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**(x) = Reference, compare with reference list for further details**
** * = Problem uploading GIF, download link instead**
You can now download a RAR of all the GIF's here (171mb)
Part 2 of the new GIF's here (20mb)
Check out the 2nd compendium here
if gifs/links go down hit me up with a pm
Preface
The Williams Guard isn't really a guard style per se, but more of a transitional position; rather than a replacement for a traditional closed guard. There is a decent amount of material scattered around the internet however it is not (to my knowledge) compiled or taught systematically. These are my notes from trying to add it to my game that I thought I’d share. I am no means a master (or even good!) from this position, so I haven't hit every move here. Feedback, comments, criticisms, advice, strategy, techniques, examples and insight would all be appreciated.
Thanks
Introduction
The Williams Guard, also referred to as the Lister Grip, Nino Guard, Leg Hook Guard, Power Overhook, Russian Guard, Shoulder Pin or London Position, is a tight closed guard style utilizing an overhook of the opponents arm while encircling your leg on the same side, with the overhooking arm.
The position offers a large amount of control over the opponent, however in doing so limits your own hip mobility. The position creates several potential options for triangle, armbar and omoplata attacks, but the ability to take the back, sweep and several chokes are negated in this position. The Williams Guard is applicable in both gi and no-gi situations and is especially viable for MMA, given the protection from strikes afforded by the Williams Guard, and the ability to control the posture to stall and force a stand up.
Positional Control
When establishing the Williams Guard there are several underlying principles that apply, regardless of variation in the grip or attack sequence. The first and most important aspect is to establish a dominant hip angle, where you are lying on one side of your body. The hip angle should be achieved before even attempting to establish the Williams Guard position. The hip angle is important in regards to guard retention and offensive output. If you are lying flat on your back it will be much easier for your opponent to smash down your free leg and pass your guard or extract their trapped arm, also if you are flat on your back it will be difficult to threaten your opponent with sweeps and submissions unless you possess extreme flexibility.
You will notice bringing your knee up is the easiest of the three variations (unless you're a genetic freak). This comes down to the anatomical make-up of the hip and its range of motion.
This is because hip & leg flexion & extension has a greater range of motion and comes far more naturally than abduction and adduction.
For this reason, an effective Williams Guard should be played on your side. If you divide your back at the spine, the same side as your hooking arm and leg should ideally not touch the ground.
In reference to the original photo of the Williams Guard, the red area in this photo of the back represents the area which should not touch the ground.
It should be noted, going onto the flat of your back is not bad IF done intentionally to set up an attack. However in terms of controlling your opponent it is incorrect to do so, without good reason.
The next principle is to establish the “bite” on the opponents arm and back with the overhooking arm and leg. Once the hip angle is achieved you want to bring your knee up the opponent’s back, by the spine and/or the base of the neck, rather than by the opponent’s shoulder, before overhooking the opponents arm and your own leg. Maintaining this leg pressure is essential for controlling the opponent’s posture, and more importantly preventing the opponent from pulling their arm out.
Importance of proper knee & leg placement (25)
The free arm and free leg positioning varies according to what you are attempting and your intention in playing the guard style. From above it can be determined that two factors are required in order to have an effective Williams Guard:
Because of the above factors it is important to not allow the opponent to flatten you or extract their trapped arm from the overhook.
Positional Details
For this post, references to body positioning will be as follows:
Hooking Arm & Framing Positions
This section describes the different grips available for the hooking arm (A), or the frames you can use when clasping both hands together.
Position 1 is the frame hand position, this is the most common hand placement seen with the Williams Guard. It is important when you make the frame that the palm of your free arm is facing you (like you are pimp slapping your opponent.) Therefore your hooking arm should be the closest arm to your face with your palm facing away (think looking at a watch on your wrist.) The position of the free arm elbow depends on what you are trying to achieve and will be discussed shortly.
The frame is a stable position that offers good control while restricting your opponents movement.
Position 2 is the Lister grip, it functions in a similar manner to the frame. In my experience I don’t feel like the Lister grip is as stable in terms of controlling, but it allows you to keep the opponents posture broken down well, while allowing you easy access to throw your leg past the opponents face for an omoplata or a gogoplata.
Positions 3 & 4 are nearly identical, they are single handed grips controlling the shoulder of the opponent. The benefit is they give you a free hand to control and attack the opponent with. This is useful as you can attack the opponents free arm or head, or in a MMA/self-defence context strike the opponent to force them to block with their free arm. Position 4 offers more control and stability as it uses the opponent’s gi, you can also create space by forcing the opponent to posture by lifting their gi upwards.
However as you are using only one hand to control the opponent you are vulnerable to the opponent manipulating your position and driving in to you, flattening you on your back. In this situation you should switch to a framing position such as position 1 or 2.
In terms of this positioning, it helps to think as position 1 being the most stable, with positions 3 & 4 being the least stable. However position 1 is the least offensive with positions 3 & 4 being the most offensive.
Free Arm Positions
When using positions 3 & 4 above your free arm has a number of variations when not clasped in a framing position:
** * = Problem uploading GIF, download link instead**
You can now download a RAR of all the GIF's here (171mb)
Part 2 of the new GIF's here (20mb)
Check out the 2nd compendium here
if gifs/links go down hit me up with a pm
Preface
The Williams Guard isn't really a guard style per se, but more of a transitional position; rather than a replacement for a traditional closed guard. There is a decent amount of material scattered around the internet however it is not (to my knowledge) compiled or taught systematically. These are my notes from trying to add it to my game that I thought I’d share. I am no means a master (or even good!) from this position, so I haven't hit every move here. Feedback, comments, criticisms, advice, strategy, techniques, examples and insight would all be appreciated.
