BJJ Lesson 10: The High Leg In Guard Retention - Foundations Of Guard Retention
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the 'high leg' technique in guard retention, a popular method from Lachlan Giles and RxBC. It emphasizes using the high leg as the primary guard retention tool, leveraging distance and foot framing. The script illustrates how to recompose guard by crossing legs and maintaining connection, using the hips and legs to control the opponent's movement. It also covers the importance of multiple frames for redundancy and safety, highlighting the technique's effectiveness in both reactive and preemptive scenarios to maintain guard and transition to offense.
Takeaways
- π€ΌββοΈ The 'high leg' technique is a primary method for guard retention in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, often used to maintain control from a distance.
- π The high leg involves a crossover movement of the leg to recompose guard position and prevent the opponent from passing.
- π¦Ώ Utilizing the feet as frames and maintaining a knee-elbow connection is crucial for a strong guard.
- π« Beginners often struggle with the high leg due to a lack of flexibility or incorrect hip positioning.
- πͺ Generating base from the hips rather than the floor is essential for successfully executing the high leg.
- π The technique allows for both preemptive and reactive use, depending on the opponent's movements.
- π‘οΈ The high leg serves as both a defensive 'shield' and an offensive 'spear', controlling space and allowing for counterattacks.
- π€ΈββοΈ Flexibility can aid in the high leg technique, but it's more important to use multiple frames and leverage for success.
- π The high leg can be used in various scenarios, not just in response to a leg drag, but also to proactively maintain guard.
- π After executing the high leg, it's important to maintain strong grips and knee-elbow connections to avoid being re-dragged by the opponent.
Q & A
What is the high leg technique in guard retention?
-The high leg technique, also known as the high polo, is a guard retention method used in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It involves using the legs as levers to maintain control over an opponent from a distance, allowing the practitioner to use their feet as frames.
Who are Lachlan Giles and RxBC?
-Lachlan Giles and RxBC are notable figures in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community. Lachlan Giles is a high-level competitor and instructor, and RxBC refers to the 'Ricardo Barros Borges' Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu team, which is known for its guard retention techniques.
What is the significance of the knee-elbow connection mentioned in the script?
-The knee-elbow connection is crucial for maintaining a strong guard in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It provides a stable base and allows the practitioner to control their opponent's movement while keeping their own body protected.
How does the high leg technique help in controlling the inside space?
-The high leg technique helps control the inside space by allowing the practitioner to track their opponent's movements with their legs and maintain a connection that blocks the opponent's progress towards the practitioner's centerline.
What is the purpose of lifting the hip during the high leg technique?
-Lifting the hip during the high leg technique is done to create an arcing direction with the leg, which helps the practitioner to swing around and block their opponent's attempts to pass their guard. It also helps to generate base off of the opponent rather than the floor.
Why is it important to maintain a strong leg press alignment during the high leg technique?
-Maintaining a strong leg press alignment is important because it provides the practitioner with a stable base and strong posture, reducing the risk of injury and allowing them to effectively control their opponent's movements.
What is the role of flexibility in executing the high leg technique?
-Flexibility plays a role in the high leg technique by allowing the practitioner to externally rotate their hip and place their foot in a position that helps maintain the guard. However, the script emphasizes the importance of using multiple frames and not relying solely on flexibility to avoid injury.
How does the high leg technique differ from a leg drag?
-The high leg technique is not just a response to a leg drag; it can be used preemptively or reactively to block an opponent's progress towards the practitioner's side. It is a proactive measure to maintain guard retention rather than a mere reaction to an opponent's move.
What is meant by 'multiple frames' in the context of guard retention?
-In guard retention, 'multiple frames' refers to using various body parts such as the legs, arms, and hips to create a stable and redundant structure that can maintain control over the opponent even if one frame is compromised.
Why is it important to maintain knee-elbow connection while performing the high leg technique?
-Maintaining the knee-elbow connection while performing the high leg technique ensures that the practitioner remains connected to their opponent and can effectively block their movements, even as they switch or adjust their leg positioning.
