This week on Gracie Barra Blog we are looking at some techniques and strategies from the X Guard.

The X Guard works well combined with the Hook or Butterfly guards and is a must know if you want to have a complete guard game. With the increase in popularity of the no-gi and leg lock games, X Guard is especially well suited to leg lockers.

Let’s take a look at some variations of the X Guard as demonstrated by some of the best Gracie Barra black belt instructors.

Using an entry to X Guard of the hook sweep, Prof, Marcio Feitosa shows perhaps the most important of the techniques from X Guard – the sweep to the forward angle.

Prof. Marcio Feitosa uses the Spider Guard grips to enter into the X Guard and performs a sweep to the opponent’s back angle.

Gracie Barra Long Island Prof. Joe Scarola shows how he enters into a knee bar from a variation of X Guard.

If you look carefully, you can see that the configuration of the legs is reversed compared to the traditional rear leg on top of the normal X Guard. This is also an effective way to get the sweep.

This X Guard variation sweep comes direct from Gracie Barra in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. the most common X Guard has an underhook with your arm. Here Prof. Joelson does the sweep with an overhook grip.

Credits: Mark Mullen

Gracie Barra Black belt based in Asia

Instagram: markmullen.bjj