominal bracing, however if there is slight flexion it will not significantly decrease your stability.
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When the opponent’s pull increases or if they try a hip heist sweep to unbalance you can “engage your hips” meaning extending / activating your glutes and slightly lifting your hips up to meet their increased force.