Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has a number of positions and variations within those positions. Although it may be too lengthy to list every single position in BJJ – we have created a list of all of the guard positions in BJJ and given a brief description as to how they work and function. For those looking at choosing which guard to play or if you just want a brief overview, this list may be worth a look.
We should also add that some variations may come under different names from different people. We have also not included variations with extreme similarities to the original guard as otherwise there would be far more guard positions listed which are basically the same thing.
Table of Contents
Half Guard
Deep Half guard
Deep Half Guard involves rolling underneath your opponent to take their weight. Whilst here, you want to trap their leg with yours whilst gripping around their hips with your arms. The next step is to off-balance the opponent by swinging your legs and create constant movement. Whilst this guard provides few submissions, it is good to sweep and take the back with and is commonly used by many.
Famous guard players: Ryan Hall, Cyborg Abreu, Bernardo Faria, Jeff Glover, Tom DeBlass
Z Guard/Knee Shield
This position comes from being in regular half guard and then raising your knee up to take the opponent’s weight. By creating a skeletal frame, it stops you from being crushed whilst allowing threats of sweeps and submissions. A typical submission is attacking the far arm for the Kimura and sweeps can be achieved by getting the nearside underhook and threatening the back simultaneously.
Famous guard players: Lucas Leite, Craig Jones, Lachlan Giles, Gordo, Robson Moura
Lockdown
This move is from the 10th Planet system of grappling. It involves entangling your feet against the opponent’s foot which creates tension on their leg. The idea from here is to get double underhooks and get under the opponent to help move their weight. From here you can sweep or attack the electric chair position which is a groin submission.
Famous guard players: Eddie Bravo
Half Butterfly guard
Combining half guard with butterfly guard, the idea here is to bring in your knee shield leg to the inside and use it as a butterfly hook. The other leg stays put in its original half guard position to make this half butterfly. The next step is to use the butterfly hook to lift your opponent which often leads to sweeps and leg locks such as heel hooks and kneebars.
Famous guard players: Adam Wardzinski, Craig Jones
Octopus guard
This is often entered when the opponent does a hip switch from the knee shield position. Alternatively, it can be entered by moving your far shoulder behind the opponents far shoulder. From here, you can use the position to get to the back or sweep into mount. It is sometimes called the reverse half guard and involves basing on your elbow to enter the position.
Famous guard players: Eduardo Telles, Oliver Geddes
Quarter guard
This is often a position between half guard and defending the mount. Often it offers little in attack and is used as mostly a retention position to stop your guard from being passed. Because of this, many practitioners do not favour this guard due to its inferior position. The quarter guard relies on trapping the opponent’s foot instead of their knee. However, the quarter guard can often be used to sweep if the opponent makes a mistake.
Closed Guards
Closed guard
The closed guard involves wrapping your legs around the opponent and locking your feet, trapping them inside your legs. From here you can attack multiple sweeps and submissions against the upper body such as triangles, armbars, flower and pendulum sweeps. This position is considered as one of the most dominant guards in BJJ.
Famous guard players: Roger Gracie, Braulio Estima, Hudson Mateus.
Lapel Guards
Rubber guard
This is from the 10th Planet system and involves walking your legs up from closed guard into a high guard. From here you grab your shin and put it over the opponent’s neck to break their posture. Originally created for MMA, this position is also used mostly in Nogi and mostly goes after submission attacks as opposed to sweeping. Attacks from here include omoplatas, armbars and triangles.
Famous guard players: Richie Martinez, Nathan Orchard, Grace Gundrum
Williams guard
Sometimes referred to as the Nino guard, this position involves wrapping your leg around the opponent’s shoulder and tightening the leg with your arms. This creates a clamp that attaches the leg to the shoulder and breaks down their posture. Mostly used for submissions rather than sweeps, this often attacks shoulder locks and can also enter into triangle chokes.
Famous guard players: Shawn Williams, Neil Melanson
Gubber guard
Structurally similar to rubber guard, this involves tying your leg around the opponent’s neck whilst wrapped in their lapel. This creates a powerful wrap that breaks the opponent’s posture whilst keeping them entangled with your body. Similar attacks to the rubber guard can be hunted as well as lapel chokes such as the cross collar and canto chokes which use the gi to submit.
Famous guard players: Keenan Cornelius, Jakub Zajkowski
Worm guard
Starting from De La Riva, the idea here is to wrap your far leg in the opponent’s lapel and thread the lapel under both you and the opponents near leg. This creates a powerful wrap that slows the opponent down and creates a powerful connection. Often used for sweeps and back takes, there aren’t as many submissions from the position. However, it is good in getting to mount or taking the back.
Famous guard players: Keenan Cornelius, Andris Brunovskis
Spider guard
This involves grabbing your opponent’s sleeves and putting your feet on their biceps. Acting like a puppet master, you can move your opponent around by pushing and pulling at their arms to unbalance them. Submissions such as triangles are available whilst a variety of sweeps can also be used. This position can also be considered part of the open guard as there is no connection between either player’s legs being connected together.
Famous guard players: Leandro Lo, Romulo Barral
Squid guard
Squid guard uses a lapel wrap in a similar entry to the omoplata. However, you then swing back so you’re facing the opponent straight on. You then use this lapel wrap to maintain contact with the opponent who is now anchored to your leg via their own lapel. Often used for sweeps, it can be a frustrating position for the opponent to be stuck in.