How does the high leg technique transition into offensive moves in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
-The high leg technique can transition into offensive moves by keeping the opponent in front and maintaining control over the centerline. This allows the practitioner to use their foot as a 'spear' to poke and control the opponent while keeping them at bay with the 'shield' of their guard.
Outlines
π€ΌββοΈ High Leg Guard Retention Technique
The first technique discussed for guard retention in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the high leg, also known as the high polo. This method is highlighted as a popular term from Lachlan Giles and RxBC in the 'Guard Retention Anthology'. The high leg serves as the primary guard retention tool, allowing practitioners to maintain distance and use their feet as frames. The speaker demonstrates how to recompose the guard by using hip movements and leg crossovers to maintain connection and block potential passes. The importance of knee and elbow connections for stability and blocking is emphasized, as well as the need for a strong base to prevent injury. The speaker also discusses the use of flexibility and external rotation of the hip as supplementary tools, but cautions against relying solely on them due to the risk of injury. The concept of multiple frames and redundancy is introduced to ensure a strong and secure guard.
π‘οΈ Advanced Guard Retention with High Leg and Preemptive Strategies
The second paragraph delves deeper into the high leg guard retention technique, focusing on the mechanical soundness of having multiple frames and the use of the partner for base generation. It illustrates how to lift the hip just enough to facilitate the high leg crossover without exposing oneself to being flipped over. The speaker addresses the importance of not overextending the hip and maintaining a strong connection with the opponent. Various scenarios are discussed, including how to handle a solid frame when trying to highlight and the strategic use of the low leg to expedite the process. The paragraph also covers the transition from reactive to preemptive guard retention, using the high leg not just as a response to a leg drag but as a proactive measure to maintain guard and control. The analogy of a shield and a spear is used to explain how to block the opponent's progress and maintain an offensive stance, emphasizing the need for strong grips and knee-elbow connections to ensure effectiveness.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Guard Retention
π‘High Leg
π‘Headlights
π‘Legs as Levers
π‘Crossover of the Leg
π‘Leg Press Alignment
π‘Sticky Butterfly Hook
π‘Hip Lift
π‘Multiple Frames
π‘Pre-emptive Highlight
Highlights
Introduction to the high leg technique in guard retention, also known as high polo has, popularized by Lachlan Giles and RxBC.
The high leg serves as a primary guard retention tool, effective at a distance, using feet as frames.
Demonstration of how to recompose guard by performing hip movements and leg crossovers to maintain connection.
The importance of a knee-elbow connection for stability and blocking during guard retention.
Technique to track the opponent's movement by engaging the leg on one side of their body.
The sticky butterfly hook as a method to maintain guard retention.
How to use the strong leg press alignment to support against the opponent's drive.
The concept of using the opponent's pressure to facilitate the high leg technique.
The mechanics of lifting the hip to create an arcing direction with the leg for blocking.
The significance of hip movement and turning to face the opponent for successful guard retention.
The risk of injury when relying solely on flexibility without proper hip movement.
The necessity of having multiple frames for redundancy and structural strength in guard retention.
How to use the shin and hand on the opponent's biceps to maintain guard even with a lower head position.
The importance of positioning the ankle, knee, and hip correctly to avoid injury during the high leg technique.
Different methods of re-composing guard using the high leg, such as hooking the foot on the outside of the shin or on the hip.
The high leg technique as a preemptive measure to block the opponent's movement before they can penetrate.
The analogy of using a shield and a spear to explain the offensive and defensive aspects of guard retention.
The high leg technique's role in transitioning into the maintenance phase of setting up actual guards.
The necessity of maintaining knee-elbow connection while performing the high leg technique for effectiveness.
