The High guard is arguably one of the best and most dangerous positions in the world of BJJ. It has been used for years by the GOAT Roger Gracie which turned his guard into a thing of legend. Whilst many people speak highly about his closed guard, what they really mean is his High guard, which is a variation of the position. Also known as the diamond guard due to the formation of the legs (that looks like a diamond shape), it is an aggressive position that can force the opponent into a number of mistakes.
Typically the High guard is not a position for sweeps and is instead based around submissions. With this said, it has some mechanics that are similar to the rubber guard in terms of submissions and posture breaking which is crucial to making it work.
Overall, if you look at Roger Gracie, his game is probably the best ever – so it may be worth learning a thing or two about his love of the High guard. Not only this but it doesn’t just work in the gi either. The position is also great for no gi attacks and is a fantastically offensive position. Below we will analyse the benefits of the High guard and how it works, as well as some of the negatives which are only fair.
Table of Contents
Entering the High guard
The High guard can be difficult to set up. Because of this, this is possibly the hardest part of the entire position. Imagine dominant guards like Worm guard and X-guard. Whilst they are great to attack from, getting to them in the first place is the main issue. With this said, the High guard is similar but possibly even harder to enter. To begin with, you must have a closed guard already established. This is not always easy, especially against tough, experienced opponents.
From there, you must enhance your position even further. In short, if you thought getting the initial closed guard could be tough, then getting to the high guard is even harder. However, if you learn the entries and drill them enough, this problem will eventually fade out which is true with all aspects of BJJ.
Starting from the closed guard, the Roger Gracie method is to get a cross grip, as if going for a cross collar choke. This grip is great for killing the posture of the opponent and getting their head down. Remember, you need broken posture to be able to enter the High guard. Make sure the grip is deep and is pulling the neck down instead of just passively having your fingers in the collar.
After this, your other hand should grip onto their sleeve of the same side arm that the cross grip is at. Basically, you want to dominate their one side. Think of this as an arm drag with the sleeve which is a possibility in the gi. The next step is to shoot your legs over the opponent as if going for a triangle choke. However, instead of fully committing to the triangle, you instead just have your legs over their head in the diamond position. If you can remember as a newbie, you may have shot for numerous triangles without success.
Usually, you will land in this position where you have your feet locked over the opponent’s shoulders, without really threatening the triangle. Effectively, this is the high guard position. Later on, we will discuss the various attacks from here. In the gi, it is important to keep the cross grip at this point to control the opponent and stop them from escaping.
In terms of no gi entries, there are similar techniques to enter which are slightly modified. Arguably the position is more of a gi move, but nonetheless, it can be attacked in no gi too. Here, you should get a collar tie from closed guard and elbow control with your near side hand. Some people opt for wrist control as it’s in a similar position to grabbing the sleeve.
However, you don’t have as much control as grabbing the wrist in no gi. Instead, you should grab the elbow so it’s harder for the opponent to withdraw their arm. In terms of no gi success, this is probably the most important part of entering the High guard; controlling the elbow. Once the collar tie and elbow have been secured, you can then shoot your hips upwards as you would to hit a triangle. From here, like in the gi you will have secured the high guard, diamond position.
Grip Fighting to help get into the guard
Grip fighting may be a boring part of BJJ, but it’s also very important. We’ve already established how to get to the High guard in a broad sense, now we shall talk about grip fighting. To keep things sensible, we won’t go into too much depth here.
The idea of grip fighting is to win the micro BJJ battle. When this is won, you can then start winning the macro battle. If entering the High guard is the macro idea, then you will have to win the micro battle to get there.
In order to win dominant grips, you should use the typical tactics from inside the closed guard. These include circling your wrists, pulling them over your head and using two vs one grips as well. For more information on the importance of grip fighting, this article here covers the fundamentals. To summarise, you need to have the grips before you set up the High guard otherwise it could put you in danger. Imagine trying to set up an armbar without properly controlling the arm. The same logic applies to getting to the diamond position. Remember, try to use angles instead of strength when gripping the opponent.
Attacks from the High guard
As stated, the High guard is primarily based on submissions, whilst sweeps are mostly secondary. Starting from the position, the main attacks are the armbar, triangle, omoplata and cross collar choke in the gi. There is also the possibility of a wristlock, albeit is a less high percentage sub. Here we shall go through each attack and how they work.
