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X Guards Relevance To No Gi

Courter44

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I bought Marcelo Garcia's book on the X guard last night. Before I bought it I flipped through and thought I saw several techniques for no gi so I bought it, since I only train no gi. When I got home I cracked it open to see what all it entailed. I was pretty disappointed to see that only 41 of the 80 techniques can be used in no gi. (Every technique can be used with the gi by the way.) Only 22 of the 41 are for the x guard. Even the ones that do apply to no gi seem more for just grappling than mma. The rest of the 41 are actually for the butterfly guard which is also included in the book.

The x guard (on first look) seems a lot like you are just sitting halfway through the electric chair sweep, but I can't say that it is inneffective as I haven't even had a chance to try it yet, but it does look that way.

I just wanted to let everyone out there what to expect with this book so you are more informed before you buy. Looks effective for gi, for no gi.... not so much.

Edit: Marcelo Garcia's story is very interesting and if you are really a big fan of his you may just want the book for that. He tells of how he dropped out of school to live a life of Jiu Jitsu, pretty fun story overall. And I meant that I don't think it looks effective for MMA, not no gi grappling. As the poster below has said, he did use the xguard to defeat some very high profile opponents.
 
Lol. Marcelo Garcia has used X-Guard VERY effectively at the highest levels of no-gi competition. He used it to sweep Renzo Gracie and he's done it to other big names as well.
 
Lol. Marcelo Garcia has used X-Guard VERY effectively at the highest levels of no-gi competition. He used it to sweep Renzo Gracie and he's done it to other big names as well.

Now that I've reread it I didn't mean it that way. I meant it didn't look real effective for MMA. It looks ok if you are just grappling.
 
Isn't there a 'thumbs up/ down' thing next to every technique in the index of the book?
 
listen, if you dont want it, your free to send it to me...ill be glad to take it =D
 
Isn't there a 'thumbs up/ down' thing next to every technique in the index of the book?

Yeah that's how I got my count of the techniques. I didn't notice this when just flipping through to buy it. I saw the ones at the tops of the pages of each technique, but I didn't count them all out, which is why I thought there was more than there was.
 
listen, if you dont want it, your free to send it to me...ill be glad to take it =D

Haha I'm still going to try these things out, and see how it goes. I was just giving my initial reaction and a heads up to other buyers.
 
What belt are you? Are you questioning X-Guard's potency in no-gi? I can assure from first hand experience vs higher belts, that it is very effective.
 
i just got the book too, but haven't flipped through it yet.... just from your post i really have no fuckig idea what you're complaining about though. is 41 techniques not enough for you?
 
I agree, grappling isn't about having a fuckload of techniques. It's about having enough high percentage techniques that work for scenario ABCD.
 
Now that I've reread it I didn't mean it that way. I meant it didn't look real effective for MMA. It looks ok if you are just grappling.

I think the real issue here is that X guard is just not the most effective guard for MMA in the first place.

I think X guard does have some MMA and self-defense applications, but mostly only as a worst case scenario type of thing. I think the position is too vulnerable to strikes to use as a main strategy for MMA.

So I don't find it surprising that Marcelo's X guard techniques aren't the best for MMA.
 
X-guard can be used effectively for MMA. You just have to be very on the ball about keeping your opponent unbalanced with your legs.
If you've ever been in a high level x-guard you'll almost immediately realize how difficult striking your opponent is. If you try to hit him, you'll most likely get swept before you can say Marshmellow Garcia.
 
X-guard can be used effectively for MMA. You just have to be very on the ball about keeping your opponent unbalanced with your legs.
If you've ever been in a high level x-guard you'll almost immediately realize how difficult striking your opponent is. If you try to hit him, you'll most likely get swept before you can say Marshmellow Garcia.

I agree that once the X guard is locked on, you are in a safe enough position due to the unbalancing effect. I just think that it would be hard to successfully transition into it without putting yourself at risk for strikes.

But I don't really use much X guard at all, so it could just be my ignorance of X guard that's forming my opinion here. On first glance with my limited X guard experience though, I would probably classify it as a type of guard that is not the most optimal for MMA.

Of course, I could be wrong.
 
I've been playing with it a bit, but my grappling coach is great at it, slick set ups and sweeps. I think it has some problems, but a lot of potential.
 
I agree, based on the fact that the X-Guard isn't very popular yet we really havent seen it even attempted in MMA. When I get caught in the X-guard I defintely can't get the balance and base to throw a strong punch. It could be good, but right now we don't know.
 
Just thumbed through the book at Borders and loved it. I think if you actually practice the no-gi techniques he shows, you'll be happy even if there isn't a big enough number of them to please you. Quality, quantity, all that.
 
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