Passing Knee Shield Half Guard, AKA "Z-Guard"

[Stacked]

I'm in an excellent video on bjj library as xande's uke. He shows two very nice passes. I pass this guard frequently, and not by standing up. I've worked hard to force the half, standing back up is a form of retreat.

 

[sha]

I'm in an excellent video on bjj library as xande's uke. He shows two very nice passes. I pass this guard frequently, and not by standing up. I've worked hard to force the half, standing back up is a form of retreat.

Standing up can be a great way to pass that guard, especially against a heavier, stronger opponent. Sometimes it's just not worth the struggle to pressure them when you can just stand up and x-pass or leg drag.

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

I play almost exclusively 93 guard, the style where your knee is really low across the hip and crossed ankles. I love when guys knee slide, because it puts me in perfect position to come up on singles. Your knee is essentially holding the underhook, so you kick straight and end up super deep in the leg, from there you can pass the lapel or circle behind. Even with a crossface or sleeve control I still come up and usually win the positional battle.

What wrecks me are guys who switch their hips to beat the shield and then proceed to smash from regular half.

 

[selfcritical]

I was doing this to pass this guard as well as long distance half guard for a couple months until I heard Ryan Hall say he thought it was a terrible way to pass the guard on one of the triangle DVDs. I'm not sure why he thought it was terrible but it got me thinking. Now I just stand and pass. Anyone have any thoughts on why he might think it's terrible?

If you load your weight too far forward it's very easy to do sumi gaeishi to you, because of the ease of trapping your threading arm

 

[ijustwannasurf]

I play almost exclusively 93 guard, the style where your knee is really low across the hip and crossed ankles. I love when guys knee slide, because it puts me in perfect position to come up on singles. Your knee is essentially holding the underhook, so you kick straight and end up super deep in the leg, from there you can pass the lapel or circle behind. Even with a crossface or sleeve control I still come up and usually win the positional battle.

What wrecks me are guys who switch their hips to beat the shield and then proceed to smash from regular half.

I try to hit a single or arm drag from that same low 93 guard. Any tips for getting up to the back once you've crossed the arm?

 

[Ice 9 Cobra]

I hardly ever get the back from there because most guys will turn and give up the sweep rather than let you get that far behind them. One thing I've been drilling that's been helping is once you get fully behind them with the single, you step a leg up and pull their leg onto your hip. That makes it so they can't run away. I will try to find video