The Torreando Open Guard Passing System

Passing SystemFoundationsCONCEPT-PAS-TORREANDO-SYSTEMStay standing, control the legs, run around — open-guard passing through speed and angle

The torreando system passes guard from a standing posture by pinning the bottom player’s legs to one side and running the passer’s hips around the other side. The mechanic is lateral rather than diagonal: the passer never engages with the bottom player’s torso until after the legs are cleared. The passer’s grips are on the bottom player’s shins, knees, or ankles; the passer’s hips stay back, denying the bottom player’s hooks and frames; the pass completes when the passer’s hip lands on the floor on the bottom player’s side, parallel to their hip line.

In no-gi, the torreando family extends to include double-shin pins, the long step, tripod-style passing, and standing-posture variations of pressure passes. The unifying mechanic is staying standing throughout the pass — the passer’s structural advantage is verticality, not chest connection. The bottom player’s open-guard hooks become much less effective when the passer’s hips are above their reach.

clear the feetGuard passing requires neutralising the bottom player’s hooks, frames, and grips before crossing the hip line.

Standing posture is the torreando’s primary neutraliser — the bottom player cannot engage hooks against legs they cannot reach. The shin/knee grip neutralises the second layer (frames). The lateral movement neutralises the third (recovery angle). All three neutralisations happen before the pass commits.

passing is pinningHip-on-hip passing creates an angular pin that denies recovery to either guard or back.

The torreando lands in side control with a parallel hip alignment — passer’s hips beside the bottom player’s, both facing the same direction. This lateral pin is the torreando’s terminal stability; without the parallel alignment, the bottom player inverts and recovers.

destabilisation precedes controlDestabilisation precedes control.

The torreando’s success is timing-driven. The pinning grips destabilise the bottom player’s leg-frame; the lateral run capitalises on the destabilisation window before the player can re-form the frame. A torreando without the destabilisation tempo is a stalemate; with it, the pass is automatic.

hand posts create offenceAttack angle is created by off-setting the body from the opponent’s centreline.

The torreando is hand posts create offence from the passer’s perspective. Where guard players seek angle by rotating around the standing opponent, the standing passer seeks angle by running around the bottom player’s centreline. Once perpendicular, the pass is structurally complete — only the landing remains.

PAS-TOREANDOToreando PassThe canonical torreando — pin the legs, run laterally, land in side control.

PAS-TRIPODTripod PassThree points of contact — slow-burn variant of the standing pass.