Beginning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - Guard Posture

Jeremy Lafreniere: This is Jeremy Lafreniere with Capital Jiu-Jitsu. We are now going to get a little bit into the guard posture and how to defend ourselves from strikes when we have the guard posture.

Somebody who is in the guard, they will often try to utilize a ground and pound, a strategy where they are trying to hit me when I have the guard, and if I am not protecting myself the right way, he actually can do a lot of damage because he has gravity on his side. The thing is, I have my hips on my side. So, when he starts to throw those punches, I am going to use my hips to break him down. When I break him down, notice how I get the inside position. You always want the inside position, so when he starts to throw the punch, my hips break him down and my hands get on the inside of his hands. I am going to take my right hand, I am going to put it behind his head, holding the knot not the neck, the knot behind the back of his head and my left hand is going to come underneath his forehead just like this. I am also going to fly my legs up over his back and I am going to use my elbows against my knees, minimizing his ability to throw strikes.

Now, if he starts throwing wild round strikes, yes, I can still take punishment. So, if he starts using that, my knees are going to climb inside of his biceps. If he wants to throw these wild round strikes now, I am going to weather the storm. You have to remember that in Jiu-Jitsu, one of the strategies, the principal foundations of Jiu-Jitsu is letting the person use more energy than you.

When I am here, I have a strong foundation for defending myself against his strikes and when he is throwing the wild strikes, he is using up all of his energy exhausting himself. Once he gets tired, the submissions then come easily.

Another thing he might try to do, is stand up and away from me. If he stands up and away from me, my hand will slide down his forearm, grabbing his wrist and I want to actually use both hands to grab his wrist. My leg is going to straighten out locking the knee, and my foot is going to be against his hip. So, what this does is, he can't step any farther back because I have his arm, but he can't get any closer to me, because my foot is against his hip. I am going to take two shots to the jaw and then I will stand up in base and get away.

So, one more time, we have three distances when we are defending ourselves from strikes inside the guard.

First distance, if he tries to throw, break him down, get the inside position. I also want to hold behind his head and in front of his head, get a high guard and use my elbows against my knees.

Now, if he starts throwing wild punches, I am going to use my shins against his biceps. My feet are against his hips and as he throws those punches, he is exhausting himself. Notice, how I just flow with those punches, not giving up my position.

Finally, if he decides that he wants to get away from me, I am going to hold his wrist, I am going to put my foot against his hip and I will strike him to the face. If I inflict him enough punishment, maybe knocking him out then I will stand in base and get away.

Thats the end of this discussion.