One of the most interesting and hard-to-master elements of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is undoubtedly the guard. The guard is recognized as a neutral position where one athlete attempts to get to a sweep, take the back, or finish his opponent while being on the bottom. There are many variations of the guard position, but the three most common are closed guard, half guard, and open guard. In this article, we will discuss the intricacies of the guard position and give you valuable advice to develop this difficult part of your jiu-jitsu game. 

Start With Escapes and Guard Retention

When you first start training, you will spend a lot of time in bad positions. This is because you don’t have a well-developed guard game yet, and it will be tough to counter people on top. Because of this, you must have excellent escapes from these positions before you work on offensive moves. It is essential that you are comfortable escaping side control, mount, or back control at any given time. 

After that, you should learn guard retention. When playing guard, you must know that there are defensive and offensive cycles. An offensive cycle means you have dominant grips on your opponent; from there, you can attack him. On the contrary, if your opponent has grips on you, you are in a defensive cycle. In a defensive cycle, the key is not to attack your opponent but to retain your guard and return to an offensive cycle. Once your escapes and guard retention are adequate, you can start working on your offense from the guard position. 

Learn Simple Guards First

A big mistake when developing a strong guard is focusing on difficult guards and investing time in something unsuitable for a beginner. An example of this can be working on more complex guards such as the spider guard, de la riva guard, worm guard, inverted guard, etc. These positions require hip mobility and knowledge of grip fighting. Playing some of these incorrectly can allow your opponent to pass your guard quickly, putting you in a bad position.

The best place to start is half-guard. Half-guard is an excellent position, both offensively and defensively. In addition, there are a few high-percentage attacks to learn, and mastering them is a great way to start. After building a solid half-guard, you can move on to closed guard, as it is an excellent way to attack with submissions from the bottom. Once you are comfortable with these two, you can start learning open guard. 

Specific Sparring

An excellent way to work on your weaknesses in jiu-jitsu is to do specific sparring. This type of sparring is great for learning new techniques and practicing them with resistance. For example, you can start from a half-guard or closed guard and learn to work from there. Invest time in these positions, and you will see the results.

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Master the half guard system that Roger Gracie has developed to sweep, submit, and more with classic, efficient technique!

• Roger Gracie is one of the most respected and successful black belt competitors of all time, and dominated elite grapplers with precision technique.
• Sweep your way to top position with these moves that Roger has perfected over a lifetime of study, including Roger’s signature rolling sweep.