Deep half guard is regarded as a fundamentally sound, effective and old-school style of BJJ. Deep half guard has consistently been proven as a reliable position to quickly go from the bottom to top – whether this being in the gym or even in an MMA setting.
Perhaps one of its benefits is its simplicity. Unlike some of the other positions, it is quite basic in terms of its functions. That’s not to say that Deep Half is easy or simple to figure out, it’s more of a compliment saying that its predictability can sometimes be its strength. Similar to being inside Closed guard, you may know how it works, but escaping it is another thing entirely.
With legends such as Ryan Hall, Jeff Glover and Bernardo Faria being big advocates of the position it goes without saying that it works at the highest of levels. As well, there are variations within Deep half. For example, the style used by Pablo Popavitch and Cyborg Abreu used more of a technical standup sweep which was akin to X-Guard. This differs greatly from the styles commonly used by Glover and Faria who favored more conventional sweeps such as rolling up into a single leg takedown.
Table of Contents
What is Deep half guard?
So, what is Deep half guard? Deep half guard is a form of half guard which involves moving your body directly underneath the body of your opponent. With this in mind, the position is regarded as very physically-close with a constant connection between both opponents, unlike say Collar sleeve guard which can also create distance.
Due to the closeness deep half can be a physically grinding position and result in cauliflower ear with the amount of constant tension involved. To enter Deep half, the practitioner will often do so whilst in regular half guard.
Here they can get a near-side underhook and then swing into the opponent’s legs whilst avoiding a cross-face. The next step in establishing Deep half is to turn away from your opponent and face the same wall that they are looking at, whilst keeping a leg entanglement on their far leg with your own legs, your head attached to their hip and making sure your arm is securely tucked underneath their body to avoid getting a counter underhook.
It could be argued that in the modern-age of BJJ, Deep Half is somewhat of a forgotten position. Due to this, it’s possible to catch people by surprise by playing this position. Even though it’s fundamentally sound, some people may be unaware of how to counter or defend the position. Generally speaking, this is something you would find with lower belts.
Overall, another way of looking at the position is that it is similar to wrestling from the bottom. That sounds like an oxymoron as it can be quite a slow position which is the opposite to wrestling. However, what is meant by this is that it requires coming up to single-leg takedowns, pummeling the arms and knee-taps to sweep the opponent. As mentioned earlier, the Deep Half is simplistic by its nature, and there is certainly nothing wrong with this as it gets results.
How do you get into Deep Half Guard?
One benefit of the position is its versatility which allows you enter it from various positions. The most common entry is from Z-Guard. Whilst here, you should grab onto the far leg with your arms and move into the legs of the opponent. Immediately when you have become attached, you should turn away so you’re facing the same way as the opponent. At this point, your one arm should be around the back of their hip. It is important to hide your lower arm by digging it under their leg or by keeping your elbow tight.
Another entry is from mount. Deep Half is a good mount escape when you can get your feet around the foot of the opponent. By working up to a quarter guard, you can then push away on the knee and get your legs over the knee-line. From there, you can torque the leg out to extend it and enter Deep Half. Of course, this escape can be countered if the opponent controls your head, so it’s important to frame. Practically all Deep Half entries can be countered by a strong cross-face. However, this is even more important from the mount position.
Lastly, another entry is from the quarter guard with your back flat on the mat. This is not an ideal position due to the pressure of the top player and available submissions they have as a result. Here, you can go to a Lockdown guard by wrapping your feet around their foot. It’s important to get double underhooks from this position which may be quite difficult depending on the situation.
One way to do this is to push both hands into the chin of the opponent to create space. Once you have double unders, you should use the Lockdown leg to whip the opponent’s leg around and make space. With this done, you can create an angle to slip into Deep Half guard. Mechanically speaking, the Lockdown has many similarities with Deep Half anyway which helps.
Sweeps from Deep Half Guard
As the Deep half is primarily for sweeping, we shall now look into some of the transitions from there. One of the most common sweeps is when the practitioner creates multiple attacks by threatening either side of their opponent’s far leg – such as rolling behind your opponent’s leg to come up to a single-leg takedown, or rolling in front of the opponent’s leg to come up to an under-over pass.
Both of these sweeps have been executed numerous times down the years by Bernardo Faria, one of the best in the business at Deep half. Attacking both sides at once creates a real dilemma for the opponent which means Deep half is a useful tool to attack with and has also been utilized in MMA by former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum.
Another common sweep is the Faria sweep that was popularized by Bernardo Faria. Basically, he would wrap the opponent’s lapel around their leg and thread it to his other hand. This would help break the posture of the opponent and put a lot of torque and power into the sweep. At this point, he would then bridge up and into the opponent with great power, often landing in the under-over pass. Whilst Deep half has numerous sweeps in nogi, this particular technique is exclusive to the gi due to relying on the lapel.
