Kimura from Bottom Half Guard

[tallgeese]

Half guard is one of those positions that have under gone several evolutions in the short history of modern jiu jitsu. It's gone from a stop gap measure to prevent the pass to an offensive option and everything in between. It's true that some situations can present a problem, for instance, in practical self defense and MMA the bottom half guard can be a horrible position to be in. That said, evolution is always happening and the advent of the shield position in conjunction with proper body position has mitigated this shortcoming.

Still, it's a position we must be keenly aware of and capable of tactics from. Here, we look at the Kimura attack:

So, who here has watched the evolution of this position? Who likes it and in what form? Has your perceptions of the position changed over time? What drove those changes?

[sensei8]

As always, excellent tutorial, Alex; thanks for sharing it!!

[TJ-Jitsu]

My perceptions of positions changed numerous times. I find that most people make statements in what's good or bad based on how they are in this circumstances.

For example everyone's heard the statement: "you never want to go to the ground in a fight." Well the guy saying this to typically doesn't know how to fight on the ground- so it makes sense.

Then there is "guard is not a good position to be in during a fight." Says the guy that doesn't know how to fight from guard...

Likewise with half guard. Watch rani yhahya fight half guard against chase Bebe and you'll see a clinic of how to sweep a wrestler with great base in 3 seconds.

The point is I've come to find that most of these statements are relative- depends on who's doing the position and who they're doing it against.

My own personal discovery? Butterfly guard. That's the missing link in most people's game in modern day mma. I used to think it wasnt practical, but that's the most effective guard for modern day mma.... Provided you know how to use it. Most guys stay on their back and take a beating because of bad habits in jiujitsu tournies, or because they have t worked that game in particular enough