The best 3 Moves for Guard Retention

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The Newsletter from the Bulletproof For BJJ boys JT & Joey, to give you the insights you need to have a better BJJ life. .

The 3 Best Moves for Guard Retention: The Big 3
Technique of the Week: How to Big 3
Community Spotlight: The Great All Rounder
The Audio Hook Up: New QnA videos

The 3 Best Moves For Guard Retention

Guard retention is one of the most under rated and least worked skill sets within BJJ. The under lying problem isn't just technical, as guard retention is a blend of many principled concepts. It is actually that most people lack the physical ability to move in the necessary way to stop their guard from getting passed.

Core strength is a key component for a good guard. If you do not have a high degree of hip mobility your access to inverted positions, use leg pummelling and tolerating being stacked and squashed will be out of reach. In order for you to be able to practice these higher level skills of Guard defence and maintenance you need to practice the basic movements that will make it possible.

Enter the BIG 3!

We have identified the best 3 moves that you can do every day that will unlock your hips for better BJJ. They address 3 of the 4 major walls of the hip: the anterior (front) The medial (Inner thigh) and the Posterior (The back side) The other great thing about these movements is that they can be used both as warm up to prepare for rolling and as cool down after class for quicker recovery to feel less sore the next day.

1. Kneeling Wall Stretch ( Hip Flexors + Quadriceps)

2. Frog Stretch (Adductors + Hamstrings)

3. Elevated Pigeon (Glute Max and Upper Hamstrings)

In the video below Joey explains how to approach each movement and how long to hold each position. If you really struggle with playing guard and maintaining your defences off your back The BIG 3 will have you moving better in only a matter of weeks! Try them out and let us know how you go.

JEROME ELSON

Academy: Arte Suave

Started BJJ: 2014

Belt Rank: Purple

What year did you start BJJ? 2014.

Who or What got you introduced to BJJ?

Watching MMA and not understanding how people were getting submitted. It made me super curious, and I just never stopped.

What was your training/ martial arts experience before you started BJJ?

Plenty of sports: Soccer, cricket, basketball, swimming, rowing etc but no martial arts.

Have you had any major setbacks or injuries on your BJJ journey?

No. However, I was very de-conditioned starting BJJ in my late 20s after not playing any sport after university, full-time work and then starting a family. I was about 15kgs heavier than I should have been when I started. Bjj itself helped me lose the weight, but as I became more skilful through the belts, I found I put the weight back on and my movement became restricted once again.

How has Bulletproof for BJJ helped you?

It has significantly increased recovery to allow multiple training sessions on consecutive days which has increased weigh loss and learning pace. Being in my mid-30s I found soreness was preventing me from training as much as I wanted. I have also witnessed increased flexibility which I never previously had before.