An Easy and Effective Guard Retention Drill

There are many guard retention techniques you can use to stop someone from passing your guard, but just like any other technique they require drilling and repetition to become automatic.

So that’s what we’re going to start with; an easy line drill where you can warm your body at the beginning of class and also get in lots of repetition for the ‘frame and hip escape’ guard retention movement.

Here’s the drill

1. Start lying flat on your back in a lazy butterfly guard position; your partner pushes your legs to one side in an easy ‘leg fold’ guard pass.
2. Sit up, put your hand on the floor and support your weight with a straight arm
3. Put your other hand on his shoulder and keep him away with a straight arm
4. Bring your heels towards your butt (this is the step that’s most often missed)
5. Escape your hips backwards, then reset and do the same movement on the other side, travelling down the mat

I call this the ‘4H’ drill because you’re using your Hand, Hand, Heels, and Hips, and in the 2 1/2 minute video below I use it to warm up the students at a seminar I was teaching.

Here, as a reference, are the main steps in photographic format.

(I initially posted this pic on my instagram, which you should check out if you like information in this format.)

The concept of using a frame and hip escape for guard retention has been really well developed by my friend and coach Rob Biernacki (with whom I did The BJJ Formula instructional).

Here, from that instructional, is Rob breaking down this movement further…

Now if you find this Frame and Hip Escape guard retention movement a little confusing and want to practise it on your own then check out this video I did about 10 different shrimping drills.

(The guard retention drill is based off of movements 9 and 10 in the video below.)

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Stephan Kesting
Grapplearts.com

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