Thanks
Introduction
The Williams Guard, also referred to as the Lister Grip, Nino Guard, Leg Hook Guard, Power Overhook, Russian Guard, Shoulder Pin or London Position, is a tight closed guard style utilizing an overhook of the opponents arm while encircling your leg on the same side, with the overhooking arm.
The position offers a large amount of control over the opponent, however in doing so limits your own hip mobility. The position creates several potential options for triangle, armbar and omoplata attacks, but the ability to take the back, sweep and several chokes are negated in this position. The Williams Guard is applicable in both gi and no-gi situations and is especially viable for MMA, given the protection from strikes afforded by the Williams Guard, and the ability to control the posture to stall and force a stand up.
Positional Control
When establishing the Williams Guard there are several underlying principles that apply, regardless of variation in the grip or attack sequence. The first and most important aspect is to establish a dominant hip angle, where you are lying on one side of your body. The hip angle should be achieved before even attempting to establish the Williams Guard position. The hip angle is important in regards to guard retention and offensive output. If you are lying flat on your back it will be much easier for your opponent to smash down your free leg and pass your guard or extract their trapped arm, also if you are flat on your back it will be difficult to threaten your opponent with sweeps and submissions unless you possess extreme flexibility.
You will notice bringing your knee up is the easiest of the three variations (unless you're a genetic freak). This comes down to the anatomical make-up of the hip and its range of motion.
This is because hip & leg flexion & extension has a greater range of motion and comes far more naturally than abduction and adduction.
For this reason, an effective Williams Guard should be played on your side. If you divide your back at the spine, the same side as your hooking arm and leg should ideally not touch the ground.
In reference to the original photo of the Williams Guard, the red area in this photo of the back represents the area which should not touch the ground.
It should be noted, going onto the flat of your back is not bad IF done intentionally to set up an attack. However in terms of controlling your opponent it is incorrect to do so, without good reason.
The next principle is to establish the “bite” on the opponents arm and back with the overhooking arm and leg. Once the hip angle is achieved you want to bring your knee up the opponent’s back, by the spine and/or the base of the neck, rather than by the opponent’s shoulder, before overhooking the opponents arm and your own leg. Maintaining this leg pressure is essential for controlling the opponent’s posture, and more importantly preventing the opponent from pulling their arm out.
Importance of proper knee & leg placement (25)
The free arm and free leg positioning varies according to what you are attempting and your intention in playing the guard style. From above it can be determined that two factors are required in order to have an effective Williams Guard:
- Establishing a good hip angle to attack effectively and retain the guard.
- Establish a strong overhook with good leg positioning to prevent the opponent freeing their arm.
Because of the above factors it is important to not allow the opponent to flatten you or extract their trapped arm from the overhook.
Positional Details
For this post, references to body positioning will be as follows:
- A – Hooking Arm
- B – Hooking Leg
- C – Free Arm
- D – Free Leg
- 1 – Opponent’s Trapped Arm
- 2 – Opponent’s Free Arm
Hooking Arm & Framing Positions
This section describes the different grips available for the hooking arm (A), or the frames you can use when clasping both hands together.
Position 1 is the frame hand position, this is the most common hand placement seen with the Williams Guard. It is important when you make the frame that the palm of your free arm is facing you (like you are pimp slapping your opponent.) Therefore your hooking arm should be the closest arm to your face with your palm facing away (think looking at a watch on your wrist.) The position of the free arm elbow depends on what you are trying to achieve and will be discussed shortly.
The frame is a stable position that offers good control while restricting your opponents movement.
Position 2 is the Lister grip, it functions in a similar manner to the frame. In my experience I don’t feel like the Lister grip is as stable in terms of controlling, but it allows you to keep the opponents posture broken down well, while allowing you easy access to throw your leg past the opponents face for an omoplata or a gogoplata.
Positions 3 & 4 are nearly identical, they are single handed grips controlling the shoulder of the opponent. The benefit is they give you a free hand to control and attack the opponent with. This is useful as you can attack the opponents free arm or head, or in a MMA/self-defence context strike the opponent to force them to block with their free arm. Position 4 offers more control and stability as it uses the opponent’s gi, you can also create space by forcing the opponent to posture by lifting their gi upwards.
However as you are using only one hand to control the opponent you are vulnerable to the opponent manipulating your position and driving in to you, flattening you on your back. In this situation you should switch to a framing position such as position 1 or 2.
In terms of this positioning, it helps to think as position 1 being the most stable, with positions 3 & 4 being the least stable. However position 1 is the least offensive with positions 3 & 4 being the most offensive.
Free Arm Positions
When using positions 3 & 4 above your free arm has a number of variations when not clasped in a framing position:
- Posting on the opponents face, this pressure can be used to stop the opponent from driving you flat when you are only controlling their shoulder/gi with your hooking arm. To gain the correct amount of pressure and protect yourself from strikes you will likely want to stiff arm.
- Controlling the opponent’s free arm. Either at the bicep, wrist or sleeve. This can be used to move to more offensive positions, such as the knee through, shin on bicep or arm inside frame (discussed later)
- Controlling the opponent’s lapel. I have never personally done this but I imagine this could be used as an alternative to the frame. (either near or far side lapel)
- Striking the opponent. It is unlikely you will hurt your opponent with strikes from this position. However it is possible to cut the opponent. The real benefit is drawing up the opponent’s free arm to block the strikes, allowing you to seize it for an arm bar or rotate your free leg around it for a triangle. Elbows, hammerfists and short hooks and uppercuts can work well from this position.
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