Frustrate Your Opponents With How Easily Sweep Or Recover Guard!

How To Use The Half Butterfly From Half Guard by Tom DeBlass

Who is Tom DeBlass? Tom DeBlass is many things. He is one of the most sought after instructors in the grappling world right now.  He is a world class grappler and former mixed martial artist. He is an exceptional instructor. He has a huge social media following from his technique breakdowns and advice on relationships, transformation, adversity and training.  Tom DeBlass is many things and world class in all of them.

Tom has many accomplishments in grappling and mixed martial arts. He has fought in both the UFC and Bellator. He is a 3x ADCC veteran, Fight To Win Pro Main Event Winner, 2016 ADCC North American Champion,2016 ADCC American Nationals Absolute Champion, ADCC NY Super Fight Champion,2015 Black Belt World No Gi Masters and Absolute Champion, 2014 ADCC North American Champion, 2013 Black Belt No Gi Pan American Champion, 2013 Black Belt No Gi Worlds Bronze Medal, 2009 ADCC North American Champion, 2009 Black Belt No Gi Worlds Bronze Medal, 2007 Brown Belt No Gi Worlds Champion, 2007 Brown Belt Pan American Champion, 2007 Brown Belt American Nationals Champion, 6X Grappler’s Quest Expert Champion and member of the New Jersey Martial Artist Hall of Fame.

DeBlass’ education and teaching ability is also exceptional. Tom earned his black belt from legendary ADCC and MMA veteran Ricardo Almeida in just over six years. There are many testaments to his exceptional teaching ability. His first black belt is the great Garry Tonon. Gordon Ryan is Tonon’s first black belt. Tom is a former elementary school special education teacher. This experience has honed his ability to take complex concepts and make them understandable to even the novice grapplers. Another testament to his teaching ability is his academy Ocean County Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He has over 350 students and 20 black belts. Additionally he has an empire of affiliates around the world.

 

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It is also worth noting the Tao of Tom’s social media presence. He has many great quotes from training to adversity, transformation and life.  Here is a great quote from Tom on transformation, “The last 4 weeks I have dedicated to changing myself. Every day I have been praying, asking God to help me in the areas of life where I struggle. Regardless how successful you may think you are, there is always so much room for improvement, always. I am nowhere close to where I want to be, but every day I am getting better. It is a conscious effort that I must put in, but I feel myself becoming a better person.”

 

 

In this video Tom explores how to recover from butterfly half guard once your posture and structure have been defeated in half guard. It is an important detail that Tom and Bernardo discuss not to become panicked.  Just because your position is bad does not mean it is right to freak out or even give up the position. Tom starts from half guard. However, he is flat on his back and has lost the under hook battle. He does not have a frame or knee shield. The first step is to frame on your partners hip on the near side. This allows Tom the space necessary to scoot out his hip and insert a butterfly hook. Next Tom wraps an over hook around his partners under hook. He also uses the near side arm to clamp down on the near side shoulder. His near side leg posts on the mat while his butterfly hook elevates his opponent. This position allows him to either reverse the position using the butterfly hook to sweep his opponent or create enough space to recover guard. Tom also states that if your opponent is using a lot of shoulder pressure then that should not be an issue. Just use the near side arm to relieve the shoulder pressure by pulling down on your opponents shoulder.  There is also an entry for an omoplata series from this position. The video ends with the key message reiterated;don’t get panicked if you are in a bad position. Undoubtedly, this lesson that we learn in Jiu Jitsu pays dividend off the mat as well.

This video is a fine example of Tom’s ability to breakdown technique and principles in a manner that is applicable to everyone from the white belt to black belt. Without a doubt, we can all refine our game with the information provided. Tom DeBlass is certainly many things. Beyond Jiu Jitsu technique, he sets an example on how to run an academy and our mindset for training, transformation, adversity and life in general. The Jiu Jitsu community is lucky to have people like Tom DeBlass.

For more from Tom DeBlass' BRAND NEW series The Half Butterfly Guard, head over to BJJ Fanatics and get yourself a copy now!  You can get it here!

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