Famous guard players: Keenan Cornelius.
Collar Sleeve guard
Collar sleeve guard is created by grabbing the sleeve of the opponent with one hand whilst grabbing the collar with the other hand. Whilst doing this you should place your leg on the bicep of the sleeve that you’re gripping. The other leg can be placed on their hip or wrapped into a De La Riva hook. Similar to many sleeve guards, the idea is to push and pull the opponent to off balance them. From here, you can hit various sweeps and the main submission is often the triangle.
Famous guard players: Mendes brothers, Cobrinha, Xande Ribeiro
Lasso guard
The lasso position works by grabbing a sleeve and threading your leg under the opponent’s arm. This controls the arm and allows you to sweep the opponent to the side of the lasso wrap, as well it can be linked in with spider guard as a hybrid position. Submissions such as triangles and bicep slicers are also possible from this position.
Famous guard players: Rikako Yuasa, Romulo Barral
Seated Guards
Butterfly guard
Often used in MMA, the butterfly position involves sitting down and putting your hooks under the legs of the opponent. Then using these hooks to elevate an opponent, you can sweep the opponent to a side or attack submissions. Submissions from here include armlocks and guillotine chokes. Alternatively, you can elevate the opponent to enter other guard positions.
Famous guard players: Marcelo Garcia, Gordon Ryan
Koala guard
Sitting down against a standing opponent, the idea is to latch onto the opponents leg like a koala whilst hugging them to create a tight connection. This position is often used as a transition position to enter other guards as well as attack leg locks such as footlocks such as kneebars and achilles locks.
Famous guard players: Mackenzie Dern.
50/50 guard
The 50/50 guard is a completely neutral position where both players are sat opposite each other, facing directly into the opponent. At the same time, the inside legs are entangled which makes both positions equal. From the 50/50, you need to stand and pass or submit with leglocks. This often involves heelhooks and knee bars.
Famous guard players: Miayo brothers, Gabriel Arges
Shin on shin guard
This involves placing your shin on the opponent and leaning backward. This creates the opponent to step forward and enter other positions such as the single leg X guard. Similar to the Koala guard it is often used to transition to better positions and also looks at leg submissions.
Famous guard players: Felipe Pena
X-Guard
By getting underneath the opponent, you should then hook your legs and feet around their far leg in an X like motion. This creates push and pull mechanics that off-balance the opponent’s stance which can lead to sweeps. The most common sweep here is the technical stand up sweep, although it can also be used to take the back and attack the legs of the opponent.
Famous guard players: Marcelo Garcia
De La Riva
Perhaps the most common open guard, this position involves gripping the opponent’s heel and using the same leg to hook around the opponents near leg. The other leg should be placed on their far hip whilst holding the opponent’s hands at the same time. From here a number of sweeps are available as well as submissions such as omoplatas and triangles. This position can also be used to transition into various other positions.
Famous guard players: Ricardo De La Riva, Nicholas Meregali, Mikey Musumeci
Single Leg X
Also known as the Anaconda position, this enters from underneath the opponent. From here, you should entangle both legs around the opponent’s one leg. The next step is to sweep the opponent by pressuring down on their one leg. This often enters directly into feet submissions such as toeholds and achilles locks.
Famous guard players: Felipe Pena, Emily Kwok, Lachlan Giles, Marcelo Garcia
K guard
This involves sitting at an angle against an opponent on their knees. From this position, you then grip under their leg as if trying a pendulum sweep. You then place your legs around their hips and use your arms to move the opponent’s legs. This often leads to many leg attacks such as heel hooks as well as triangle submissions. However, the K guard is not common for sweeps.
Famous guard players: Lachlan Giles, Neil Melanson
Other Guards
Inverted guard
Often when the opponent goes to pass, you can invert by kicking your legs over your head. This makes it tough for the opponent to pass the guard as your hips are now less open. Few sweeps can be used from here and it is mostly used to retain guard. Having said this, it can be used to enter surprise submissions such as triangles and leglocks.
Famous guard players: Ryan Hall, Jeff Glover
Turtle
The turtle is often a form of guard retention. This involves balling up into a turtle-like position and is used to stop passing. Like inverting, it is used to get to other guards but also has more diverse options for sweeps and submissions. Again, these involve leg locks and rolling attacks which enter into kneebars and omoplatas.
Famous guard players: Eduardo Telles, Priit Mikhelson
Donkey guard
Sometimes referred to as reverse closed guard, this guard is entered by facing away from the opponent and jumping your legs around them. In brief, it is the opposite position of the closed guard. From here you can use the position to sweep and come to the reverse mount position. Alternatively, it can be used to attack toeholds and heelhooks against the opponent’s vulnerable feet.
Famous guard players: Jeff Glover
Reverse De La Riva
Often entered from when the opponent stands in your half guard, the reverse de la riva position is basically the regular de la riva position in reverse. Often used in Nogi, it enables the user the ability to attack sweeps as well as armdrags to get to the back. It can also open up leglock submissions
Mantis guard
A variation of the de la riva position, it involves wrapping your arm around the opponents leg onto your shin as opposed to just gripping the heel. From here you can then set up similar sweeps to the de la riva with arguably more control. Ideally used in Nogi, it can also lead to omoplatas as well as sweeps.
Famous guard players: Keenan Cornelius, Marvin Castelle
