Help with my half guard

**kayman101** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 3:06pm

Although my half guard game has been evolving, I tend to get stuck in the following position when escaping side control or mount:

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The opponent doesn't always have control of my top arm, but it's still a pain in the ass when he's big and has a good base. Any strategies, techniques, or videos of dealing with this position would be VERY helpful.

**DKJr** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 3:48pm

Why don't you have an underhook when escaping side control? I can understand mount.

**Wolf** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 3:57pm

i would say in that exact position, I would tell the person on bottom to take their right forearm and drive it against the side of the other guys face and push hard to create space to move your arm. Then let it go and quickly dive that arm under his left for an underhook while scooting your hips away. From there you should have a number of options.

**Kintanon** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 5:01pm

Third person chiming on on the "Get an underhook" band wagon. I'm not even sure how you're managing to get to that position without having the underhook unless you're just getting lucky and snagging your opponents leg from somewhere crazy.

**kayman101** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 5:23pm

Originally Posted by Kintanon

Third person chiming on on the "Get an underhook" band wagon. I'm not even sure how you're managing to get to that position without having the underhook unless you're just getting lucky and snagging your opponents leg from somewhere crazy.

That's exactly how I get into this position: I snag the leg in a scramble from side control or, on occasion, when escaping the mount. It doesn't happen very often but I like to have a plan for each scenario, which lead me to the forum. So what's your game plan from this position if you end up here?

**DKJr** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 9:12pm

Butterfly hook with my right leg, swim in for the underhook, and butterfly sweep. If he's controlling your head drop your elbow so you don't get arm triangled.

This position show in the picture kinda sucks for the top guy, he isn't controlling your head, his underhook isn't doing anything to keep the guy flat, and his base is off. If it's just like the picture, then bridge and free your arm proceed to underhook.

Or hell since his base is so poor, pull his right arm with yours, post onto your left elbow and bump his ass over.

***jnp*** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 10:52pm

Originally Posted by David Koresh Jr.

If he's controlling your head drop your elbow so you don't get arm triangled.

Heh, heh. I do this all the time to unwary people who leave themselves open to it. I bump them toward my head with my knee before I set my arms in order to attain a deeper grip on the arm triangle. There's nothing like getting subbed from underneath when you're in top half guard.

Kayman101, the best long term (and not so user friendly) advice is to stop scrambling from underneath and work on your basic techniques like the elbow escape.

As a beginning-to-intermediate grappler, it is better to focus on attaining strong positions using fundamental techniques rather than learning how to escape from poor positions that you find yourself in because of bad habits.

***jnp*** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 11:50pm

I should follow this up by stating that I learned all of the above the hard way. I found myself in certain weak positions for years against competent opponents. It took a ludicrously long time before I realized that the solution was to avoid that position as much as possible in the first place.

How did I do this? I went back and focused on things like shrimping, the optimal angle for the upa and the good old elbow escape. These techniques left me in tenable positions wherein I was not starting from a disadvantage.

Don't be me, my friend. Don't be me.

**DKJr** · Posted On: 7/20/2011 11:55pm

Originally Posted by jnp

I should follow this up by stating that I learned all of the above the hard way. I found myself in certain weak positions for years against competent opponents. It took a ludicrously long time before I realized that the solution was to avoid that position as much as possible in the first place.

Can't emphasize that enough. About a year ago I started implementing this idea into my training. Never let them control my head or hips. It's ridiculously easy to implement your game if you focus on those principles, and almost impossible to hold you down.

**wetware** · Posted On: 7/21/2011 12:19am

Ya know, maybe I'm being silly here... but it looks to me like the top guy is really in a horrible position. He isn't very stable and can't post backward because of where his arm is, so a lot of what Koresh said. I'm thinking that if you can use your bottom leg to hook his bottom leg and keep his left arm in place with that over hook and your head you could easily hip bump or even pendulum into his half guard.