Opening the Closed Guard by Trapping an Arm (Fundamentals)

Professor Donovan Espinosa teaches how to open the opponent’s closed guard while trapping the opponent’s arm. Donovan is in the opponent’s closed guard and immediately isolates one arm by pinning it to the mat. When the opponent reacts by trying to regain control of the arm, Donovan slides the arm under the opponent and feeds it to his other hand. With the arm now trapped, Donovan can push on the knee to open the guard. The same technique can be used if Donovan stands up to open the guard.