The Gubber Guard is a position invented by lapel specialist Keenan Cornelius. Like many of his creations, it involves wrapping the opponent’s lapel around your limbs to create a strong connection and greater control. However, unlike his other positions, it comes from the Closed guard.
Mechanically the position is similar to the Rubber guard as it involves a high leg. However, it differs because it uses the lapel to add further control against the opponent. The point of the guard is to entangle the opponent’s gi with your foot. By doing this, you can break their posture and set up attacks such as Canto and Triangle chokes as a result. Similarly, the position also offers various sweeping options.
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How to enter the Gubber Guard
As mentioned the Gubber position is created from Closed guard. This starts by unwrapping the opponent’s lapel to use later. Similar to Worm guard, the idea is to get as much lapel out as possible as it helps further along the way. From here you then want to hold onto the lapel with one hand and hip out away from the grip. With an angle created you can then thread the lapel over your foot.
This relies on having your opponent’s posture broken to begin with, similar to entering the Rubber position.
The next step is to make sure your other leg does not get trapped under the opponent’s body. This is one way to escape the Gubber guard so it is important to keep your outer leg away from the opponent’s legs.
Perhaps the two biggest issues when attacking the entry are breaking the posture of the opponent and keeping it down. Secondly, is being able to free the lapel and successfully thread it around your foot. Whilst the Gubber guard is incredibly dangerous when set up, it can sometimes be tough to use on stubborn opponents.
The best Gubber Guard Submissions
From here you are now in Gubber guard which is a highly aggressive position. The Gubber position allows for Canto chokes, Triangles, Omoplata’s, Armbars and sweeps. Because of this, it can be considered very versatile.
Possibly the easiest two attacks from here are the Triangle and Omoplata which are practically set up from this position to begin with. From here you can control the opponent’s nearside arm and step over the shoulder for an Omoplata. Similarly, if they defend this then you can kick your far leg out and attack a Triangle. As the two submissions have similar entries it is good to switch between them to keep your opponent guessing.
One counter to defending a number of submissions from the Gubber guard is to place your arm close to your head, whilst pinning the far leg to the mat. This effectively stops the Triangle and Omoplata entry, but as a result opens up the Armbar. Because of this, the opponent’s near arm is now open to attack and is vulnerable.
Here you can grab the arm and pin it to your body, let go of the lapel grip and kick your far leg over their head. This may require breaking their far hand’s grip to free your leg. The result is an Armbar from closed guard. Remember to stay on the side of the opponent during the Gubber position as it helps create a better angle for attacks.
However, possibly the best submission option is the Canto choke. Switching the lapel grip to your far hand, you can then thread the lapel under the opponent’s neck and pull back to begin choking. This may finish but to add further pressure you can snake out even more to the side. From this position, you can then swing your far leg over their head and kick it down whilst the lapel does the choke. This creates extreme pressure and brings the choke on quickly. For a different finish, you can even switch grips and attack a Cross collar choke if needed from this position.
The Best Gubber Guard Sweeps
As seen above, the Gubber guard has a number of submissions and is very offensive. However, it can also be used to sweep the opponent.
To begin with, you want to put your opponents near arm under your near armpit and trap it. As mentioned with the previous Armbar entry you can grab and control the near arm. However, this time you don’t want it hugged to your chest. Instead, you want to tuck it into your armpit.
From the original grip instead of attacking subs, you can post up onto the far side with your free leg (whilst your other leg is wrapped around their back with the lapel). After standing on your knee you can then use your arm to get up. In doing this it acts almost like an Omoplata and attacks the opponents near shoulder.
Because of this, you can then start leaning into the opponent from standing. They may tap from the shoulder lock but will often fall backward and sweep themselves to avoid defeat. From here you are now in a variation of mount with the lapel grip. You can either hold mount or switch the lapel to your other hand. If you do this you can then post out and start attacking the Canto choke from the top position. This position has also been used in the highest level of competition by Polish black belt Jakub Zajkowski.
Summary On The Gubber Guard
The Gubber guard is arguably one of the most dominant positions in Gi BJJ. This is because when entered the opponent is controlled whilst a number of attacks are available. Because of this, it is a great move to learn and use. However, it is also quite advanced so may not be suitable for beginners.
Also, it may be less effective if the opponent is paranoid about their own lapels during Closed Guard. Like many lapel guards, it can be horrible to escape from, however, setting it up in full against an experienced opponent will not always be easy. Overall however it is a fantastic guard and can be used to offer a variety of attacks.
