Retain half guard by winning frames and underhooks early, using a knee shield to stop smash passes, and recovering fuller guard before hunting low-percentage submissions.
Open BJJ Team
Retain half guard by winning frames and underhooks early, using a knee shield to stop smash passes, and recovering fuller guard before hunting low-percentage submissions.
Most half-guard failures happen because people hunt sweeps while already losing the underhook battle.
Stop the crossface and underhook loss. Frames and a knee shield come before sweeps.
When you are flat, shoulder-pinned, and about to give up side control — recover space first.
Build a back-control finishing system around a reliable seatbelt, hip positioning, and a short list of chokes so hand-fight defenses still leave you attacking.
Build a simple closed-guard system around posture breaks, scissor and hip-bump sweeps, and two high-percentage submissions so every defense creates another threat.
Closed guard offers stronger posture control and beginner offense; half guard appears more often against passers and unlocks modern knee-shield and underhook systems.