x guard

The x-guard is an open guard where one of the combatants is standing up and the other is on their back. The bottom combatant uses the legs to entangle one of the opponent's legs, which creates opportunities for powerful sweeps. The x-guard is often used in combination with butterfly and half guard. In a grappling match, this is an advantageous position for the bottom combatant, but in general hand-to-hand combat, the top combatant can attack with stomps or soccer kicks. This having been said, skilled use of the X guard can prevent the opponent from attempting a kick, or throw them off balance should they raise a leg. The X-guard was popularised by Marcelo Garcia

Get Ur X-Guard On

The very first time I saw 'X-guard' in action was in 2003 in Brazil when Marcelo Garcia made grappling history by defeating my then student Otto Olsen in the championship round of ADCC. Allthough it was dissapointing to lose that match, I did recognize the very slick technique of Marcelo.