Who Came Up With The Closed Guard?
A guard has been used in countless styles of grappling like Judo and early Japanese Jiu Jitsu before BJJ was created. But the closed guard was innovated within Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
At first, the Gracie family began using a closed guard for numerous reasons. The two biggest being for self defense against a bigger person and being able to keep your opponent close.
Years later, the closed guard really started to be innovated by two of Master Osvaldo Alves’ students. Sergio Pena and Pascal Magalhães.
Pena and Magalhãe became two of the most dominant Jiu Jiu Jitsu competitors of the era. Submitting names like Sylvio Behring and Royce Gracie all from the closed guard.