Half Guard Transition to Closed Guard (Fundamentals)

Professor Lucas Lepri shows how to transition from having the opponent on his half guard to the closed guard. Lucas begins with his opponent in his half guard, legs locked in a figure four, and his opponent flattening him. Lucas takes the hand that is over the opponent’s shoulder and reaches to grip the belt. Now, Lucas opens his figure four and moves his outside leg to the inside, trapping the opponent’s leg. Lucas uses his other hand to push the opponent’s leg as he escapes his other knee from between his opponent’s legs. Then he uses that same hand to trap the opponent’s same-side arm. He then uses his legs and arms to move his hips to finish escaping his leg, establishing the closed guard.