For those wondering, Rubber Guard is a form of closed guard popularised by 10th Planet creator, Eddie Bravo during his BJJ competition days. Although it’s not known when the guard was first made, or how old it is. Nino Schembri is often credited with being the pioneer, or at least one of the creators of rubber guard.
The guard is generally meant to be for guard players who are extremely flexible and have a good understanding of hip movement and attacking angles from the bottom. Like many positions in BJJ, it is relatively quick to learn the basics, but takes a lifetime to master.
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Why is it called the Rubber Guard?
The name originated from Eddie Bravo. Bravo is known for attaching titles to moves and sometimes they can sound quite unusual. However, in this sense – it is appropriate. Basically, to make the position work you need rubber-like legs to reach over the neck of the opponent. As it is also a guard, combining the two results in the name.
Rubber Guard Entries & Mechanics
Rubber Guard is most commonly entered from the closed guard. For instance, in an MMA fight the opponent may take you down into closed guard. From the closed guard, the practitioner will then break the posture of their opponent which enables them to bring their own leg across the back of their rivals head. This can be achieved by hip flexibility and by creating an angle to bring your leg forward.
With the said leg being held by your own hand, the result is the opponents posture being permanently broken. Eddie Bravo sometimes refers to this position as “mission control”. In the 10th planet system there is pretty much a name for every detail of the position so it can easily be remembered and talked about amongst it’s students. Some of these names are things like “New York”, “Zombie” and the “Gogo Clinch”.
Once the opponents posture is broken in BJJ competitions you can now start looking for submission entries to various moves such as omoplata, gogoplata and various armlocks.
In an MMA setting, you are now relatviely safe from strikes and if done correctly, you may even have a striking edge over your opponent. Some fighters with good, aggressive rubber guards may try to submit their opponent from the position. Others who are less confident with rubber guard may just stall the fight until they are stood back up to a neutral position.
Having said this, the Rubber Guard is not without its own problems. For instance, it can be difficult to enter, especially from a beginners perspective due to over reliance on flexibility and hip mobility to achieve the position. Also, if the opponent doesn’t allow an initial high guard or broken posture then it is hard to enter the Rubber Guard if the opponent knows this is what you are attempting.
The Difference Between BJJ & MMA
In MMA the closed guard is often a defensive position rather than the attacking position used in sport BJJ due to strikes being thrown at your head. This is almost the polar opposite of closed guard in BJJ. A sweep from mount will get you 6 points in an IBJJF competition. From this position you are allowed to stall indefinitely.
In contrast, almost all MMA fighters would prefer to be inside the guard. It is not often that someone has a very solid closed guard and will hold people inside there to strike and submit them from the bottom. Fighters such Georges St Pierre made a name for themselves from viscious striking inside the closed guard, often stopping fights by TKO.
In summary, it is much harder to sweep someone in MMA because you are always being threatened to get punched in the head. BJJ simply does not have this risk.
Rubber guard will at the very least, momentarily protect you from strikes. In a pure BJJ setting, you will go to rubber guard to almost always set up a submissions.
With MMA being the focus, this enables the bottom player to use elbows to strike their opponent, whilst the opponent cannot strike properly due to broken posture. Compared to closed guard, this makes Rubber guard a nice option for blocking punches whilst still posing a striking threat of your own.
How do Rubber Guards get flexible?
It’s no secret that the position requires a degree of flexibility. Of course, angles will also help you ease into it more efficiently. However, most of the Rubber guard players seem to be highly flexible. Anyway, you can improve your flexibility in a few ways.
The first is to do the Lotus yoga pose. Eddie Bravo is a big fan of this and often recommends this. In brief, this pose will allow your legs to bend further which makes the position much easier. In general though, various leg and hip stretches will aid your flexibility and make it much easier to enter.
Submissions From Rubber Guard
The Rubber Guard has a variety of submission options from the broken posture of an opponent, such as triangles, armbars and gogoplatas.
Tony Ferguson (who is a 10th planet black belt under Eddie Bravo) has won several MMA fights whilst using the rubber guard leading to triangles, which is a common outcome as it sets up nicely into the submission.
Away from MMA it is mostly used by Eddie Bravo’s brand of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu. His high level practitioners such as PJ Barch and Nathan Orchard are known for their rubber guard. Orchard created the ‘Dead Orchard’ submission which is a hybrid armbar from the position. Another note with the Rubber Guard and sport BJJ is its absence in the Gi. As 10th Planet BJJ is soley Nogi based, it is very rare to see it being used in the Gi due to a lack of 10th Planet Gi players.
In more recent times, some professionals have begun to play “Gubber Guard” which is a rubber guard with a lapel wrap. From this position there are a variety of chokes and other submissions available.
Key Points To Take Away
- Eddie Bravo popularised rubber guard, but he did not create it
- It is different in BJJ compared to its application in MMA due to strike threats
- Rubber guard should not be attempted if you are older and inflexible
- It is situational and not appropriate 100% of the time
In conclusion, rubber guard has proven to be a successful tool whilst fighting in MMA whilst you are in bottom position. Various MMA fighters have used it successfully since it offers both more attacking and defensive options compared to the traditional closed guard in MMA.
The rubber guard is not exclusive to MMA and is used in modern day BJJ tournaments by grapplers such as Nathan Orchard and Grace Gundrum.
Want to learn more about 10th Planet’s most deadly position? Why not check out Eddie Bravo’s ultimate instructional on Rubber Guard. Alternatively, Bravo also has a book on the subject.
