I'm already two fights deep into the black belt lightweight quarter/semi finals for the 2009 Mundial and continue to be amazed at how much guard pulling is going on at heavier and heavier divisions.
When I look at the 2003 mundial, it's only the rooster weights who are doing the sort of simultaneous guard pulling that, in my opinion, gave birth to the infamous 50/50 guard. But here I am, six years later, and what used to only be a phenomenon of the lightest of the lighter weight fighters - this notion that it is better to fight from your back than to fight from the top - is becoming so widespread that guys can't wait to pull guard at the highest levels of lightweight competition.
Rodrigo has said some things in passing during class that I think help explain in part this phenomenon. And I think he is 100% correct. But at the risk of speaking ill of guard players in general, I'll limit my comments to saying that I think it is a moral imperative for the next generation of jiu jitsu martial artists to become far more willing to take the top position and challenge some one's guard.
To be sure, I'm talking my book insofar as I've dedicated 2010 not only to taking my guard passing to the next level, but also to focus on standing passes whenever possible. But I still think there is something wrong when the best of the best are aggressively adopting a defensive position (pulling guard) rather than using their obvious and all-too-apparent confidence in their defense to be more aggressive on offense.
You know who I'm not seeing pulling guard as if his life depended on it? The Mendes Brothers. These guys are attacking guys' guards with a patient, deliberate "squat walk" that harkens back a bit to old school Marcio Feitosa guard passing. No wonder these guys are tearing it up these days.
