Grappling Tips Newsletter

Someone once defined insanity as "continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results". This applies to grappling as well as the rest of life, and it is very true when you are in the half guard position.

Say you are under your opponent in the half guard, and your bread and butter sweep series just isn't working: perhaps he's too heavy, too nimble or too canny. Time to abandon ship, move to a different position and try a different technique.

One part of being able to switch strategies easily is knowing how to position your legs. The legs perform several different functions in half guard, including:

• preventing your opponent from passing your guard
• preventing your opponent from submitting you
• making or removing space between you and your opponent
• lifting and moving your opponent
  

When I first analyzed my half guard game I realized that, almost all the time, I was in one of seven leg positions. These leg positions, which I cover in detail in my Dynamic Half Guard DVD, are:

1. Inside Single Hook
2. Single Triangle
3. Outside Leg Hook
4. Double Triangle (Outside)
5. Double Triangle (Inside)
6. Knee Block
7. Half Butterfly Guard
   

Knowing different leg positions for half guard is one thing, but being able to move between them is another, so I refined a drill to train the movements BETWEEN half guard positions. This drill doesn't include all seven leg positions, and it doesn't need to: the movement of the hips is the key, and once learned you can apply it to all half guard positions and to mobility on the ground in general. Check out this half guard positional flexibility drill!

Labels: the guard

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