It’s almost impossible to use the Butterfly Guard without also using the X Guard…
When you attack with the Butterfly Guard your opponent is going to be doing his absolute best to shut you down. For example, that means that he’ll be posting hands and feet all over the place to stop you from sweeping him.
When he posts his hands or otherwise gets them out of position it opens up opportunities for you to attack with armbars, triangles and omoplatas (click here for an example of how the Butterfly Guard sweep can lead to an omoplata).
But when he posts with his foot – which is very common – it offers you a golden opportunity to slide underneath his center of gravity and catch him in the X Guard.
He’s just leapt out of the frying pan and into the fire!
This is a REALLY important transition. Almost every high level Butterfly Guard player has this as one of his bread and butter moves. Hell, it seems like Marcelo Garcia used it in just about EVERY gi and no-gi match he was in when he burst onto the scene.
(If you’re interested in the details and procedures for getting from Butterfly Guard to X Guard then a good place to start is Non-Stop Butterfly Guard.)
But once you’ve got him in X Guard, now what?
In the X Guard I always advocate starting with the standup sweep and leg buckle combination attack (click here for more on that combo). This is a really powerful, low risk combo, and I use it all the time.
But no single technique, or combination of techniques, works all the time…
…which is why it’s important to have options!
One of the most powerful (and coolest) options when you’re having difficulties with an opponent who has super-strong base is to forget about the sweep. Instead you spin underneath him and take his back.
By doing this you go from X guard directly to Rear Mount.
That means you don’t have to mess around trying to pass his guard after you sweep him – you simply bypass that whole entire step and take his back.
Below is a video by Brandon Mullins and myself with a step-by-step breakdown of how to take your opponent’s back from X Guard on Youtube
Drill this a few times and then give it a try. It may look fancy, but I speak from personal experience that it’s a lot easier to do than you think, and you look cool as hell if you pull it off!
P.S. This technique is from the ‘Non-Stop Butterfly Guard‘ mobile app, which is a step-by-step breakdown of a BJJ black belt world champion’s Butterfly Guard system.
More info about this app at the links below:
- Click here to see Non-Stop Butterfly Guard in the iTunes store for iPhone and iPad
- Click here to see Non-Stop Butterfly Guard in the Google Play store for Android phones and tablets
- Click here to see Non-Stop Butterfly Guard in the Amazon app store for Kindle devices
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