Starting with the armbar, this is probably the most common submission. From the Roger Gracie setup, you will begin by having the arm isolated to begin with. Even in no gi, the arm should also be open to attack with the correct elbow control. In short, the idea is to keep the arm dragged across your body with the elbow exposed.
At this point, you can let go of the collar grip or tie and shoot your leg over their head, as if attacking a regular armbar. At this point, the typical finishes apply such as pinching your knees tight and having heavy legs and feet as well as controlling the arm with your wrists.
The next attack is the triangle choke. This is also very easily available due to the nature of the diamond. From this starting point, you can grab a collar to adjust your legs to set up the triangle as you normally would. To adjust the angle, remember to control the opponent’s head and grab your own shin which keeps the triangle shut.
From here, you can post your foot on the hip and adjust to tighten the triangle. The beauty of the High guard is that even if you lose the arm control and lose the guard, you can always adjust to a triangle attack due to the height of your legs that are around the opponent’s shoulders.
Flowing on from the triangle is the omoplata. Again, at this point the two are very related. Imagine going for the triangle but the opponent turns in to lessen the angle. This will expose their shoulder which you can peel off and switch your legs into an omoplata. Remember to shoot your hips forward to put the opponent’s body onto their knees and then hip out to the side.
This will break their posture on the floor and make it harder to escape. After this, you should control their wrist or elbow on the floor to stop the arm from slipping out, whilst also grabbing their far hip. Lastly, you can then lean over the body to put torque onto the elbow to get the tap.
One move that is exclusive to the gi is the cross collar choke. This is also half setup to begin with when you enter the High guard. At this point, you should already have a deep cross grip so you are nearly there. With your other hand, you should grip into the other collar and bring your elbows together whilst flexing your fists to finish the submission.
The nice thing about this is that opponents will typically defend by aggressively pulling back and trying to posture. However, if you have your legs over the neck to begin with, their posture should be too broken to escape the choke. Remember, if they do manage to escape the choke, then other options like triangles should still be available as a counter.
From the High guard, there is also the bonus position of the wrist lock. As noted, this is the lowest percentage move from the guard, so please note this. Ideally, your thigh should be shot around the arm of the opponent whilst controlling their elbow or wrist.
With this position, you should switch to apply pressure on their wrist by pushing it inwards into the thigh. As the thigh covers their elbow, there is no way to pull back for the opponent to defend. This means you can finish the wrist lock due to creating a wedge against their defense. As with all wrist locks, there’s an element of strength involved so bear this in mind.
Defending against the High guard
Although the High guard is a great position, it isn’t invincible either. Like everything in BJJ, there’s no certainty that everything will turn out perfect. One issue with the guard is its over-reliance on posture. In brief, if you shoot your legs and hips up without controlling posture, the opponent can escape. This is a similar philosophy as going for triangle chokes.
Some people are cautious of attacking triangles from the closed guard against particularly bigger opponents. Although you shouldn’t be scared, sometimes it’s safe to think this way to avoid the opponent baiting a sloppy triangle to start passing your guard and stacking you. Due to this, it’s imperative to break the posture of the opponent when entering the position.
From a defensive position, you should instantly free your posture in time before the legs are shot over. Sometimes you will see failed triangles with legs loosely over the shoulders with the head of the opponent un-touched and free to posture upward. This is the way to defend the High guard. Of course, going one step further you should always try to dominate grips in the closed guard before the attacks can be created in the first place.
Another way to defend the High guard is to somehow bring your other arm inside of the diamond lock. Basically, it’s the same principle of defending triangles. Sometimes it’s possible to pry your other arm inside of the opponent’s legs and then you can start escaping. Remember that your arm is particularly vulnerable when in the diamond, and if the opponent has a cross grip then so is your neck.
Final Thoughts
The High guard is a great position and is designed to be very aggressive. Perhaps its biggest weakness isn’t the guard itself, it’s actually getting there. However, if you can find a way to get there then you will significantly improve submissions against your opponent’s. With this said, it’s not so much about the quality of the guard, but instead it’s how you get there in the first place.
In summary, if you’re looking for a submission-based guard that will destroy opponents and stop stalling then the High guard is a great option to pursue. Another positive of the move is that it can also be applied in both gi, no gi and even in MMA. Whilst the High guard itself can be very effective, there’s no doubt that the High guard has extra dynamite when going for attacks.
Want to dominate from the Closed guard like Roger Gracie? Check out his instructional series here.
