guard retention video series

It's a chronically under researched topic. All the top guys are great at it, none seem to have any material out about the specific techniques or training methods they use.
 
To answer your first question, I don't have any video sources for you to check out.

I watched mot of the ones you linked, and while there is nothing *wrong* with them, I do have a couple of problems with the series.

1. I think the average JJ player probably isn't as flexible as that guy, and he uses that to his advantage. I know I can't move like he does in a lot of those situations, but I retain guard pretty well (always looking to get better, of course :) )

2. He's too detailed. I know, that sounds like an oxymoron, but guard retention is *not* a matter of "when he does this, you do that" to defend. It's really more about distance control.

His goal in passing is to take your legs out of the equation while yours is to keep them in. So, you must keep him close enough that you can close your legs around him, or if in open guard, keep him far enough that he can't control your legs above the knee. Once he does that, he has the pass.

That's quite simplified, I know, and to Uchi's point, it is probably under researched/documented online, but I think the reason for that is b/c its more theoretical and just takes drilling with the right mindset. My instructor started talking to me about that several months ago, and my guard has improved by leaps and bounds since. My advice would be to try different things, but always keep distance management in mind.
 
Uchi Mata said:
It's a chronically under researched topic. All the top guys are great at it, none seem to have any material out about the specific techniques or training methods they use.
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True enough. I still have problems to understand the whole inverting thing a lot of people does to recover guard.
 
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Best video I've ever seen on the topic is part 1 of this video. It's on vimeo somewhere. Part 2 is really good too. I think Lovato also did a series on it as well but I wasn't a huge fan.
 
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This is a good one.

And I don't know of instructionals on it, but check out comp footage of xande ribeiro. His guard retention is amazing, using stuff like that collar grip stiff arm that firas shows
 
DrJitsu said:
Anyone recommend a good guard retention video series? I'm a fan of Ryan Hall's instructional series and I see he has one called "the defensive guard." Anyone have any experience with this?

I've also found this:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFHzuCJc6esaMFskt5nWuQ5DB5zJignFZ

I'd appreciate any comments about these or any other guard retention video series that people think have value.
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I think I might be able to dig up some Defensive Guard clips for you, let me take a look.

Off-topic: just curious, are you an actual doctor in real life or is that just a screen name?
 
as far as low passing goes, this right here will mostly take care of it:



i also cannot give enough praise to DLR/RDLR as far as general guard control is concerned, and switching effectively between the two makes your guard incredibly difficult to pass.

however, when it comes to explosive standing passing, the way rafa mendes does it with switching sides and combining leg drags, i'm just stumped. my coach does that shit on me every single time and there is absolutely nothing i can do to stop it. if i could just fix that, my life would get so much easier. any of you guard wizards got any tips for me on that?
 
JMG1134 said:
To answer your first question, I don't have any video sources for you to check out.

I watched mot of the ones you linked, and while there is nothing *wrong* with them, I do have a couple of problems with the series.

1. I think the average JJ player probably isn't as flexible as that guy, and he uses that to his advantage. I know I can't move like he does in a lot of those situations, but I retain guard pretty well (always looking to get better, of course :) )

2. He's too detailed. I know, that sounds like an oxymoron, but guard retention is *not* a matter of "when he does this, you do that" to defend. It's really more about distance control.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I agree. While controlling the guard is important, having well rehearsed reactions when you are in trouble in key.
 
randomg1t said:
as far as low passing goes, this right here will mostly take care of it:



i also cannot give enough praise to DLR/RDLR as far as general guard control is concerned, and switching effectively between the two makes your guard incredibly difficult to pass.

however, when it comes to explosive standing passing, the way rafa mendes does it with switching sides and combining leg drags, i'm just stumped. my coach does that shit on me every single time and there is absolutely nothing i can do to stop it. if i could just fix that, my life would get so much easier. any of you guard wizards got any tips for me on that?
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Worm guard uber alles.
 
Defensive guard is legit. Ryan tends to get a bit long winded with some sketch analogies, but I'd rather have too much information than not enough.
 