Transcripts
[Music]
okay the first technique that we're
going to talk about in garb retention is
the high leg
it's also known as the high polo has
been quite popular as a term from
uh lachlan giles and rxbc from the guard
retention anthology which is an
excellent instructional yeah
so the highlight is going to be your
primary
guard retention because we're able to
use this at a a good distance where
we're able to use our feet as frames
here
so right now i have rod in my headlights
i have a nice knee elbow connection
as rob starts to redirect my legs across
the center line
he's accessed my legs as levers this is
pretty crappy guard right now
but what i'm able to do is perform a
movement with my hips and a crossover of
my leg
to be able to bring my leg over to the
other side of his body
to recompose the headlights in the sense
that now i still have connection to rob
on either side or at least something
ready to block them so one
with the strong leg press alignment if
rob drives into me i'm able to actually
support this
and then if he moves around to his left
i'm able to track him by having this leg
engaged on this side of his body with
like a
sticky butterfly hook kind of here with
the shoelaces on my foot
or a frame it's going to be kind of
dependent on the situation
and because i have his foot over to the
other side of his body rob can move
around to his right
i'm able to track him my arms are always
here knee elbow connection ready to
block at the shins ready to block the
biceps depending on the situation
so now i'm able to bring my legs back
over to get my guard back so i'm able to
control
the inside space really important that
rob as the passer here is actually
trying to move in
realistically how guard passer would rob
just kind of like throws my legs off the
side from here
i don't really have to do anything i
just bring my legs back in this is
something that's really difficult for
people at the very beginning
is that you need a partner that actually
moves in
rob's putting that pressure in and as
he's stepping in he's
actually starting to penetrate through
with his knee here
while this is what he wants to do this
is also what gives me the proper
position to be able to work this more
realistically because i'm able to now
curl my leg
into his quad here to start lifting my
hip
so i'm generating bass off of rob here
not the floor necessarily
here i'm able to lift my hip so now i
can start kicking
my knee up towards my chest to create an
arcing direction with my leg
to swing myself around and block here
notice how my hip lifts
notice how my hips turn to face rob here
this is what's going to make all the
difference
if my hip stays flat i'm probably not
going to be able to
circle past you can see how this frame
is just going to trap me here by lifting
i can go outside the range of his arm
and how it can follow me
and it also allows me to recompose that
angle because something that people will
do a lot
and we do it to an extent is we'll use
flexibility and external rotation the
hip
so if rob drops down a lot here and i
don't move my hips very much
i might be inclined to try and do
something like this and now if
i'm not warmed up and if i don't have
other supplementary furniture one it
might not be successful but if rob
dropped a lot of weight on me right now
oh jesus if i'm not able to comfortably
put my
up to my chest i'm at risk of hurting
imagine somebody
at the leg press at the gym starting to
set themselves up on the machine like
this
i'm bringing out my phone because this
is going to be awful to watch
by composing that angle i want to make
sure that my ankle
is in good positioning with my knee good
positioning with my hip so that as i've
lifted myself up here
if rob drove into me i have strong
posture strong base into the ground and
strong
structure so i'm strong i'm not at risk
of hurting myself
yeah this is why when we talk about
having multiple frames
and having some redundancy to that
that's why that's so important if rory
goes to leg drag me and i rely on
just my flexibility and i put my foot in
something i bring your shoulder down
i put myself here oh man my knee is
about to explode
but if i rely on my shin my hand on his
biceps
now even if i did have like you lower
your head quite a bit even if i did have
to rely on my flexibility
i'm keeping the majority of rory's
weight in my left hand
and my left shin and so now that i've
managed to put my
right foot in here i can maybe move it
to the hip and then
center back up to a more you know for me
natural position
and don't get me wrong there are plenty
of
people for whom this is not a problem
there are plenty of people who
myself included i can when i highlight
even though i'm not super flexible this
way i'm very flexible with my hamstring
so i've got my hip on the ground right
now and i can fairly easily
bring my foot over top even if rory
brings his head down quite a bit i can
still get this leg in front of him
by virtue of my hamstring flexibility
not everyone can do that
so we want to be really aware of that
you know as a beginner depending on your
