This week I am going to take the easy way out, and let someone else do most of the work.

Andreh Anderson has trained with many famous grapplers and is a skilled brown belt under Rey Diego. Recently he posted detailed photos and explanations of two of his favorite techniques. I immediately asked permission to post these techniques on my site and he kindly agreed. The two techniques in question can be seen at www.grapplearts.com/Half-Guard-Sweep-Series.htm and www.grapplearts.com/Wallid-Ismael-Guard-Pass.htm

I found the half guard series to be especially interesting, since it mirrors a lot of what I have been working on a lot recently. In my sparring I have been concentrating on the half guard, and have come to recognize that success in the half guard relies on linking two motions:

1. coming onto your knees, either taking his back or doing a modified single leg or double leg takedown
2. diving underneath him and rolling him over top of you.

The beauty of these two motions is that they complement each other: if you can’t come onto your knees you can often dive underneath him, and if you can’t get underneath him then you can often get onto your knees.

Of course there are many, many variations on how to accomplish these two goals. There are many details about grip placement and hook placement that you need to consider to make this game effective and efficient. The concept of the two-pronged half guard attack is a great starting point for developing an aggressive half guard game.

In closing I should point out that I consider this sort of half guard strategy to be an intermediate to advanced-level game. You shouldn’t even begin playing with it until you can reliably and repeatedly start with having your opponent in your half guard, block his guard pass attempts, and replace him into your own closed guard.