I admit it. I love the half guard game top and bottom. I just came across this post in my in box. Stephen Kesting of grapple arts is a one man jiu jitsu encyclopedia. This guy is amazing. One thing that I love is that he gives so much instruction for free ninety nine. Yep. Free ninety nine. Most of it well worth it. All you have to do to get it is go to his site, grapple arts, and sign up. If you want more game and more bang for your buck feel free to check out his amazingly popular DVD’s. The following was taken from a recent post from Stephen Kesting. Want to learn more about guards? Check this article out on grapplearts.com.
I put a video on Youtube specifically about these four half guard mistakes, but if you want a quick sneak peek then read on…
The first half guard mistake is bad body position.
If you’re lying flat then you’re going to get squashed, and are hugely limiting your offensive options.
If you’re using the half guard then you should be on your side.
Also for most half guard techniques you should be curled into a little ball, as far under his center of gravity as possible. To help me with this I always think of trying to get my ear onto his hipbone.
The second half guard mistake is not gripfighting.
If your opponent manages to get a good grip on your head, OR underhook your arm with his arm arm, then you’re going to suffer. He’ll put weight on you, crush your face, and quite probably pass your half guard.
That’s why you’ve GOT to gripfight in the half guard. Deny him the crossface. Don’t give him the undertook. Make him work for the inside line.
Controlling the grip will make your half guard much harder to pass, and your offensive options much stronger.
The third mistake in the half guard is not controlling his trapped leg at all times.
If your opponent is even hallways savvy to the half guard and you screw up on controlling his leg for even a split second, then – boom – he’ll blow past your half guard and now you’ll be pinned in side control.
Anytime you’re using the half guard you’ve GOT to have something on top of his trapped leg: your foot, your ankle, or your calf, of either leg.
This may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how often people forget to keep control over the top of their opponents leg.
The fourth half guard mistake is not knowing when to abandon the half guard.
You’ve gotta keep your opponent guessing, and that’s hard to do if you’re 100% predictable.
So when the half guard stops working in a match then you’ve got to switch it up by going to another position.
All these mistakes are broken down for you in more detail (along with some solutions too) in the 5:54 video I uploaded to Youtube called “4 Mistakes That’ll Kill Your Half Guard.”
