Monday, February 19, 2007

Guard Replacement Move

A few weeks back, Maggie was trying to explain a guard replacement shoulder roll she thought I could have pulled off during one of our training sessions. She wasn't exactly sure how to describe it, but I was pretty sure of what she meant. I think these stills from Ryan Hall's most recent first-place winning performance at Grapplers Quest do a decent job of highlighting how that guard replacement move works.






See the whole fight here.

One key: the move is based on using your top leg as the pivot or post. That leg will essentially remain in place. Get small in your half guard (or passed guard, before your opponent gets to side control). Dip your up shoulder to the mat and curl inward. With your lower leg, you do a sort of backstep roll in the direction the guy is trying to pass toward.