This is a topic I really want to focus on and like said in other posts can't find a lot on. I agree with a previous poster that some guys are blessed at being flexible and they can sneak a leg back in so easy.

The one thing that has helped me a little bit is what Keenan taught in on of his videos and that was switching between guards. But yeah, watching top guys I want to learn what they are doing which seems like a lot of inverted stuff.

Btw I actually have been working on that tri star video and I keep pulling the guy to the side some but he just jumps on top of me I don't know what I am doing wrong I almost pull him on me
 
Thedj p said:
Btw I actually have been working on that tri star video and I keep pulling the guy to the side some but he just jumps on top of me I don't know what I am doing wrong I almost pull him on me
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It's not about pulling him to the side. With collar and arm drags, you have to move your body, you're pulling the person into the space that you were just occupying. That's why he baseball slides out, to pull the guy into that space. Same with seated arm drags, you post your other hand to lift your butt and move out of the way, pulling the guy into that space.

You don't necessarily have to use that drag anyway. That stiff arm grip and hip movement is the important thing. You can shoot your legs around and reestablish closed guard or get a sleeve grip to play open guard etc
 
HtomSirveaux said:
It's not about pulling him to the side. With collar and arm drags, you have to move your body, you're pulling the person into the space that you were just occupying. That's why he baseball slides out, to pull the guy into that space. Same with seated arm drags, you post your other hand to lift your butt and move out of the way, pulling the guy into that space.

You don't necessarily have to use that drag anyway. That stiff arm grip and hip movement is the important thing. You can shoot your legs around and reestablish closed guard or get a sleeve grip to play open guard etc
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Good points here. I actually love using the cross collar stiff arm to control distance, then when he grabs my legs, I do the sprawl out like Firas shows and take him down or do the snap down. It was fairly effective from literally the first day I tried it.
 
TrumpetDan has a 40 minute video on Keenan's guard, including guard retention. It's good. Keenan also has some videos about it on his online site.
 
randomg1t said:
as far as low passing goes, this right here will mostly take care of it:



i also cannot give enough praise to DLR/RDLR as far as general guard control is concerned, and switching effectively between the two makes your guard incredibly difficult to pass.

however, when it comes to explosive standing passing, the way rafa mendes does it with switching sides and combining leg drags, i'm just stumped. my coach does that shit on me every single time and there is absolutely nothing i can do to stop it. if i could just fix that, my life would get so much easier. any of you guard wizards got any tips for me on that?
Click to expand...


Yeah. Grip fight better. If you get a guy who is really good at switching sides and he already has his grips, you're in a lot of trouble. The actual passing sequence is the pretty finish, but the real battle is the gripping prior to that. Once a guy like Rafa or Rodolfo gets his grips he's going to outrun you to one side or the other. You can never get put on your back without having your grips, and never let the passer get two good hands on you at once unless you also have very strong grips. For example, my coach has a wicked knee slide. Just filthy. And when we're sparring, if he gets a strong cross collar grip and I don't break it immediately, I will get passed 95% of the time (and the other 5% is just me muscling out since I have 40-50 lbs on him). But if I can kill that grip I'm always in the game. What grips does your coach use? I'm guessing if he's doing a lot of side switching it's either double pants or collar + pants. One pant grip can be dealt with, but if you let him get two or combine pant and collar you're probably screwed (again, unless you also have very strong grips e.g. a good DLR hook, ankle, and either sleeve).

In general grip fighting as a guard player is way under emphasized, I think mostly because it seems nit picky and boring. But it's absolutely crucial as a skill against better guys.
 
Many thanks for all the great responses.

A special thanks to the folks recommending that demian maia video. Most of my difficulties come with someone trying to pass low and the detail about the head coming across the body in that video was a real epiphany for me.

(and to whomever asked- yes I am a MD in real life)
 
I really think the best way to film something on guard retention would be to split it up into grip fighting, basic movements for retention (crossover, knee shield, inversion, etc.), and then counters to specific major passes.
 
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