I borrowed robson mouras super no gi dvds and his half guard has the knee basically flat across their hips, I was told this was an easy way to get your half guard passed. It 'should' be basically straight up to block them coming foward. here's a clip if you haven't seen it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8yGA776MPk is this style unique to him? whats the purpose of playing half guard like that? anyone use this successfully ?should I bother learning this or another half guard game? so many options I don't know where to start.
Robson was one of the first guys to really play with knee shield half a lot, and like all other parts of the game, it's evolved a bit since his heyday. This is not to say his way won't work, but because he was an originator his system was also the first to see people developing effective counters and I think more people know how to deal with the low shield than the high one. Personally, I think the high shield gives more flexibility and is a safer and probably overall better way to play the position.
Robson is old school but still amazing at what he does. Keeping the knee up keeps the legs more relaxed and weight off of you. When someone is driving forward with a lot of pressure if you lock your feet and cross the knee you can create some instant relief and distance. When you bring the knee across you expose your self to a threaded pass which also has counters. I wouldn't look at one way as right or wrong both have their purpose and place.
It's very interesting to me how important this position has become. I don't know when it started getting popular, but I see knee shield probably as much as I see DLR anymore. It makes sense, it's very hard to pass and gives the guard player many options. I still don't have a great go-to pass for it.
I prefer the low clamp, a la the G roll. It creates a very powerful frame, and leads to all my best attacks- armdrag, giggler sweep, and the underhook Gordo/Leite series.
In all fairness, Cyborg makes very effective use of the low knee shield as a default position, as does Caio Terra. It certainly has its advantages in certain situations, e.g. protecting against leg locks or preventing the opponent from disengaging. It does however require that you cross your ankles, so if you want to play open half, the high knee shield is the way to go IMO.
The atos guys started using and teaching the high knee shield, which was about the time it became more popular. I myself mostly use it all the time. Works great with leg locks and butterfly, gi and nogi. Plus it's a pain to pass, and keeps the weight off you.
It's such a biatch to pass, especially against a guy who is good at transitioning to either leg lasso, Leite half, or deep half. Or all three. Ugh. These days I mostly try to back out and stand up a little as I find it much easier to pass a more upright RDLR than the knee shield itself. If you can get the legs more vertical then not only do you have a little more movement but you gain the option of smash passing to the far side in some situations that you basically can never do against Z guard from your knees.
QFT I have so much more trouble trying to pass the RDLR/knee shield continuum than any other guard configuration it isn't even funny.
