Dynamic Half Guard – Stephen Kesting

Dynamic Half Guard – Stephen Kesting

As you probably know, many top grapplers go to the Half Guard position when they face their toughest oppenents. They use the Half Guard to sweep their way into the top position or submit them from the bottom.

The difficulty for someone trying to learn the Half Guard is that it is often taught as individual techniques, without including an overall strategy of what to do.

Having an strategy in grappling is much more powerful than knowing individual techniques, for the following reasons:

• It gives you an easy way to build powerful combinations to sweep or submit your opponent
• It makes it easier to remember techniques, because they fit together in logical sequences
• It provides a framework to contextualize any new techniques you learn
• It gives you counters to your opponent’s techniques
• It provides a ‘big picture’ while grappling, so that you are never lost or confused