This is my take on quarter guard. Quarter guard has become one of my go-to guards lately. I feel like it’s on a continuum of my bottom game: Stay on your side, control a hand So, of course if you play quarter guard flat on your back, it’s really more like a 3/4 mount position. Which is bad. However, from my side, it gives me easy access to deep half and/or transitioning to half guard, both of which are fine positions to be in:

This is my go-to mount escape. I feel comfortable enough with this that I tend not to take mount on my opponents because I feel like mount is fairly easy to escape, say, 80% of the time. The basic idea is that you need to turn to your side. I like this version because it doesn’t require strength. A lot of mount escapes are about bumping your opponent or framing your opponent.

This is my current system for passing guard. If I can access their neck then I use that to submit or pass. If I can’t, then I use Bernardo Faria’s over/under pass.

Any time I find someone takes my back, the number on thing I’m looking for (assuming they have already scored on me by getting their hooks in), is to break the connection between their chest and my back. Once I break this connection, I have broken their angle to choke me and I am safe from their chokes. Given that the rear naked choke is consistently the number one submission across IBJJF, ADCC, and UFC competitions, this is priority number one.

This is my answer to an opponent pulling closed guard on me. I find this so effective and high percentage, I rarely use closed guard myself. Sometimes it takes a little patience to make this happen, for example if they don’t want to let you grab the arm, but it works very well for me.

This is the concept I use whenever I find myself flattened in bottom side control. Now, the number one way to not be flattened in bottom side control is to not lie flat when someone passes your guard. My observation is that being flattened is often a convention, where we think “oh, they are passing me, I need to defend from side control” and then we lie flat and assume a defensive posture.

When I get in top side control, I’m looking to start submitting my opponent with chokes. Here is an example video of some of the chokes I hit regularly, depending on whether they turn into me, lie flat, or turn away. You’re not limited to these, it’s just an example of what you do with the concept.

Here’s a video I posted about what to do from bottom half guard. In general, I like to make sure I always control their attack hand. If I give up the hand, it’s only for a high percentage chance at a sweep by overpowering one of their limbs:

Here’s my simple concept for defending leg attacks: don’t let them connect their hands. Nothing is 100%, and this definitely works better the sooner you start controlling an arm. So be sensitive to leg attackers and grab an arm to prevent connection before they get into position for best results.

What are we guarding with guard in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? I’ve been doing BJJ for over 18 years. All that time I’ve been taught about guard and how it is what makes BJJ special. But I’ve never heard anyone discuss: “what are we guarding when we use guard?” Why do I think this is an important question? I think it’s built into the language. If I ask someone to guard my door, I’m asking them to make sure no one comes inside the house.

I’m a black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. But even though I was a successful wrestler in high school, it took me 18 years to get my black belt. Looking back, I believe part of this is because I have ADHD. Typical BJJ multi-step move of the day type instruction does not work for me. Now that I’m a black belt I spend a lot of time thinking about simple, general principles that I actually do remember.

I’m a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) and I have ADHD. It took me 18 years to get my black belt even with a strong wrestling background. When I look back on my BJJ journey, I think a lot of it comes down to the standard “move of the day” style of teaching not resonating with me. For one thing, my ADHD brain only remembers a maximum of 3 steps.

I’m a 46 year old black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. One of my reasons for writing this is I have ADHD (as I suspect a lot of us do), and so I constantly struggle with traditional BJJ “move of the day” type instruction. So I’m trying to look for key concepts I can remember when I forget the 17 step combo I was just taught 5 minutes ago. Today’s concept is:

My dad spent 3 months in Japan in 1964 and got his judo black belt from the Kodokan – the mother ship of Judo schoools – going from white to black belt in 3 months. I’m not sure if this is the fastest anyone has ever done this, but I figure it makes a nice story that folks might be interested in, and it dawned on me that time is running out to see if there is anyone still alive who might have personal knowledge to fill in the gaps that I don’t know.