Video Of My Rubber Guard Problems

[Brandon Mccaghren]

Just one additional note: I find that hugging my knee gives me extra flexibility. By hugging the knee you force your hip to engage more fully, which in turn relieves pressure off the knee.

Pulling the foot is pulling the end of a lever, which ultimately stresses the knee joint in an unnatural way. Stretching is awesome and can stop that from being terribly problematic. But when you hug the knee you engage your flexibility above the fulcrum, before the lever even begins, and in a joint that is made to work in all directions. Think about the anatomy of the knee vs the anatomy of the hip. The hip is surrounded by muscle and is a ball and socket joint. The knee itself is virtually devoid of muscle and is made to work in one direction. I want my rubber guard to be built around my hips.

[Cody Kietzman]

I can't wait to see Eddie review this (not being condescending)

[Jeremy "The Gerbil" Arel]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I've been working on my flexibility a good bit but it's leading me into problems, mainly with that first transition into Mission Control. I know I want the palm facing me, but when I throw up my leg it only goes half way up the back I have to reach my hand over the back to get it and it's easier to reach over the back palm away, this is leaving me in "Shitty Mission Control".

Once I'm in this position and their weight/posture is broken down it's difficult to switch it because their body is occupying the space where my elbow should be. Then I'm forced to transition out of there with an inferior position. I'll keep working on it.

Jon and I talked at lunch and he said I'm setting it up with my hips in to close and I should hip out first. I'm going to give this a go and we'll see if that can compensate for some of my sub par flexibility while I continue stretching.

He also mentioned the Duda. This is a submission that I'm familiar with.

As for the Omoplata stacking thing, I'll look into it. I'm predominately a bottom player and I dont have issues being stacked (or have issues as a result of a stack).

thanks for all the feedback guys, this will give me some stuff to work on.

lastly it is important for me to point out that Jon has not had an opportunity to work with me on the Rubber Guard and my shitty Rubber Guard is in no way a reflection of his ability to teach.

thanks guys!

[Chris Herzog]

Just one additional note: I find that hugging my knee gives me extra flexibility. By hugging the knee you force your your hip to engage more fully, which in turn relieves pressure off the knee.

Pulling the foot is pulling the end of a lever, which ultimately stresses the knee joint in an unnatural way. Stretching is awesome and can stop that from being terribly problematic. But when you hug the knee you engage your flexibility above the fulcrum, before the lever even begins, and in a joint that is made to work in all directions. Think about the anatomy of the knee vs the anatomy of the hip. The hip is surrounded by muscle and is a ball and socket joint. The knee itself is virtually devoid of muscle and is made to work in one direction. I want my rubber guard to be built around my hips.

Well said Brandon! In addition to what Brandon just mentioned, a detail thats help me (I'm a heavy weight that plays Rubber Guard as well) I find its important to curl the toes of my leg thats on top in my Mission Control, back towards my knee, this engages the peroneal tendon which gives strength to the knee rather than weakening it.

[Harry Evans]

My thoughts:

First, as has been said, big props for having a black belt, yet allowing yourself to be a student at times. First obvious thought: Always use the far hand to grip the leg, not the close one, and grip it with palm facing you, below your wrist so that you don't need wrist strength to maintain. You've got it about right at 1:37, but again, further down the wrist.

At 1:45 and on, you say you can't keep your elbow low. Try hipping out to your right (so you face left more), so that your right leg has a better angle on the shoulder. Always go for this angle. Then, your foot is further across and down, so you can grip it deeper, which allows the muay thai plum style grip. Notice that at this point, your right leg is near the mat, halfway to being killed, which is the opposite of what you want. 2:08 is another perfect example of this mistake. The feet crossing probably stems from this as well.

Taking a zombie first is not only acceptable, it's ideal. A good grappler will know to fight your zombie, so if you can jump straight to a free "New York", it's WAY easier then fighting through the whole path. I start here more often than not, by either threatening lapel chokes like you did, or getting the arm on the mat with a flower/pendulum sweep.

Play with more triangle setups. Your triangle looks great, and the openings are EVERYWHERE with RG.

If your hand gets stuck halfway through a zombie, try learning the crocs and swim move (armbar setups), and especially the duda! (when it's legal)

Thanks for jumping on the forum. I can't wait to see what another traditionally trained black belt will come up with as he plays with the system!

[Brandon Mccaghren]

Jon and I talked at lunch and he said I'm setting it up with my hips in to close and I should hip out first.

He's completely right.

[Eddie Bravo]

Brandon pretty much nailed it.

Jon Helton is quite knowledgeable with the rubber guard, he should be able to tweak your rg in the right direction.

The main thing I noticed was after you zombied dude's arm with your right arm you didn't hug your knee, you used your right arm to underhook your right leg. I never do that. Not saying that there's nothing there, just saying I just hug the shit out of my right knee with my right arm. Use your left arm to clear his neck and then you're in chill dog. Then you need to hit the kung fu move with your left arm and wha lah, you're in jiu claw (the oma plata position)

There's soooooooo much to learn and master, keep at it, you won't regret it

[Jon Helton]

I would prefer you guys give Jeremy extremely bad advice. He submitted me with a wrist lock today.... a freakin wrist lock. The last think I need is for him to learn rg.

Prof. Arel, we will be moving into rg curriculum again in July. It's pretty convenient for you that 10th Planet Charlotte is located at your school.

[Jeremy "The Gerbil" Arel]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I worked on some of it tonight and I'm having more success already. I think one of the issues that I was having is that I prefer a lot of loop chokes, armbars and kimuras from closed guard. I know that Rubber Guard transitions very well into Omoplatas but I've been trying to avoid going down that pathway to really get the feel of Rubber Guard.

Tonight was No gi and I did use the Rubber Guard, the Kung Fu Move and Jew Claw to set up my Omoplatas. It made the Rubber Guard significantly better in my opinion. I'm just not a big Omoplata guy. Although I do use them much more in No gi than in the kimono. I think I'm going to enjoy the next couple of months playing that.

Secondly Jon Helton is telling half truths. I wrist locked him twice in a row (same one, same setup). This was after he pulled a slick move off while flow rolling. But hey...who's counting (I mean besides me).

[Jeremy "The Gerbil" Arel]

and in case you didnt know, I'm joking about the counting taps thing.