I love the Single Leg X Guard position!
It’s relatively easy to get to, offers you many powerful sweeps, gives you the option to upgrade into other forms of X guard, and – if you want to go that way – it dovetails very nicely with the leglock game (seeing as it’s basically the same as the ‘ashi garami’ leglock position).
But a lot of people get a key element of the Single Leg X Guard position completely wrong!
They lack PRESSURE from the bottom!
Without pressure, off balancing and kuzushi from the bottom it’s relatively easy for the guy on top to peel your legs apart and pass your guard.
But if you add the the right kind of pressure… if he’s floating his arms around like a tightrope walker… and if he’s stumbling all over the place trying to keep his balance, then the last thing he’s going to be worried about is passing your guard!
The video at the top of this post shows you two different ways to create that pressure.
First my friend Ritchie Yip shows you his idea of ‘connecting the circuit’, which is a great way to make sure that you’ve got the correct leg position in this style of guard.
Then I share my drill in which I force the guy on bottom to off balance the guy on top. This drill ensures that the person using the Single Leg X Guard is actually lifting his hips off the floor, which is really the best way to generate this degree of off balancing.
Anyway, check it out at the top of the page. I’m sure these two tips will help with your open guard attacks!
The 5 Different Types of X Guard
If you’re new to the Single Leg X Guard then you probably also want to check out the video below. It’ll give you a context that will make it easier to understand how all these different forms of X guard hook together!
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Single Leg X Guard (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Check out my Single Leg X Guard Masterclass!
This instructional mainly focusses on the Single Leg X Guard style, but it also goes into depth about the interplay between it and the Standard X Guard. Like I said earlier, the two together are very powerful!
The post How to Make It MUCH Harder to Pass Your Single Leg X Guard! appeared first on Grapplearts.