Establishing Half Guard

Technique

Half Guard

Concept

Establishing half guard
Defending half guard

The focus of the sessions for the majority of August have been half guard.  This is one of the most widely used guards in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but can be one of the most technical positions to 'master'.

When establishing half guard its important to ensure you are active and not inactive. In practice this means you must ensure that you on your side, almost in a foetal position.

The position of your arms is also key here, you must ensure that you have control over your opponent to prevent him from flattening you out.  For this first in-depth look at the Half Guard we recommend you take an underhook with the arm furthest away from the ground, whilst the other hand blocks the arm which will attempt to 'cross face' you.

This is best exemplified by looking at the flattened out half guard position. Here we can see that without the underhook, your opponent has the opportunity to cross face, underhook, and flatten.

To defend the attacking half guard position, you need to stop your opponent from establishing his side and arm positions. As mentioned above you need to underhook, cross face to flatten out your opponent. This may sound simple, but you really need to ensure you engage your hips and apply 100 kilos of pressure to your opponent.

The other half guard position worth looking at is the long range half guard.  This utilises your knees and shins to create distance between you and your opponent.