The scissor sweep is one of the very first sweeps most BJJ students learn. And it's a legit technique, but even if your opponent counters it then it can still be used to set up a great omoplata attack... Stephan has his opponent in his closed guard, and uses the basic closed guard grip on his opponent's left side Stephan opens his guard, shifts his hips, puts his left shin across his … [Read more...]
Guard Sweeps
The X guard position
The 'X guard is a position that I've been using a lot recently. It is either a form of the open guard or the half guard, depending on your point of view. You end up here a lot when you use the butterfly guard, especially when your opponent posts his foot to stop your sweeps. … [Read 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. … [Read more...]
Andreh Anderson’s Half Guard Series
Andreh Anderson is a brown belt under Rey Diego at (www.reydiogo.com). Here he kindly shares his favorite half guard series with us. Andreh says: "One of the things I'm working on is the area I feel most comfortable: The half guard. … [Read more...]
How to Finish the Back Climb from Half Guard
Taking an opponent's back is a fundamental attack from half guard, but once your opponent has been caught in it a few times he will start blocking your back climb. Most typically he will wrap your arm with an overbook, also known as a 'whizzer.' Here's one way of my favorite ways to counter his counter and come out on top and behind your … [Read 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 Butterfly Guard, X Guard and Half Guard. There's a high-percentage position that I call the 'Logsplitter' and I use it all the time. I often end up there by transitioning from Butterfly Guard, X Guard and/or Half Guard. The Logsplitter offers … [Read 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. … [Read more...]
The X Guard Position
The 'X guard' is a position that I've been using a lot recently. Depending on your point of view, it's either a form of the open guard or the half guard, but whatever you call it, it's effective as hell! You end up in X Guard a lot when you use the Butterfly Guard, especially when your opponent posts his foot to stop your sweeps. … [Read 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 … [Read more...]
A Glossary of Guards Part 3: The Half Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev Principal Photography by Keith Haist Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine This is the third and final article in a series introducing a wide variety of guard positions. … [Read more...]
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 This is the second of three articles discussing variations of the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu guard position. In this article we are going to focus on the Open Guard, where your legs are NOT locked around your opponent’s torso (the other articles cover the Closed Guard and the … [Read more...]
A Glossary of Guards Part 1: The Closed Guard
By Stephan Kesting and Elliott Bayev Principal Photography by Keith Haist Originally Published in Ultimate Grappling Magazine … [Read 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. … [Read more...]
17 Tips for an Active Bottom Half Guard
These are some important aspects to focus on and remember when it comes to being on the bottom in half guard Don’t just hold on. … [Read more...]
Trapped Flat in Half Guard? Do This!
The half guard can be a powerful attacking position so long as you stay on your side and maintain your mobility. However if your opponent gets his grips, flattens you out and drives all his weight onto you it really sucks. … [Read more...]
Pulling Guard in MMA
Q: Hello Stephan, I'm a big fan of your website - I've been following it since 2009. I compete in BJJ and No-Gi submission wrestling. I've also been training MMA with hopes of having my first amateur fight within the year. … [Read 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. … [Read more...]
Best Type of BJJ Guard for Beginners
Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro is a four time World BJJ Champion. In MMA he held the welterweight title in Japanese Shooto. And he has the Cage Rage lightweight championship belt proudly mounted on the wall too... … [Read more...]
A Drill To Improve ANY Guard Sweep
Today I'm not going to talk about a technique per se. Instead I'm going to share a cool training method with you. (Training methods are the ways in which you practice, hone and internalize the techniques you're learning. … [Read more...]
The Deep Half Guard (video)
Nowadays you often see the Deep Half Guard at the highest levels of BJJ and submission grappling competition. But there are a lot of important details to the Deep Half Guard that you need to know before it becomes a powerful sweeping weapon. Because I saw this position working again and again, several years ago I decided to add it to my repertoire. It's a bit like regular half guard except you … [Read more...]