Dealing With The Whizzer From Half Guard

So you want to play half guard? Well you better find a good way of dealing with the Whizzer.  Half guard is one of the most popular guards in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, and any form of submission grappling.  This is because it is effective in all forms of combat including self-defense.  The half guard is a staple in history for BJJ.  This is one of the first guards that many bjj practitioners will learn and one of the last that they will use. 

So why half guard?  Half guard has many excellent options for sweeping your opponent, controlling your opponent, negating size advantages, and of course there are plenty of submissions from the position.  Many of the best bjj players in the world have favored the half guard throughout the history of competition.  Some of them include Bernardo Faria, Tom DeBlass, Leandro “Cascao,” Lucas Leite, and many many more.

One thing that all of these guard players have in common is that they have the ability to nullify the whizzer.  What is the whizzer?  Simply put, it is an overhook that stops you from taking down your opponent, or getting their back when playing half guard and coming into dog fight.  The whizzer can also be used to set up several submissions including the Darce, Anaconda Choke, and Guillotine.  The whizzer can be your worst enemy when playing half guard.  

How to Stop The Whizzer

The whizzer can be your worst enemy when playing half guard because one of the big objectives in the half guard is to get up on your knees by using your underhook and getting into what people call dog fight.  This is a position where you can threaten back takes, sweeps, takedowns, and submissions as long as you can deal with the whizzer.

 The whizzer is an extremely old technique that is utilized across may forms of grappling including Judo, Wrestling, and Sambo.  This is an old technique that has its roots in Greco-Roman Wrestling. So is there a simple way to beat it?  Yes, but timing is everything.  One of the easiest ways to beat a whizzer is to do what many people call a “limp arm.”  This means that all you do is swing your arm out.

This is one of the most basic techniques but you have to have good timing in order to hit this move at the highest level.  Lucky for you, we have an instructional video below showing you how to do just that.  Check out “How to Beat the Whizzer” with Rodrigo Artilheiro and Bernardo Faria below.

 

IF you want to learn some different approaches to beating the whizzer, check out 5x black belt world champion, Bernardo Faria’s DVD “Battle Tested Half Guard.”  Bernardo is one of the best in the world to ever play half guard and has dealt with the whizzer plenty of times.

Enjoy reading about half guards? then consider checking other blogs:

• Deep half guard
• Electric chair BJJ
• Reverse guard
• Reverse half guard