level of fitness depending on your
level of flexibility this movement where
we externally rotate our hip and put our
foot in may not be available to you
and this movement where you stick your
shin to your temple and bring your foot
may not be available to you that's why
we're emphasizing so much
this i mean for one it's just
mechanically more sound to have more
frames in the way
but it's also allowing us to mobilize
our hips using our partner for bass
so we can have that leg press alignment
that rory talked about
but it's important that we know if you
stand back up for a second
while i do want my hip to come off the
mat i don't want my hip to come
way off the mat because now
i can be flipped over we want to raise
our hip
only to the extent that it allows us
to put our you know high leg high pummel
crossover leg in place
so like in this specific scenario where
rory is if i try to do this i can't
quite make it
so i go over and i'm lifting my hips
just a little bit so that i could create
this extension
and i put my foot on him and then one
other thing that's important to note
here
is when somebody's holding your shin and
you go to raise your leg and you feel
like oh man that is just a really solid
frame when we're trying to highlight
we will then low leg so as far as like
expedience oftentimes rather than trying
to lift my hip
trying to throw this leg over just
pummeling my foot to the inside and
stepping on his chest here
will be the the easier thing to do and
the better thing to do yep
and so there are two kind of crossovers
that are happening here there's the
initial high leg in which rob has
crossed his top leg over top
and then there's going to be a switch
back where rob's going to have to bring
the legs
like this the other mistake that we see
beginners make it first
is that as rob has replaced this frame
and he's crossed over my center line
he keeps this foot here and he starts to
withdraw this leg first and we can see
how now he's put both his legs on
the other on the right side of my center
line going to be
very simple for me to re-drag the
opposite direction that i initially
started so
we got to make sure that the redundancy
of multiple frames in place
and rob's making a quick switch of the
legs
so from here before i bring my left leg
across i'm going to start to track
i mean what i can bring my biceps back
in i can start to trap to this side
get my foot on him and then i can bring
my other foot into place on the other
side
and whether he's bringing like just a
knee up to his chest or he's bringing
his leg in there kind of the hook to
control the inside space of the legs
sometimes bringing the foot to the hip
bring the foot right to the biceps or
keep them on the chest and then also
when we start looking at
transitioning right into like the
maintenance phase of setting up actual
guards at that point
i mean if you just do a high leg and you
just kind of go back to like the open
space of retention and not
being super connected to your opponent
with strong grips you're probably just
gonna have to perform another highlight
again
yeah and this is not just a reactive
tool as we mentioned with the
with the guard retention overview we
want to keep somebody here
uh you know in front of us so we can
start to become offensive
so if for instance i start with like a
bit of an open guard here and i've got
my hands on rory's biceps
and even if he hasn't laid let's say you
stand up a second
if rory starts moving to my um my right
his left
if i just have this foot up here ready
to go i don't
wait let's say until rory fully deflects
my legs and now i'm
a little bit off angle and i've got to
do it if i just make sure that
i you know one don't allow him to
control this ankle too much
so let's say rory starts to move to this
side i'm good i'm just going to put my
foot on your shoulder
and i'm going to maintain this in the
elbow connection so the analogy that
i've been using a lot recently in class
is like a shield and a spear
if rory is over here i know where he
wants to go he wants to go into this
space
rory can't pass into this space unless
he's on this side
so my shield is here if he's moving
towards me in any way
i can block him with my shield and then
i can poke him with
this spear right so as long as he can't
penetrate through this space
i can highlight sort of preemptively i
can trace him with this
my foot in this case is hooked on the
outside of his
shin so i've got this fairly strong hook
to follow him in either direction
or the example that rory was showing
earlier was up on the hip so it doesn't
specifically have to be
what we showed uh as where it's a leg
drag and then you highlight it
the highlight is not just a response to
the leg drag it's basically any
situation
where somebody is starting to get to
this side of you and you need to bring
this foot in to block and maintain your
guard
you can use it so it can be pre-emptive
it can be reactive as long as you
maintain
your knee elbow connection while you do
it it's going to be effective
[Music]
you
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