Many times people ask me if I like to go to X-Guard from Half-Guard. I like X-Guard, it’s a great position, but it’s not my favorite, it’s not the one I feel the most confident and comfortable to sweep. So normally I use the X-Guard only when it happens to me, I try to not search for it too much. But that’s how BJJ works right? Maybe the best technique for me is not going to be the best for you, and your best one will not work great for me. I talked a lot about it in my last blog post (IN BJJ THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG).
But as I know that X-Guard is a very effective game, and after Marcelo Garcia crushed the World with it, using his short body and legs to defeat much bigger opponents, it became a very common style in the BJJ community. I always try to study it and understand how it works to make sure I know how to do it, how to teach it and most importantly, how to avoid it. Hehehehhe
Jonathan Satava has probably one of the best X-Guards in the Planet. He is Marcelo’s black belt (from Blue to Black), and he is the one who has the most similar game to Marcelo. Jon has won a bunch of tournaments in the lower belts like the World’s No-Gi as Purple, Pan-Ams as Brown Belt, and in the highest level he already has done a lot in a very short time. In just one year as a black belt he already won Pan-Ams No-Gi (Double Gold 2016), got second in the Worlds No-Gi and many other tittles.
Around 1 or 2 years ago, Jon started working a lot in the Half-Guard game too, trying to find more options to approach his best technique, the X-Guard. So I just filmed a video with him, where he shows how to go from “Deep Half Guard” to X-Guard in a very simple and effective way.
I would suggest to you to pay attention on how Jon uses his hooks to set up the x-guard. I normally don’t use hooks when I’m in the Deep Half Guard, I personally like more to use the lapels, but after training for over 3 years with him and Marcelo, all I can say is that hooks are super efficient too, when you are in the Deep Half Guard.
I hope you guys enjoy it.
OSSSSSSS
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