The Butterfly Guard is one of those positions in Jiu-Jitsu that’s often elusive to athletes. They don’t like it because it’s not as dynamic as other guards are, plus they’d like to be more “aggressive” with it.
But don’t get frustrated with it just yet. There is a way to play Butterfly Guard that’ll bring a whole new, dynamic flavor to it: and that is to wrestle up.
Brian Glick, a John Danaher black belt and student of over 20 years, demonstrates a basic wrestling up setup.
WRESTLE UP FROM THE BUTTERFLY GUARD
To wrestle up from the Butterfly Guard, you’ll first need to get one of your legs out of the way, while simultaneously getting to a slight angle and posting on your back hand. From here, you need to elicit a response from your training partner – by pushing into him with your second hand.
As you push him, get both of your legs out of the way.
Now, as the training partner reacts by pushing back into you, you’ll dive in for a sort of a Double Leg variation, getting them down to the mats. All that you’ve got to do from there is to proceed with your guard passing.
Coach Brian Glick demonstrates the technique in more detail on the video below:
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