Inside the Guard: Sometimes It’s Good to Not Get Punched in the Face

It seems like common sense, doesn’t it? If you don’t get punched in the face, it’s going to be hard to get TKO’d. Still, it took fighters a long time to learn how to efficiently break down their opponents.

The common dictum in modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is that an opponent without posture is not going to pass your guard, he’s not in a position to attack. He’s more or less forced into the defensive, because his arms are easy to control, his hips have no power and his head is buried in your chest, greatly limiting his ability to see what you’re doing.

Historically speaking, the strategy appears in part at UFC 4, but Royce Gracie didn’t really break down Kimo Leopoldo’s posture, he just spent alot of time trying.

The fact is, you can’t performa triangle choke on a postured opponent. You can’t pull a guillotine or a kimura off the bottom against an opponent who’s got his balance, so the fact that this development is really only used by BJJ blackbelts like Gabriel Gonzaga (see his fight with Carmello Marrero) and Fabricio Werdum during his Pride career. It’s a standard procedure in the Royler Gracie lineage of BJJ, and most purple belts can pull it off, but the advent of the can opener and other neck cranks out of the guard position has made the game extremely uncomfortable for anyone fighting a strong wrestler.

Still, expect to see the game more and more in the coming years, especially from the UFC lightweight and heavyweight divisions, where there are plenty of blackbelts comfortable fighting off of their backs.

This is the second in a four part series. Here’s the link to part one.