The Transitional Guard...

This week I would like to discuss a concept that many beginners and intermediate players will find very useful, IF they are open to it.

This post is inspired by a recent discussion I've had on a forum concerning the guard that I've had in person with many grapplers in the past and it's only cemented my belief more and more based both on what I've personally experienced and seen.

Some of you might see my take on the guard as controversial, many other people do.
For a long time now, I have seen the guard as a TRANSITIONAL POSITION.
What I mean by this is that on a basic level I think it's a bad habit to hang out in the guard, instead it's best thought of as a position to transition to something else out of.

Now this doesn't mean that I don't believe in the guard as an effective position.
It is DEFINITELY critical to solidify your basics from all positions and build a guard you can be confident with.
This is especially true for beginners but applies to everyone, the guard is an important position for defense when you are on the bottom.
It's use from the bottom for attacking is what I feel is overestimated, especially at higher levels of practice and competition.
Too many people train themselves to go to guard as their bread and butter as well as get too comfortable going there and rely way too much on it.

Once you're there it helps to focus on keeping your opponent off balance to prevent their attack but always have in mind that you should attack or transition to something where you can attack. The latter being most effective.

This is especially true for self defense AND for competition.

For any beginners or intermediate competitors, build this habit early and you'll be ahead of the pack.

Think of the guard as a transitioning position and do your best not to go there on purpose.
Read this AGAIN. It's so important I'm going to repeat it.
Think of the guard as a transitioning position and do your best not to go there on purpose.
This is even more important in self defense and MMA application, where strikes come into play, (and various other factors in self defense).

Most experienced BJJ and MMA guys will be able to negate most attacks from the guard, (I can comfortably attack while in my opponents guard with the only exception being top level guys) this is true for both BJJ and MMA.
Even guys who are more experienced than me avoid getting guard on me.

This is the further evolution of BJJ.

My point being, yes develop your guard, just make sure you aren't inadvertently focusing on taking your game there.

Watch the best top level guys for clues on their strategy.
You'll see positional control, cross side and mount to be their primary arsenal for setting up submissions.
Obviously the difference between the top level guys is the subtleties in their game, but as I've said before focusing on their winning strategies early in your training will set you ahead of the pack.