Tag Archives: Butterfly Guard
3 Drills for Passing & Defending Butterfly Guard
Drilling is critical to skill development in BJJ in general, which is why we talk about it so often in this blog (click here to see some past articles about drilling).
Drilling and technique repetition become even more important if you’re dealing with a position like the butterfly guard. (more…)
The Easiest Butterfly Guard Sweep
Today I want to quickly share the easiest way to sweep someone from the butterfly guard.
Many butterfly guard attacks require you to close the distance, pull your opponent forward, load him up onto your legs, and then sweep him. But what if he resists? (more…)
What is the Butterfly Guard?
The Butterfly Guard is one of my very favorite positions these days.
Regardless of whether you’re rolling with or without the gi, the Butterfly Guard keeps your opponent’s weight off of you, it gives you unparalleled mobility on the bottom, and it allows you to unleash blistering combinations of some of the most powerful sweeps and reversals in all of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. (more…)
What is the Open Guard?
Are you confused about the definition of the Open Guard? You are NOT alone. In fact, when I started BJJ someone tried to explain the different variations of the Open Guard to me and I think his explanation left me more confused than I had been originally.
So, what is the Open Guard? (more…)
4 Tips to Pass ANY Guard
Passing the guard of a skilled opponent is one of the hardest things to do in BJJ.
If you don’t believe me, take a look at high level BJJ and submission grappling competition like the Mundials or ADCC. (more…)
Ronda Rousey and the Power of Gameplans
In case you were hiding under a rock, Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche last night at UFC 157. She both validated her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title, and made history by being in the first-ever women’s match in the the UFC.
And just in case you were under that aforementioned rock, despite a very spirited fight by Liz Carmouche, Ronda won the match with an armbar at 4:49 of the first round. (more…)
Fifty Ways to Improve Your Grappling Almost Immediately
Sometimes the best way to get better is simply to stop doing things wrong.
Over the years I’ve shot quite a few guerilla-style videos breaking down many of the most common mistakes that I see for different positions and submissions. (more…)
How to Salvage a Failed Butterfly Guard Sweep
The ‘basic’ butterfly guard sweep is one of the most strongest sweeps in grappling. That’s why it shows up again and again at the highest levels of competition. It’s powerful, reliable, and works for a wide range of body types. It works with and without the gi, on bigger people, smaller people, wrestlers, and judoka.
This combination of power and versatility makes the butterfly guard sweep one of my favorite go-to moves of all time! (more…)
A reader writes: Hi Stephan, I’ve been doing BJJ for about 6 months and am wondering if you have any advice about what to do when you’re starting on the knees?
I find that most wrestling-style takedowns are very difficult to do from the knees, especially because my opponents are really good at sprawling. (more…)
How to do the Butterfly Guard Sweep
Today I want to teach you how to do the most important sweep from the butterfly guard correctly.
This is because sometimes in life, you just HAVE to learn certain things. (more…)
The Seated Guard and the 'Idiot Sweep'
Here’s a video in which Emily Kwok uses me as a dummy to teach the fundamentals of the Seated Guard and also one of my very favorite sweeps: the ‘Idiot Sweep.’
(I call it that because it’s so simple and so effective that when you catch your opponent with it, he feels like – well – an idiot.) (more…)
A Confusion of Open Guards
The open guard can be quite confusing. Basically any time your legs are not closed around the back of your opponent you are in a type of open guard. Butterfly guard, X guard, spider guard, sitting guard etc. etc. are all open guards. (more…)
An Innovative Butterfly Guard Jump
by Vitor “Shaolin” Riberio
Some (but not all) BJJ competitors jump to guard in order to get the fight to the ground quickly and avoid conceding takedown points. Most of the time this simply consists of jumping in the air while trying to pull your opponent into your closed guard. (more…)
Wallid Ismael-style guard passing by Andreh Anderson
Andreh Anderson is a brown belt under Rey Diego at (www.reydiogo.com). Here he kindly shares the details of one of his favorite guard passes.
Andreh says: “Let me say that I don’t know if this is the exact pass Wallid uses. (more…)
Single Leg Sweep, by Andreh Anderson
Andreh Anderson is a black belt under Rey Diego at (www.reydiogo.com) and loves sweeping his opponents. Andreh has this to say about the single leg sweep:
“Most of you have probably seen the sweep itself, but I started using the entry when I was a brown belt and it worked really well. (more…)
The Evolution of the 'Logsplitter' From Fluke to Trusted BJJ Technique...
Today I want to tell you a story about how I stumbled across a technique by fluke at a tournament, and how it became one of my bread and butter moves from Butterly Guard, X Guard and Half Guard. (more…)
The 'Basic' Butterfly Guard Sweep
The ‘basic’ butterfly guard sweep is anything but basic. It is an extremely powerful and sophisticated attack that is difficult for your opponent to resist. In addition, this sweep has many followups and recounters, which can make life unstable and unpleasant for your opponent. (more…)
Butterfly Guard / X Guard Q & A
The questions in this article arose, in part, from a discussion of my Butterfly Guard and X Guard video, which is part of the Guard Sweeps DVD Package. Of course everyone is welcome to read on, but for maximum benefit it’d probably be a good idea to pick up a copy of this 2 DVD package
A Glossary of Guards Part 2: The Open Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev
Principal Photography by Keith Haist
Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine (more…)
Get Up, Stand Up!
Why getting off the ground is a critical skills in grappling!
(originally published in Black Belt Magazine)
When mixed martial arts competition exploded in North America, martial artists quickly learned that most fights end up on the ground. And for years the prevailing wisdom was that groundfighting was inevitable, and if a fight went to the ground it would most likely stay there. (more…)
The Three Most Common Butterfly Guard Mistakes
When most people start using the Butterfly Guard in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and/or submission grappling, they make one or all of these three following mistakes. (more…)
Two Drills on Video to Improve your Guard Sweeps
Many of the most powerful guard sweeps rely on your hips being underneath your opponent’s center of gravity.
This makes him very unstable – think of the difference between
1. standing on the floor beside one of those stability balls, and
2. trying to stand on top of that same stability ball. (more…)
How to Defeat the Bigger Stronger Opponent NOW AVAILABLE
It’s here! The How to Defeat the Bigger, Stronger Opponent DVD set is in stock, and ready to ship right now.
Emily Kwok and I have been crafting this 5 DVD set for a long time, and it’s one of the best instructional sets I have ever seen. (more…)
When the Closed Guard Fails...
A reader writes:
Q: Hi Stephan,
I recently received and read your email with the video link about the closed guard in the Beginning BJJ newsletter.
However my instructor is quite thick and muscular, (more…)
Gi vs no-gi, I don’t think the debate will ever die.
I wrote about this topic first in 2004, arguing that most gi-based grapplers should do at least a little bit of no gi grappling, and visa versa. (more…)
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