Let’s talk about a problem that I experienced often while playing underhook half coming up through the ranks.
One of the first lessons I ever learned for half guard was that I had to always fight for the underhook. I was a good student (in this at least), so I paid attention and implemented it in practice.
I was relentless about that battle too. If you tried to beat me on the underhook, I had no problems with just sitting there and fighting you for it the whole match. I REFUSED to lose that battle.
But then I started to run into guys who didn’t care about the underhook. Hell, they even wanted me to get it.
In my academy, there was a guy like that. In the past, I have spoken about him. He’s the guy who taught me how effective the ezekiel choke is. But he never explained it to me. No. He demonstrated it, by choking me over and over and over again.
He especially loved to let me get the underhook. Then he would smother me and like a snake, he would slither his hand inside for the choke. He was not kind about it AT ALL either.
Lesson learned?
The underhook isn’t everything.
There is more to playing the position than getting it, but I also learned how you get the underhook matters.
I talk about all the small adjustments you can make to improve your position in my half guard course, but in the past, I also taped a short lesson on an entry you can use in the gi to absolutely dominate.
(And you’ll also learn one of the attacks that forms the foundation of the underhook half guard game.)
Learn it here: