A brilliant factor of Jiu Jitsu is the fact that small movements or adjustments can make huge differences. It’s all about leverage, weight distribution, and proper technique. Something as simple as switching your hips in a certain position can open up a...

Progressing along our Jiu Jitsu journey we are certainly going to run into challenges.  It seems to be a lot of the same challenges repeated time and time again, just at a higher level each time.  Allow me to explain. When we first...

The second guard Brazilian Jiu Jitsu students learn after studying the closed guard is the half guard. The half guard is one of the more commonly used positions in Jiu Jitsu, even more than closed guard. Half guard is more complex and effective...

All great half guard players have many things in common. They all have a deep understanding of framing, and how its used most effectively. They know how to position themselves for optimal application of the half guard. And they’ve all perfected the placement...

Bottom Half Guard Overview by Neil Melanson Neil could easily be considered one of the most dangerous men on the planet. Neil is the head coach of the infamous Blackzillians MMA Team at the Jaco Hybrid Training Center, he has coached some of...

Half guard has emerged as one of the go to guards of many Jiu-Jitsu player across the globe. Some of the best practitioners on earth have spent heavy emphasis on developing their half guard game. Luckily for us Lachlan Giles has us covered....

The Most Important Half Guard Sweep You'll Ever Learn Half guard is one of the most important, yet fairly unique as far as guards go, because your opponent will always like that have the ability to pass and/or submit from top half. They...

Do you even pull guard?  Do you even pull guard from the knees?  Well, if you don’t, you should.  In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu we constantly see people who pull guard when they start standing, but if it is on the knees, we typically...

Half guard is one of the most simple and effective guards.  If you spend time developing the half guard, you will be able to nullify a lot of fast paced guard passers and hit moves on everyone.  The half guard has long been...

Full mastery of a BJJ position can require so much study and breakdown of the sometimes dozens of minute elements that make up the successful execution of said position.  The perfect positioning may never be achieved, but that is no reason why we...

The half guard is one of the most popular guards in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA.  The half guard is frequently utilized at the highest levels of both Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/Grappling, and MMA.  We see the half guard at Worlds, ADCC, and in...

 A good half guard player can seem to endlessly frustrate all of our attempts to apply pressure and attempt to pass to side control or some other dominate position.  If a bottom half guard player builds strong frames with their arms and combines...

The half guard has long been seen as the “simple” guard, “lazy” guard and even “old man” guard.  The question we ask today is, is the half guard really simple?  This is tough because there is no easy answer.  It is like any...

Tom DeBlass is no stranger to the role of pressure in one's life.  Tom DeBlass is curently a world-class jiu jitsu competitor, a former multi-title Ring of Combat champion, Bellator and UFC veteran, a successful business owner and a leader of a growing...