Countering the Basic Half Guard Sweep By Lachlan Giles
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Aussie Passing To Add To Your Game!
The half guard is an extremely utilized guard position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu utilized by grapplers of all sizes. In fact, many Jiu Jitsu practitioners prefer the half guard as opposed to full guard and will allow opponents to come in to that guard immediately. There are numerous effective submissions and sweeps from this guard that make it so great.
Submissions from half guard? Click here to Learn More
If you are grappling against an opponent that has a great half guard, you may find yourself in trouble often. If the half guard player you are going against is larger or stronger than you, you are going to have a difficult time.
A common tool used in the half guard is the knee shield and dealing with it can be a nightmare. The most common sweep from half guard, unironically called the half guard sweep, requires the guard player give up the knee shield to come up for the sweep. This commonly used sweep can be difficult to defend, but Lachlan Giles shows the best technique to counter. Watch it in the following video where he explains the sweep, the counter, and the re-counter.
One of my favorite pieces of advice for people who don’t like playing the top half guard game is that there is actually no obligation to play it just because the guard player is. In fact, if someone pulls me into half guard, I will stand up because I like standing passing but the attacks against a standing opponent is more difficult.
If you don’t want to stand up, then you can do what Lachlan does. It is very effective and actually gives the guard player the same amount of difficulty standing would. As Lachlan mentions, the knee of the trapped leg shouldn’t be against the guard player’s leg unless you are switching to a knee slice pass. Instead, place the knee across the midline. This does two things, the first is that it applies a lot of pressure against the guard player, and the second is that it makes any movement from the guard player dangerous.
Lachlan Giles has emerged as one of the premier Half Guard specialists in the world. Up your game and buy now!
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