Five Ways To Make Your Guard Dangerous!

One of the most unique positions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the guard. In most other grappling arts, being on your back is a disadvantage and could mean that you are losing the match. Being on your back in BJJ means you are equally as deadly as if you were on top of your opponent. Here are five ways to make your guard dangerous!

5) Flexibility:

One way to improve your guard is to work on your flexibility. Stretch out your back, hip and leg muscles. Being loose and limber will help all of your attacks and control within in the guard and will keep your opponent right where you want him/her.

4) Guard Retention Drills:

Another important aspect is to work on your guard retention drills. If you get some serious warm up time with various retention drills, it will make your guard scary due to the fact that you will not have to worry about it getting passed. Leg pummeling, learning to swivel your hips, shrimping and mount escapes are all keys to having good guard retention. Practice solo and with a partner.

3) Learn to Break Posture:

Learning to break an opponent’s posture is also very beneficial. To break an opponent’s posture will give you the correct controls that you need to put him/her in bad situations within your guard. Breaking posture with your upper and lower body is easy and effective.

2) The Art of Hand Fighting:

The most underrated aspect of guard is learning to fight your opponent’s hands and wrists. Learning to pull, extend, push in and peel off hands and wrists usually opens up a plethora of opportunities for you. Once you get the hang of fighting your opponent this way, you will see results immediately.

1) Practice Submission/Sweep Chains:

While there is a huge variety of submissions, chokes and sweeps from guard, it is imperative that you master a core set of techniques that you can chain together in live situations. Being able to move from one technique to another in a seamless flow of movement will put a ton of pressure on your opponent and give you a higher success rate in finishing your opponent.

 

The guard is a dynamic position. It should be used as an offensive position just as mount or the back is used. Try not to be content to rest or use the guard as a defensive position. With a solid, strong understanding of the guard, you can become a fearsome competitive off of your back and more.