Best way to teach half guard to a beginner?

[Aaron C]

I have a question about teaching the half guard.

A guy at my gym asked me to go through some techniques/ sequences with him. He is pretty new to grappling (maybe 6 weeks). I would like to go through the lockdown half guard as it is not something that gets covered in class, and I do pretty decently with it.

Does anyone have any suggestions about which particular sweeps to show him and in what order? I have the MTRG book and DVD and I learned HG from there and youtube. Is teaching old school first out of date because of the darce?

Thoughts?

[David Rosado]

I have a question about teaching the half guard.

A guy at my gym asked me to go through some techniques/ sequences with him. He is pretty new to grappling (maybe 6 weeks). I would like to go through the lockdown half guard as it is not something that gets covered in class, and I do pretty decently with it.

Does anyone have any suggestions about which particular sweeps to show him and in what order? I have the MTRG book and DVD and I learned HG from there and youtube. Is teaching old school first out of date because of the darce? Thoughts?

Old school is still effective. The d'arce has been around forever and old school is still effective. Plus there are ways to defend against the d'arce while going for oldschool/plan b/electric chair/mechanic. I prefer using the mechanic to stifle a d'arce attempt and get the sweep. But yeah, old school is effective.

And to answer your original question (and I'm not being snarky), the best way to teach half guard is to have a killer half guard yourself. Know your stuff really well and it'll be easier to teach it.

[Michael Sioda]

First off old school never goes out of style. I still use it & just stay aware that I don't expose my neck - I'm also ready to abandon ship on the sweep if needed. To teach someone this stuff in a way that they can actually incorporate into their game I would highly recommend positional drilling your 1/2 guard every single time after you drill a sequence. So say on the bottom you teach 3 options:

1. whip up to old school
2. whip up to electric chair
3. whip up to dog fight.

Also teach a few passes/subs from the top:

1. No hand pass
2. Buttock compressor
3. Darce or JNT

Once you've hit your reps go a few 5 minute rounds starting from the lockdown where top guy tries to pass/submit & bottom guy tries to sweep submit. Each time a sub is reached or the position is lost (say bottom transitions to butterfly or full guard or top passes to side control) then just start over in 1/2 guard while the clock is running & repeat until your 5 mins is up. Once the timer dings switch top position. Repeat as needed.

Without drills like that I feel like all of the reps don't amount to much because once you get into a live roll the 1/2 guard position can so easily be lost by a new student that they don' get the chance to really work/struggle/find sticking points in what they just repped since it's all over so quickly. This is especially true on the bottom because the whip up needs like a zillion reps to become effective in a live roll - especially if you want to do it right & avoid serving your neck up for a JNT or darce.

[Tony "The Goods" Garcia]

First off old school never goes out of style. I still use it & just stay aware that I don't expose my neck - I'm also ready to abandon ship on the sweep if needed. To teach someone this stuff in a way that they can actually incorporate into their game I would highly recommend positional drilling your 1/2 guard every single time after you drill a sequence. So say on the bottom you teach 3 options:

1. whip up to old school
2. whip up to electric chair
3. whip up to dog fight.

Also teach a few passes/subs from the top:

1. No hand pass
2. Buttock compressor
3. Darce or JNT

Once you've hit your reps go a few 5 minute rounds starting from the lockdown where top guy tries to pass/submit & bottom guy tries to sweep submit. Each time a sub is reached or the position is lost (say bottom transitions to butterfly or full guard or top passes to side control) then just start over in 1/2 guard while the clock is running & repeat until your 5 mins is up. Once the timer dings switch top position. Repeat as needed.

Without drills like that I feel like all of the reps don't amount to much because once you get into a live roll the 1/2 guard position can so easily be lost by a new student that they don' get the chance to really work/struggle/find sticking points in what they just repped since it's all over so quickly. This is especially true on the bottom because the whip up needs like a zillion reps to become effective in a live roll - especially if you want to do it right & avoid serving your neck up for a JNT or darce.

This! Damn brotha, you're almost dropppin Jay Chow knowledge lol. I support the afformentioned posting by Mr. Sioda ;-).

[Aaron C]

First off old school never goes out of style. I still use it & just stay aware that I don't expose my neck - I'm also ready to abandon ship on the sweep if needed. To teach someone this stuff in a way that they can actually incorporate into their game I would highly recommend positional drilling your 1/2 guard every single time after you drill a sequence. So say on the bottom you teach 3 options:

1. whip up to old school
2. whip up to electric chair
3. whip up to dog fight.

Also teach a few passes/subs from the top:

1. No hand pass
2. Buttock compressor
3. Darce or JNT

Once you've hit your reps go a few 5 minute rounds starting from the lockdown where top guy tries to pass/submit & bottom guy tries to sweep submit. Each time a sub is reached or the position is lost (say bottom transitions to butterfly or full guard or top passes to side control) then just start over in 1/2 guard while the clock is running & repeat until your 5 mins is up. Once the timer dings switch top position. Repeat as needed.

Without drills like that I feel like all of the reps don't amount to much because once you get into a live roll the 1/2 guard position can so easily be lost by a new student that they don' get the chance to really work/struggle/find sticking points in what they just repped since it's all over so quickly. This is especially true on the bottom because the whip up needs like a zillion reps to become effective in a live roll - especially if you want to do it right & avoid serving your neck up for a JNT or darce.

Thanks man, very helpful response I was definitely going to work the position live afterwards, makes a big difference! I like you idea of doing it after each sequence.

I personally use old school all the time it is still probably my best sweep, I will just make sure to stress that the darce is a danger and show him the mechanic too.

Thanks guys!