Away from lapels, one of the more typical moves is the Waiter sweep. The Waiter sweep is called this due to mimicking the hand of a waiter whilst holding a tray. The idea of this move is to kick your leg above the knee-line of the opponent’s knee. Once this has been done, you want to grab under their foot with your hand, similar to the hand holding a tray would.
Here, you should bring the foot towards you whilst kicking your leg down like a pendulum. Due to the weight on the leg, this will put the opponent onto the floor and end in an over/under pass position. Remember to do this quickly, otherwise it can be countered with a spinning kneebar from the top player. This sweep is particularly useful in no gi when lapels and fabrics aren’t available to grip.
Elsewhere, if the opponent sprawls on their leg which is over your head instead of the other leg then you can do a technical stand up sweep. Usually this sweep isn’t available as the opponent will sprawl on their far leg which means this sweep is very situational.
Like Popavitch does, you should extend your legs and kick the opponent away from you. This is the same as the X-Guard position but you are both closer to the floor. If the opponent does happen to stand then you can easily transition into X-Guard anyway. However, your priority is to kick the legs away and secure a sweep from Deep Half. Mechanically this sweep is similar to a Turkish get-up.
Problems with Deep Half Guard
This is possibly the biggest flaw of the guard and can be seen with newbies of the guard who leave their arm open for a Kimura or underhook from the top player, resulting in submission or being passed. However, with experience, this issue will go away over time with the correct body positioning. Similarly, if your opponent manages to sprawl out and hit a crossface, it can be very unpleasant.
The idea of the Deep half is that even though you’re under the opponent, you manage to hold their bodyweight well. With this said, if they manage to crush your frames and attack your head – it can also lead to getting passed easier. Due to these methods, one of the main issues with the Deep Half isn’t always the position itself, but actually entering it safely in the first place.
Like many positions, framing is key and you don’t want to get squashed. Ideally, you want to keep on your side rather than on your back. This gives you more leverage to move and lessens the weight of the opponent which will in turn preserve your energy. Another flaw of the guard is that it doesn’t have as many submission opportunities as other guards, and is similar to X-Guard in that sense. Whilst it can open up leg lock entries and does offer counter submissions such as the Darce choke, it is mostly used to sweep and enhance the position.
As well as this, the Deep Half can sometimes be a grinding position to be in on the bottom. Even if you do manage to sweep the opponent, it can a lot of energy if the defend correctly. Because of this, you can expect to get your face crushed at times and on occasions, it’s just plain unpleasant. For instance, this sort of crush isn’t seen in certain other guards such as De La Riva or Spider guard.
This is because Deep Half is always done in close proximity and is a close-distance guard. In brief, if you’re afraid of cauliflower ear or getting cross-faced at times, then Deep Half may not be for you.
Further, the Deep Half can be a pain if it goes wrong. Whilst you can always recover and retain guard from any position, it can be especially tricky from this one. For example, if someone opens your Closed guard, you still have many options from the open guard. However, with Deep Half if someone starts passing then it can become a nightmare to recover. It’s worth thinking about this when considering it as position to play or not.
Countering the underhook
As has been established, the underhook from the top player can really kill the Deep half guard. However, like everything in BJJ – there are counters. One counter is to sweep the opponent by rolling towards the underhook. This move is popular with Tom DeBlass who uses it to take away their base. As the top players arm is effectively stuck, they cannot post to the floor and so you can sweep them towards this arm. Of course, make sure you grab your other arm whilst on top, otherwise you could still get caught with an armbar.
Another way to counter the underhook is one done by Jeff Glover. Here, Glover brings his head out, under the ribs of the opponent as if doing a wrestling sit-out. Once his head is free, he brings his other arm out from the leg and turns his foot into a hook to elevate the opponent’s leg. In one explosive move, he then swings to a front headlock position. From here, there are options such as Guillotine and Darce chokes, dependent on the situation. Even if this reaction creates a scramble, you’re still in a good position compared to the alternatives.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Deep half guard is a very versatile position that should not be overlooked, whether entering via regular half guard or using it as a mount escape, it can often open doors to superior positions which is ultimately what BJJ is all about. Elsewhere, the Deep half a solid candidate for those looking to learn a basic yet effective guard who may lack the athleticism or pace compared to other practitioners. In other words, it relies on close contact which slows the passer down.
Due to this, it is often associated with old man Jiu Jitsu where the idea is to use pressure and control over speed and explosiveness. Of course, it can still be used by those who favor athleticism but it also means that it can be played by all. With this said, if your style isn’t centered around speed and you like to slow things down, then Deep half guard should be a real consideration to add to your game.
Want to improve your Deep half game? Have a look at Jeff Glover’s instructional DVD here.
