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In our guard retention series, we've broken down the three physical skills that keep you in the fight and what your opponent actually needs to pass your guard. Now we close the loop. Physical skills keep you in position, but tactical skills tell you when and how to use them. Here are the three you need.

BJJ builds more than a strong body. It rewires how you handle pressure, at work, at home, everywhere

In jiu-jitsu, guard retention isn't passive. It's a defensive cycle with one job: get you back to offense. To understand how to retain, you first have to understand what your opponent is trying to accomplish. Passing your guard isn't one move. It's a sequence of conditions they have to stack on top of each other. Take any one of them away, and the pass falls apart.

Guard retention is defense. That's the first thing to understand before we get into the how. When someone is passing your guard, you are on the back foot. Your job in that moment is not to stay comfortable defending, it's to survive the pass attempt and get back to offense. Retention is the bridge that takes you from a defensive scramble back to attacking. We always want to end in offense.

Real talk on getting stronger: progress isn't a straight line, and that's okay. Join the Ground Zero Fitness family in Fairmont, WV today.

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