Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an art/sport characterised by ground fighting. More so than just being the most effective and efficient sport for groundwork, BJJ has it very own peculiar and largely unique positions to launch techniques from.

One of these is the ‘Guard’ (“do-osae” in Judo or the “body-scissors” in catch-wrestling). According to wikipedia: whilst “in the Guard, the practitioner is on their back controlling an opponent with their legs. The practitioner pushes and pulls with the thighs or feet to upset the balance and limit the movements of their opponent. This position comes into play often when an opponent manages to place the practitioner upon his or her back and the practitioner seeks the best position possible to launch counter-attacks. This is a very versatile position from which the BJJ practitioner can apply a variety of joint-locks as well as various chokes.”

Despite this succinct description the guard is not confined to wrapping ones legs around your opponent and pushing and pulling with ones legs to upset balance. There is more to it than this and the guard comes in various different guises each one prescribed its very own unique strategy and each suitable for different situations or body types.

Over the years many BJJ athletes including Ricardo Goded, Nino Schembri, Eduardo Telles, Marcio Cruz and Roberto Magalhaes have experimented with the guard and as a result many new and improved submission techniques and sweeps have evolved. They have taken the guard and revolutionized its use and practice into a whole plethora of forms that are still noted as a ‘guard’ position and whilst no means a definitive list we now have: the full/closed guard, butterfly guard, cross guard, the Ricardo ‘De la Riva’ Goded guard, the half guard, Gustavo Machado’s quarter guard, the turtle guard, Tony DeSouza’s monkey guard, Eduardo Telles variant to the turtle [the octopus guard], the open guard, Eddie Bravo’s rubber guard, the spider guard, the upsidedown guard, Marcelo Garcia’s X-guard, it’s newer named cousin the Z-guard and through the more recent work of Rubens “Cobrinha” Charles, the Mendes brothers and Ryan Hall – the 50/50 guard.

However many variables we have to drill and perfect, one common gripe amongst beginners is their general lack of flexibility at the Ilio/glutual, adductor region surrounding the hip and groin respecively and thus inhibited movements whilst attempting the aforementioned submissions and sweeps from each guard variant and or in defending subsequent guard passes.

To start 2010 off steadily here are some stretches for you to use that may help improve the dexterity of your guard, Happy New Year!