One of my absolute favorite half guard instructionals isn’t on anyone’s radar anymore.
It came out way back when I was just a not-so wee little blue belt. And at the time, it was revolutionary because its core premise was that one of the sacred commandments of playing half guard wasn’t absolutely true.
Yup, it took the whole idea of only playing half guard on your side and threw it out with the bath water.
I remember watching it over and over.
And even now the two core techniques I learned from it form the foundation of my counters to the smash half position.
One thing that I love especially, though, is that every technique thrives on creating black holes in your opponent’s base. And that catches them off guard because technically they’re in a strong position. So their confidence is high, and in the mind, they just know that they will pass.
Then boom.
It happens.
They get swept.
Fun times.
Here’s something else interesting though:
The guy, Vince Quitugua, who made the instructional goes by the nickname of Bear, and nowadays, he’s known more what he has done off the mat than on.
Hell, he has one of the most popular gi brands in the world.
It’s hard to find someone who’s been in the game for awhile who doesn’t know what Shoyoroll is.
But he created the Lost Secrets of the Half Guard before that fame. In fact, back then, he was just a brown belt under Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano, who I only knew about because of his activity on Sherdog.
Perhaps, that’s why the instructional isn’t more well-known.
I don’t hear it talked about much.
And never once have I found someone else that has studied it either.
It’s a shame.
But if you’re a true half guardian, it should be on your list. And that’s especially true if you suffer straight up underhook theft in broad daylight all the time.
Smash half won’t seem so scary anymore.
And of course, if you want to take your education in all that half guard even further, the institute of higher half gyard learning also awaits.
Step right this way:
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