to focus or not to focus.

[Modern Warrior1]

I've been doing BJJ for about a little over two years now, and am at the blue belt level. My question is, when is a good time to begin focusing on specific guards, versus trying to absorb them all. I don't want to end up having holes in my guard, but by the same token, I don't want want all of my guards to be moderately easy to pass.


So, should I start specializing a little, or continue to have a general focus?


P.S. My guard is almost 100% sweep oriented. the only submission I really use is the triangle.

[lechien]

Back in the days, people thought that lifting metal drums between their closed guard was going to give them a strong guard.
Having a strong guard is able to maintain the guard, attack and/or sweeps. To have an efficient guard is to recognise that you might need to switch to different to be more effective as your opponent counters your sweeps and subs attempts and is about to pass your current guard.
I change my guard depending on the opponent movement, positions, stances, aggressiveness, weight, experience etc...
So it goes from butterfly guard, to spider if he stands up, to de la riva, then sit up guard, I would use closed only if I am not feeling safe.

[Modern Warrior1]

I don't think you understand my question. perhaps I didn't phrase is correctly. I'm asking when I should start to focus on developing specific guards, instead of all of them, all the time.

[Uchi Mata]

Originally Posted by Modern Warrior1

I don't think you understand my question. perhaps I didn't phrase is correctly. I'm asking when I should start to focus on developing specific guards, instead of all of them, all the time.

He actually did answer your question. All the distinctions made between various open guards are somewhat artificial, in that they have a tendency to blend together as your opponent tries various passes and you're forced to defend. What's important is to master the basic skills of open guard, which include (IMO) always having both hand on your opponent, constantly attacking posture, keeping your hips square to them, etc.

Lets say you specialize in DLR. You're not always going to have the chance to play DLR with the grips you want on the side you want...you might have to play a situp style guard, or a butterfly/X style, or RDLR, depending on what your opponent gives you. You should know a few sweeps and transitions from all these guards, but the important thing is not to seek a specific position but rather to be able to break posture and get under your opponent from any open guard position for sweeping. I don't want to overstate this because it's good to have reference points, and I certainly do look for certain guards, but I'm not obsessed with getting to any particular position and doing any particular sweep. Frankly, I'd just focus on how you play the positions you end up in since most people tend to end up in the same position repeatedly just by virtue of their personal style leading them in a certain direction. I never really set out to get good at X-guard or deep half, but the positions always appealed to me and I just found myself in them more and more often, and work with my coaches to refine those positions. Same with RLDR...I don't really look for it all that often, but I end up there a lot just because of how I play open guard.

If you understand the basic sweeps (push/tripod sweeps, tomoe nage style sweeps, single/double leg transitions, hook sweeps, etc) you'll be able to hit them from almost any permutation of open guard, as long as you're breaking posture and keeping your opponent off balance. Focus on working the positions you find yourself in repeatedly, and your style will develop organically. I don't really think any open guard work is wasted if you're practicing with the universal principals of open guard play in mind, even if it's a guard you don't see yourself using all that often.

[NateTx4112]

Think of your open guards as dynamic...always either pushing or pulling to keep your opponent moving. YOU set the pace/movement and make them react to what you do vs. them starting the pass.

I try to teach a concept of "If you are responding to my movement/attack then you are not intiating your movement/attacking me at the same time." That's not always 100% true but it's a foundation for people starting to learn open guards to get them to control the opponent/move them/funnel them in a direction.

The other concept I try to lay in is always have a push away if they drive into you (foot in the hip/bicep etc) and always have a hook/grip to pull back in (lapel/sleeve, DLR Hook) so you can always do a push pull to keep them off balance.

Final piece of advice is just grapple and see where the position leads. What the guys above me said really is true. You will start to develop what works for you based on the seeing the same position over and over.

[lechien]

Originally Posted by Modern Warrior1

I don't think you understand my question. perhaps I didn't phrase is correctly. I'm asking when I should start to focus on developing specific guards, instead of all of them, all the time.

Yes, focus on one specific guard.

Once you are good at it (meaning you toy lower belts with it), time to change to a different gaurd).

Once higher/same level belts start defeating your guard because you are too predictable, time to change to a different gaurd.

the important aspect in my opinion is knowing when to transit to another guard..sometimes you see someone struggling to retain one gaurd while they could easily move to another..by then it is too late..they miss the opportunity and get passed.

[Modern Warrior1]

Thanks a lot guys. You all really cleared up an issue I've struggled with before.

[Einarr]

I think it's good to have a favorite guard that you focus on. For me it's Butterfly Guard with a focus 95% on sweeps and because I've developed it so much I can sweep guys with it who are much better than me, I also use Closed Guard, Half Guard and Feet-on-Hips Guard quite a bit too - but my Spider Guard, DLR, RDLR, et cetera are almost non-existant, and my submissions from the bottom are much weaker than my sweeps.

My top game is also quite specialized - I use only a few positions 90% of the time (Modified Scarf, Knee-on-Belly, and S-Mount) and a handful of submissions (mainly Mounted Triangles, Reverse Triangles (mainly to isolate the far arm and attack it with Kimura), kimuras and armbars. I use other positions and submissions mainly to get to these favored positions and submissions (f.ex. attackng an Ezequiel from a low mount to shift to a high mount then to S-Mount). I also don't tend to take the back much (unless they gift me it), and prefer to turnover (Judo/wrestling background) or attack for a Crucifix against a turtle.

Similarly my stand-up is basically Uchi Mata, Sumi Gaeshi, Osoto Gari, single legs, and foot sweeps.

Basically, the decision is whether to devote more time to fewer positions and attacks or to devote less time to more positions and attacks - it's up to you and your personal style. I'm in the same position as you though having trained BJJ for 2.5 years (training six days a week and cross-training in Judo and Freestyle Wrestling), so maybe my advice isn't much use as I'm a fellow novice-intermediate grappler.

[Dirty Holt]

The key is to find what guard suits your attributes best and specialize in that as early as possible. In my experience, most top level guys have 1 guard that is their best, and maybe 1 or 2 more that they will use frequently.

The problem lies in specializing too early and missing a guard that suits you better. Learning defenses and becoming comfortable against other guards or having options for certain opponents is a much different issue.