POSITIONBOTTOM

Half Guard

Sources and other names

Also called: half, half guard, half guard bottom, half guard passing, half guard smash, half guard top position

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69 gi · 72 no-gi

Start with the example · Playing bottom

Half guard is one trapped leg and a whole fight over what happens above it. Coaches keep saying the same thing about the bottom: the main game runs through the underhook — win it and you have sweeps, back takes, and wrestle-ups; lose it and you're just holding a leg while they pass.

The chapter

The bottom position really has two modes with opposite jobs: the underhook closes distance and takes you into their base, the knee shield makes distance and keeps them off you. Knowing which mode you're in matters more than any individual technique.

For the top player the position is a pinning problem before it's a passing problem. A half guard player on their side is dangerous; the same player with their shoulders flat is mostly just waiting. Everything the top player does — crossface, underhook, hip pressure — serves that one goal first.

Playing bottom

Everything here starts with getting on your side and winning the underhook — flat on your back with their crossface set, none of the rest of this list exists.

1Hip escape, then win the underhook
Escape your hips out first, get on your side, and only then pummel your arm under theirs. The underhook is a product of the hip movement — reaching for it while flat just feeds them your arm.
WhenThe moment you land in half guard, before their crossface settles — and again every time they whizzer it back out. This is the fight the whole position is named after.
2Take the back off the underhook
With the underhook won, pull them forward so their weight loads onto their hands, slide your body underneath, and climb toward back control.
WhenTheir hands hit the mat. Two posted hands means their legs are light and there's nothing guarding the space behind them.
3Knee lever, or butterfly hook
If their free knee is on the mat, put your foot on the outside of it and lever it away to dump them over. If they lift that knee, the lever dies — but a butterfly hook slots straight into the space it leaves.
WhenWatch their free knee. On the floor: knee lever. Off the floor: butterfly hook. It's one decision with two answers, and they can't hide the knee in both places.
4Knee shield when you need distance
Slide your top knee across their torso so the shin frames their chest or hip. You trade attacking connection for breathing room and a wall against the knee cut.
WhenThey're winning the pressure fight and the underhook isn't there — the shield buys you the space to rebuild. It's a big enough game that it gets its own chapter.
5Dive under to deep half
Come off your side facing them, swing your legs around their trapped leg, and pull yourself deep underneath their hips so their base is stacked on top of you.
WhenThey kill your underhook or lift their hips to pressure in — their weight leaving the mat is your invitation underneath. Deep half gets its own chapter too.

Also worth knowing

Kimura on the top armWhenTheir top arm hangs loose or posts while they fight your underhook — the figure four is sitting on it.
Forklift sweep against the whizzerWhenThey whizzer your underhook hard — put both arms through the same hole, load them up, and lift.
Octopus guard when they're too strongWhenYou can't out-pummel them for the underhook — go under the armpit instead of through it.
Half butterfly when the shield won't fitWhenYou're being crushed and there's no room to insert a knee shield — the hook needs less space.

Why you keep failing here

“I keep ending up flat on my back getting smashed.”
WhyYou lost the crossface war. A flattened bottom half guard with their underhook and crossface in is, in a commentator's words, ideal for passing — your legs are holding a position your shoulders already conceded.
FixFight the crossface before it lands and keep the bottom shoulder off the mat. Once the arm is past your face, you're not playing half guard anymore — you're waiting.
“Every time I shoot the underhook, they shut it down.”
WhyGood opponents rotate the near shoulder forward, which closes the path to the hip before your arm ever arrives — you're losing the race, not the technique.
FixStop re-running the same pummel and change address: go under to octopus guard, or switch to the knee shield and play the distance game instead.
“I can hold half guard all round, but I never sweep anyone.”
WhyYou're attacking a based, settled opponent. Every sweep in this chapter needs their weight in motion first, and a static half guard gives them no reason to move.
FixOff-balance before you attack: pull them forward, lever the knee, threaten the back — make them post, then take whatever the post exposes.
“I get guillotined every time I come up on the underhook.”
WhyYou're rising head-first. Coming up bent forward with the underhook leaves your neck hanging in front of them, and leaning over the head is exactly the counter they're waiting on.
FixKeep your head glued tight to their body on the underhook side as you climb, and posture up as part of the movement instead of after it.
“They pin my arms and I feel completely dead down there.”
WhyYour upper body is stuck — but the position runs on hips, and a pinned pair of arms doesn't pin your hips.
FixMove what still works: hip escape, hip in, hip back out. The lower body restarts the fight your arms lost.