Reshape Your Approach To Dealing With The Seated Guard Using This Sneaky Attack From Dave Porter

 

The seated open guard is so interesting because of the huge amount of attacking and defending variations it offers. When entering or attacking your opponent's seated guard, the most common approach is to first get one leg into the guard, between your opponents legs. The general rule when it comes to passing the guard is you have to either go over or under the legs. You can go around, but with the high level of guard retention practitioners have today, over or under is usually a good bet.

Stepping into the guard first gives you the option to do either. It also causes your opponent to give a reaction, to which you can base your next steps off of. Typically at this point your opponent is more worried about defending the guard pass than thinking about defending a submission. Figuring out how to almost feint a guard pass into a submission attempt is a great option while attacking the seated guard.

Even better, put yourself into a position where you could finish the guard pass or the submission depending on what your opponent's reaction is. It is a win-win situation and likely something your opponent will not be expecting.

In this video, Dave Porter shows an entry into an opponent's open guard that gives options to either pass the guard or finish with a sneaky darce choke, check it out below!

 

The Technique

To begin this technique, Dave starts in his combat base and starts to enter the guard with his lead leg. In this variation, his lead leg is his right leg. Whether you are starting down or up, you want to step between your partner’s legs immediately. The basis of this technique is going to be to use pressure from that lead leg to dictate which way your partner goes.

After stepping into the guard, use your lead leg to start applying pressure to your opponents thigh on the side of your choosing. By applying pressure on the thigh, you begin to staple that leg to the ground and force your opponent to start turning or falling backwards in that direction. In this example, Dave chooses to go to his partner’s left side, allowing his left leg to kick stand out as an additional base.

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From here you can expect two reactions from your opponent. First, they don’t use their arm to post and fall on their back which will likely result in you passing the guard. If you do this quick enough and with substantial force, you might catch them before they have the opportunity to post and get a quick guard pass from which you can start attacking.

The other reaction is for your partner to base to avoid being smashed to the mat, and this is what prompts the sneaky attack. When they post, you immediately want to bring both of your hands to the top of their head and start to push down. Keep that pressure on them and if they allow their post to collapse, again you have an opportunity to pass the guard.

If his post is stiff and does not collapse, keep your left arm pressuring the head and transition your right arm to a sort of whizzer/overhook on the opposite side of their body. This delivers the total opposite of what your opponent was expecting. You were driving into him in a certain direction, and now you are attacking the other side.

From here it is time to start setting up your darce finish. Shoot that overhook through his armpit and up to his neck while using the grip on his head to get your arm in deep and keep everything tight. Now, fall back to the opposite side and finish the choke. As you fall back you may fall on top of your opponent's arm, so utilize a quick hip escape to clear it and now you are in the perfect position.

This is a submission that you should be able to catch a lot of people with. You are going in one solid direction, forcing your opponent to post because they don’t want their guard passed, and that free’s the other arm to be exposed for you to finish with an unsuspecting submission. Take your time drilling this to make sure you have the mechanics down correctly, and you will be hitting this with incredible speed in no time.

About Dave Porter

Dave “Darce” Porter is a Pedro Sauer black belt and is an instructor at Pedro Sauer’s headquarters in Virginia. Martial arts have always been a part of Dave’s life as he was a wrestler as well as a pro MMA fighter, and he is especially known for his unique style. He has an extremely high percentage of finishing the darce/brabo choke, and it is evident why as you watch his technical breakdown of the submission.

Dave’s Jiu Jitsu career began after being submitted by an arm bar in an MMA fight in 2005, and realizing the importance of being able to grapple. He hit the ground running and has had the opportunity to train under some of the best in the business. He has had an extremely successful competitive career, and continues to teach the art at the highest of levels.

When it comes to attacks, one of the best is Devastating Lower Body Submission Attacks by Joe Baize. 

About Dave’s Instructional 

Honing in on his strength, Dave has dedicated the entirety of this instructional to the evolution of the darce/brabo. Included you will find techniques such as setups from top positions such as Russian-tie and knee on belly, butterfly attacks, scarf hold counter, back mount to deep half threat, and so much more.

Dave is one of those practitioners with a style you can’t help but be attracted to, and his technique is as sharp as it comes. From training under some of the best, competition experience, and a dedication to teaching, he has an enormous amount to offer practitioners of all levels. Incorporate the darce into your game and begin to see it from every imaginable position, check out his instructional here!

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