Butterfly Guard Pass

Last night was another hard training night. We learned, drilled and then rolled to oblivion. I’m not sure how long we did what we did, but what I do know is that while we were hanging out after class, there were a few guys patting themselves on the back. Whenever we train like this, we kind of revel in our endorphinary state. Proud to do what we do. “Look at me. We stopped fifteen minutes ago and I’m still dripping sweat.” July in Florida. I never thought I’d be having so much fun.

Julian went over a very nice guard pass where the passing guy controls his opponent’s inside hip with one hand and his opposing knee with the other. He walks his legs around and dives on his opponent’s stomach with his shoulder. Then, he pushes his opponent’s knee through, only to follow up with his own knee to his opponent’s hip. He ends with a cross face and a choke. Those are the only details I’ll give on this pass because it’s just stupid to try to describe something like this without photo or video. I’ll tell you though, the primary focus of this pass is the hip control. Both before and after the pass – it’s important to stop your opponent from defense by shrimp (hip escape). Since shrimping is such a common way to foil someone’s pass attempt, you need to make sure the hips are grounded.

Later on, in the advanced class, Carlos wanted to go over one of the more basic butterfly guard passes. This is a quite simple pass with not much in the way of mechanics – one that Jay Bell taught me years ago when he visited Jeff’s academy in Connecticut. I’ll post a video below. I’ll also say that this is a very high percentage pass, so if you can practice it and stick it in your bag of tricks, it’ll do you well.

Now, there are actually a few variations of this guard pass. I like the one where you have both legs of your opponent trapped between your legs, reach under to grab the opposing ankle and then slide your hips around to side control. In the video below, Kurt Osiander traps one leg, grabs the same side leg and jumps over. I slide, he jumps. Carlos jumps too, but they’re all really good. Especially if you’re fighting someone while they’re playing open guard. Taking control of one or both of their legs and stuffing them so they have no strength is a wise thing to do.

Kurt Osiander’s Move of the Week – Butterfly Guard Pass to Choke

I pretty much know all the details of this pass, so if you have questions, please ask.

During our drills and open mat last night, I worked what I said I was going to work. Although I fell victim to using my triangle a few times, I mostly stayed on track with my goal of guard defense. And to boot – I also left much of my strength behind. I found that fascinating. As I was focusing on technique, I let go much of everything else and flowed like I haven’t in months. It improved my game and let me keep my head on straight. I really enjoy “working” things as opposed to trying to win. Well, winning is good too.

I’m going to leave this here. I feel like a total zombie right now and have to get started with goals for Thursday night’s class. That means research, reading and watching. Until next time.