picked up in Rubber Guard

[gene k]

If all fails, I feel you should let go. Train proper reactions so they are automatic when you're not thinking clearly.

[Craig Murray]

If all fails, I feel you should let go. Train proper reactions so they are automatic when you're not thinking clearly.

Yeah I agree. And that video is scary. You don't have a lot of time to let go, like one second from the time he lifts until the time you're KO'ed from the slam.

[Ben Eddy]

Not a lot of options for me! I can't stay on top of guys, I can't play open guard very well, and I'm not allowed to do heelhooks. At this point I only manage to survive if I'm on my back and controlling my opponent. Any other position is doom for me right now.

Quarter guard and Z-guard should be your open guard game if you're looking to end up in rubber guard. Those are the best entries. Quarter guard to lockdown to pimp hand or quarter guard to dogfight to jumping into closed. Z-guard leads to full guard in a lot of ways. You can also go Z-guard to lockdown to pimp to full if they are locking you out from going straight from Z to full.

[William Schrimsher]

Haven't commented on one of your posts in a while, Craig, glad to see you're catching some success with RG positioning.

couple of things
1. There is an immense push to "prove" that RG doesn't work, especially at a place like Lovato's even if it's not the instructors pushing that agenda. Because of that, they'll do anything they can to make you look silly, including hoisting you if you're too stubborn to let go. The angles Ben mentioned are essential, they cannot be stressed enough, even more than the foot on the hip, and I LOVE the foot on the hip.

2. RG is a tool, in a bag. You have options from there, and so you're not looking to improve your position. You already have what you want. Your opponent is looking to improve his position too, at any cost, since you have him in unfamiliar territory. That mentality is... not the greatest, overall. I'd rather improve my position until I had to pass up submissions rather than pass positions to chase submissions... if that makes sense... Them lifting you up gives you an opening beneath them, one that they should be protecting, but aren't, because they feel the risk is worth the reward. You can work on ways to pull them back down, sure, or you can accept the gift, and improve your position more. There's no wrong answer, just, how much work do you want to do?

I like letting go of RG and slipping into x guard as they hoist, it's not expected, and all of the sudden, he doesn't want to stand anymore, wants to smash again, ok, fine.

I guess I'd say get more comfortable with transitioning between sweeps and RG, and just because you don't have a game on top doesn't mean you shouldn't learn quick ways to get there, and back to RG when they sweep you.

[Craig Murray]

Haven't commented on one of your posts in a while, Craig, glad to see you're catching some success with RG positioning.

couple of things
1. There is an immense push to "prove" that RG doesn't work, especially at a place like Lovato's even if it's not the instructors pushing that agenda. Because of that, they'll do anything they can to make you look silly, including hoisting you if you're too stubborn to let go. The angles Ben mentioned are essential, they cannot be stressed enough, even more than the foot on the hip, and I LOVE the foot on the hip.

2. RG is a tool, in a bag. You have options from there, and so you're not looking to improve your position. You already have what you want. Your opponent is looking to improve his position too, at any cost, since you have him in unfamiliar territory. That mentality is... not the greatest, overall. I'd rather improve my position until I had to pass up submissions rather than pass positions to chase submissions... if that makes sense... Them lifting you up gives you an opening beneath them, one that they should be protecting, but aren't, because they feel the risk is worth the reward. You can work on ways to pull them back down, sure, or you can accept the gift, and improve your position more. There's no wrong answer, just, how much work do you want to do?

I like letting go of RG and slipping into x guard as they hoist, it's not expected, and all of the sudden, he doesn't want to stand anymore, wants to smash again, ok, fine.

I guess I'd say get more comfortable with transitioning between sweeps and RG, and just because you don't have a game on top doesn't mean you shouldn't learn quick ways to get there, and back to RG when they sweep you.

This advice makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I see what you're saying about an alternative to RG if they pick me up... find a way to make them pay for it, and they will stop doing it.

I rolled with a blackbelt for the first time this week and he was just letting me do whatever I wanted. He let me get full guard, let me break him down, and when he felt me enter mission control he picked me up. Afterward he said basically the same thing you did. His advice was grab the sleeves, drop back down to the mat, close my guard around his knees, and squeeze his legs together. IE, take advantage of what they are giving me.

Awesome advice guys, thank you! I'm off to class and hopefully I'll have a chance to experiment with some of these ideas.

[William Schrimsher]

This advice makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I see what you're saying about an alternative to RG if they pick me up... find a way to make them pay for it, and they will stop doing it.

I rolled with a blackbelt for the first time this week and he was just letting me do whatever I wanted. He let me get full guard, let me break him down, and when he felt me enter mission control he picked me up. Afterward he said basically the same thing you did. His advice was grab the sleeves, drop back down to the mat, close my guard around his knees, and squeeze his legs together. IE, take advantage of what they are giving me.

Awesome advice guys, thank you! I'm off to class and hopefully I'll have a chance to experiment with some of these ideas.

No problem. The more you get on your side, at the angle, the harder it is to be picked up as well, that's another thought.

That knee pinch sweep works at the highest levels, if your BB instructor is feeding you that, that means he probably hit it on high level people or feels vulnerable to it himself, either way, jump on it.

There's an old 10p video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4hlBJvum0E where eddie is offering troubleshooting to RG at the end (7:45) and to counter the stack, he switches to butterfly and sweep, or sweep and spiderweb. Don't hold on to a worsening position, is no good juju.

[JorgenBore]

This may be an option as well. The air pump.