Their Reguard is Our Chairlift

That process of passing; the grind or the storm, over/under, flanking or straight through.

From first contact to final breech, passing the guard is like making it safely down a ski hill. Navigating the terrain and altitude, adjusting on the fly, micro adjustments and hail marys. Fun, but often exhausting an mentally draining.

We already know improvement at getting down the hill requires getting reps, like guard passing does. And after a good run we can either sit at the bottom catching our breath or jump right back on the chairlift. After a solid pass we can consolidate and formulate our next move, or get reguarded and start again from the top position. Chairlift back to the hilltop, or reguard to the top of the guard.

Consolidation is important, but a different skill set than passing. Once we’ve passed, we’re in the consolidation phase, stifling the momentum required for a counter sweep or back take, retracting the loose ends to save from submission, and most commonly preventing the reguard as they scramble for regain what they lost. Reguard is the reset, for them and for us. During this time of consolidation, we’re no longer passing, and no longer practicing the downhill passador skill set.

Completing a difficult passing gives us the choice of consolidation, and ideologically it’s the right thing to do. But in training there are other choices.

In the same way we can get our breath back on the chairlift while formulating our next route down, we COULD catch our breath while our partner is scrambling for reguard while we “let” it happen. If the challenge was so fun to pass the guard the first time, why not do it again and see how the course changes?

Giving them a chance to regard is like taking the chairlift back up, they do the work for us to give us the opportunity for another run. And spending the reguard time resisting is like slowing the chairlift. This choice requires our reminder that we’re training, not winning.

Pass consolidation is important, but why not catch and release to hit the tougher skill set of passing with more reps and looks?

Train the tougher part of passing, save the consolidation. Let them struggle with the reguard scramble as we prepare for another go, another run through the guard. We resist less, accept more. More passing reps, better passing.

The collateral bonus is seeing all the different ways they DO reguard, which shows the many possible ways to counter later, when we ARE working consolidation. To improve our passing we should work passing, not split our passing opportunities with positional consolidation.