The Butterfly Half Guard by Tom DeBlass

Check Out The Trailer!

What Will You Learn?

Tom is a 3x winner of the ADCC Trials, he is a Masters World Champion in BJJ at Black Belt, Pan Black Belt Champ and has won basically everything else. Some of the hottest young grapplers today like Gordon Ryan and Gary Tonon (Tom’s First Black Belt) train with him often.


Tom’s story goes like this…

He is a black belt under Ricardo Almeida, who is under Renzo Gracie. Tom not only is thicker than thieves with these two guys, he has direct access to the who’s who in the Jiu Jitsu world.

He’s earned it. He’s been on the scene a long time and a black belt for close to ten years.

Tom has the red carpet treatment at John Danaher’s classes. Garry Tonon brings him in for seminars. Jeff Glover and Dean Lister have had him in for seminars. Gordon Ryan drives over an hour to his school each week to train. Heck, random people fly across the world to New Jersey just to learn from Tom.

The Half Butterfly Guard Starts From a Very Bad Position, But Once You Know The Secrets You Can Chain Together Multiple Series Of Attacks That Your Opponent Can't Stop. Works For Old Guys, Young Guys, Gi - No Gi... You Need This In Your Arsenal...

In this video series Tom is going to let you in on one of his best kept secrets, his half butterfly system. The half butterfly is one of the most underutilized positions there is. When people think of the half guard they think of the traditional half guard, the knee shield, the Z guard, and the deep half guard, everyone forgets about the half butterfly.. Except for Tom.



The half butterfly is one of the best ways to produce leverage against the stronger and bigger guys, with the hybrid combination of a butterfly hook and half guard you are able to elevate your opponents with ease. The half butterfly is also one of the safest positions to play in gi and no gi when there are foot locks. It maintains the most important principle needed to be safe: inside leg control.

When you play the half butterfly you maintain inside leg control and it is next to impossible for your opponent to attack your legs. Tom has to have a guard like this because he is constantly rolling with the young up and coming savages like Gordon Ryan, Garry Tonon, Nicky Ryan and the rest of the Danaher Death Squad.

This is his secret to being virtually impossible to leg lock. Not only does this position allow him the safety of evading leg locks, he also has countless entries to different leg locks and leg entanglements like the saddle, the honey hole, ashi garami, outside ashi and more.

This series is your key to leg lock immortality and a nearly impassable guard.


The half butterfly system that Tom uses will not only help you be defensive, you will develop a devastating offensive game from the half guard. When all of your traditional half guard sweeps fail you can rely on the half butterfly.

This one simple adjustment that Tom shows you will open your guard to an entirely new system. the best part, this system is easy to learn and even easier to implement.

You do not need to be athletic, young, flexible or some freak. This system is all about the subtle details. If you know Tom you know he is a middle aged ordinary guy who has a guard that has almost never been passed. Tom never rolls hard and he always flows.

The half butterfly is going to help you destroy those young and agile guard passers. No longer will you have to fear those quick knee slices. No longer will you have to fear those crazy back steps in half guard, once you learn how to use this system your opponents will be in your world.

So, What's On The Series?

Part 1
setting up the half butterfly and 3 attacks
far arm attack series
off balancing to ashi garami or x guard
hip heist series
underhook to back
back take

Part 2
using the leg torque
arm drag
near side rolling leg entry
kimura with setup
defense to offense for hip lockdown
omoplata to triangle
near side leg entry
elevate to get on top

Part 3
front headlock series
john Wayne to off balance opponent
over/under defense
x guard entry
reversing from a pressure pass
defending the kimura
away from the overhook sweep
entry to deep half guard

Part 4
Private Class w Mike Zenga