Short Legs - Guard Options

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Easto

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I have short stocky legs. My legs are very very strong, but I can hardly lock in a closed guard on most guys I roll with. My feet lock, not my ankles so it is very easy for my partner to break open my guard.

What is my next best option? Should I focus on butterfly?

I learned some nice sweeps from butterfly this weekend during a seminar. Is it wise for a newbie to work on something like this or should I stick to attempting closed guard for now?
 
Easto said:
I have short stocky legs. My legs are very very strong, but I can hardly lock in a closed guard on most guys I roll with. My feet lock, not my ankles so it is very easy for my partner to break open my guard.

What is my next best option? Should I focus on butterfly?

I learned some nice sweeps from butterfly this weekend during a seminar. Is it wise for a newbie to work on something like this or should I stick to attempting closed guard for now?
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get you feet on his hips or use a z guard and work scissor sweeps. My legs are extremely short as well and this has worked for me.
 
buy helio soneca's half guard dvd. it's an amazing guard for somebody who is smaller.
 
learn your sweeps and then rock them. lanky people like myself have the luxury of being able to hang out in guard all day.

maybe rubber guard, too. it's just gonna depend on who you're playing.

sweeps are good though. sweepy sweepy sweep.
 
What everyone else said, basically. Im a purple belt and have the same problem so I use either open guard with my feet on the hips, de la riva, or X-guard depending on the situation and my opp's abilities. The advantage is that you should be able to develop a solid half guard for sweeping.
 
davejitsu said:
What everyone else said, basically. Im a purple belt and have the same problem so I use either open guard with my feet on the hips, de la riva, or X-guard depending on the situation and my opp's abilities. The advantage is that you should be able to develop a solid half guard for sweeping.
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The kid at my academy who has this problem said he cant even DLR guard...I recommended he tried it but he couldnt push his opp's hip far enough away to make it effective. How tall are you?
 
I have a 28" inseam so needless to say I work alot on Butterfly and X guard.
 
i have a similar issue and i use a lot of Z guard, butterfly guard, and "sitting" guard.

There's a purple belt at my school who has the issue too and he doesnt play a lot of full guard, but his half guard game is wicked.
 
Butterfly and half guard. Look to work sweeps more than submissions from the bottom.
 
Trickster said:
The kid at my academy who has this problem said he cant even DLR guard...I recommended he tried it but he couldnt push his opp's hip far enough away to make it effective. How tall are you?
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Im 5'10", but I think the DLR guard is all about timing and can be easily used by short stocky legged guys. I use it when someone goes to stand or is inide passing with a knee up.
 
HALF GUARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That said you can use any guard effectively. The Only "guard" that you have to have some special physical attribute to use is rubber guard (rubber bands instead of knee tendons. . . hence the name).

Because of your size some may work better than others but you should be capable of playing all the guards.

See other short players and their games . . . I can think of a few that I know personally who have short legs and are legit bad ass black belts

Marcos 'Parrumpinha' Da Matta
Renato Tavares
Rafael Rebello
 
I have a 29" inseam, 24" thighs and 16" calves and I have no problem using closed guard on 90% of the people I roll with and that 10 percent are fat asses in the >250 lbs range. I can't imagine you aren't doing something wrong maybe you are giving too much space or something. I definitely talk to your instructor about this.
 
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