Hi guys, Quick question here that might lead to some long answers. Do you guys open you guard before isolating the person in your guards arms? I'm asking because I find that if my opponent has a hand free he tends to pop down the leg on that side and drive his knee through to pass over the top. Obviously that doesn't happen every-time I open up my guard but it's frequent enough that I typically will not open my guard till I either have some control over both my opponents arms or have heavily broken his posture in some way. What are peoples opinions on this, should I be opening my guard faster and attempting to break their posture with my legs from there or is the approach I adopt a reasonable one?
I open my guard when someone is about to pop it open anyways - I like my guard to be opened on my terms rather than theirs. I probably need to take into account what you are saying and figure out how to get some control when I open. I also open my guard when I'm trying to apply a submission or sweep, but that's generally when I have the upper body down and I have my weight on them. I usually reach across and grab the opposite delt, or get head and hand control, or something like that.
