Is 1/4 Guard Too Vulnerable to Leg Locks?

I haven't invested in a 1/4 guard game, but I really like the idea of being able to have game from there. However, with leg locks on the rise, I worry about investing the position because I fear it's too vulnerable to good leg-lockers. Is this a legitimate concern, or am I ignorant? Any constructive feedback would be great.

Its an important transitional position to learn for sure at the least. I do believe Eddie has some materiel on MTS about avoiding the leg locks from there. Its generally possible to prevent them if your savey, but as someone who has wrecked a ton of great guys by using a quarter guard killer game, I'll say its a legit concern. Even Eddie says used to be very vulnerable there but he has patched that whole for the most part.

I'm not overly familiar with Eddies style of quarter guard, so I'm interested to hear from someone more experienced with the 10th Planet quarter guard! I have studied a lot of Lucas Leite's game though and he will do a few things to prevent the backstep...

Firstly the grips: underhooking the far leg, rather than the body
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA5mltcbQv0

Pulling the opponents weight forward and/or knee bumping them forward. Note the raised shin left lagging after the knee bump right up until Leite swings it back down creating momentum to transition to dogfight.


This raised shin means if they backstep at best you can take the back/truck/rear clinch. Usually Leite can threaten the crab ride and potentially create a scramble to the back or at least recover half or reset to seated guard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCFlGkdKxaY

Lots of ways to counter the quarter guard killers from 1/4 guard, just like there are counters to everything else. 1/4 Z-Guard is one of the simplest options. I thrive in 1/4 and its a staple of my game.

Thanks, I'm going to start investing in it then. Didn't want to put my time into something that was countered by something that's becoming so prevalent.

Originally Posted by Chris Herzog

Lots of ways to counter the quarter guard killers from 1/4 guard, just like there are counters to everything else. 1/4 Z-Guard is one of the simplest options. I thrive in 1/4 and its a staple of my game.

I'm having trouble finding anything on 1/4 Z other than MTS 82 and 83, and those don't talk much about 1/4 Z, it just shows a sweep form there. Is there anything that goes into depth about entries form standing/kneeling, retention, control, etc.?

Am I right in thinking it depends on whether you are up on your leglocks? Zog thrives in 1/4 guard, not surprised by that one bit

One of my coaches, Matt Skaff, uses 1/4 a LOT and he's a leg lock guru.
If it were overly vulnerable to leg lock counters, I doubt he'd use it, but I'd like to hear his thoughts on the subject =)

You are definitely vulnerable to leg attacks there, but its not a one way street. There are plenty of counters to the entries from there. Also, remember, the clinch shuts everything down

Originally Posted by sean applegate

You are definitely vulnerable to leg attacks there, but its not a one way street. There are plenty of counters to the entries from there. Also, remember, the clinch shuts everything down

100% The clinch shuts it all down! 1/4 guard and 1/4 Z are very effective and efficient positions to work from. You have to be able to make it through many fires along the way to shut many options down like chokes and leg attacks. These positions are not for the faint hearted or for the easily discouraged. But....... If you do go there every day, sooner or later you'll be ready for anything from 1/4 or 1/4 Z.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable everywhere especially here.