What is the best guard for beginners to learn?

Closed guard teaches beginners essential concepts like posture control, hip movement, and the connection between sweeps and submissions. Because your legs are locked around your opponent, they cannot easily disengage, giving you time to set up techniques. The scissor sweep, hip bump sweep, armbar, and triangle from closed guard are all fundamental attacks that teach transferable concepts. Half guard is the second priority because during live rolling, your guard will inevitably get partially passed, landing you in half guard. Having a reliable underhook game and a few sweeps from half guard prevents you from getting pinned in a bad position. As you advance, you can begin exploring butterfly guard, which teaches excellent concepts about off-balancing. Save complex guards like De La Riva, spider, and X-guard for when you have a few months of experience under your belt.