X-guard is a very effective guard popularized in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) by Marcelo Garcia. You enter the X-guard when your opponent is standing or attempting to pass your guard, getting underneath them and using both your legs to control one of their legs. It’s particularly useful for sweeping opponents and has recently become popular for opening up attacks on the lower body. There are several sweeps you can do from X-guard that we’ll explain in the article. You’ll see their versatility and understand why X guard is so widely used in this great grappling art.
Basic X-Guard Sweep Sweeping Methods
Single Leg X-Guard Sweep
In X-guard, control your opponent’s near leg with one leg hooked behind their knee and the other pushing on their hip. Wrap one arm around their ankle and use your other to grip their sleeve and keep them from clearing your foot. Push on their hip and bring them to the ground.
Back Take from X-Guard
With your opponent leaning heavily on their near leg, grab their ankle and, if needed, switch it to the other side of your head to blog the knee. Grab their far ankle and use your legs to push their body into the air on top of you and grab their collar. Wrap your leg around and use your foot to lock their ankle.
Technical Stand Up Sweep
From the X-guard, make sure your hips are not on the ground, and hang on your opponent’s leg. Extend your leg and as your opponent tries to reestablish their base, grab their knee and use your other arm to pop up first to your elbow and to your hand. Make your technical stand up and pull your opponent backward.
Far Leg Sweep
From your back with one leg wrapped inside your opponent’s far leg and the other on the outside, grab their ankle or pants. Lift up and push their knee down with your legs. Once their knee is down, sit straight up and drive forward into a dominant position as your other arms come around their free leg.
Directional Sweeps from X-Guard
You can sweep someone in four directions: away from you, toward you, left, and right. If your opponent is heavily blocking one direction, you need to know how to take them in the opposite direction.
Sweeping Opponents Away from You
To sweep your opponent away from the X-guard, push them away, switching to a technical stand-up sweep with their leg on your shoulder. If they attempt to drive toward you, grab their far ankle with your free hand, extend your hips, and buckle their leg.
Sweeping Opponents Towards You and Over You
When your opponent steps toward you, grab their ankle, extend your hips, and push them away. Then, come to the top while controlling their ankles or feet.
Sweeping Opponents to Your Left or Right
If your opponent has a stable base but shifts their weight onto their heels you can drop the foot from behind the knee to their ankle and pull in the direction opposite your underhooking arm. At the same time use your top leg to pull their hip and knee toward your underhooking arm to drop them to their butt.
How to Maintain Control and Attack in X-Guard
X-Guard Control Techniques
A big part of why X-guard is popular is how it allows you to control your opponent. As covered above, you can move them in whatever direction you like and, on top of that, many traditional passes do not work well against the X-guard. Control their posture using your shins to rotate their knees out. You want their other leg on your shoulder, not on your bicep, to control their close knee.
Maintain a grip on their knee and maintain pressure on their rotated knee to force them off balance until they put their hands on the floor. Always be pushing on their legs, teeter tottering them to keep mess up their balance and keeping them from passing. Above all, move quickly and immediately go on the offensive and apply a submission.
Utilizing X-Guard for Leg Locks and Submissions
Transitioning from X-Guard to Lower Body Attacks
If you hone your ability to secure X-guard, you will be able to achieve a position where it is almost impossible for opponents to attack your legs. It’s also a great position from which you can go for various leg locks like the knee bar, toe hold, ankle lock, and heel hook. The Single leg X (aka ashi garami) is especially important for doing lower body attacks. You should spend time in practice developing a system of transitioning from single-leg X-guard into these submissions. It will drastically upgrade your ability to go on the offense.
Here are a few other things to consider when transitioning into submissions from X-guard:
- Keep constant pressure on your opponent’s leg to prevent them from escaping or countering.
- Practice fluid transitions from X-Guard until your movements are seamless.
- Act quickly, using leverage and timing to minimize your opponent’s chance of escape.
- Constantly apply pressure to maintain control over their leg.
- Break your opponent’s posture before attempting transitions to leg attacks.
- Keep your hips off the ground and push against your opponent to keep them on the defensive.
Conclusion
The X-guard is a favorite position among Brazilian Jiu Jitsu royalty. It is incredibly hard to counter because once you secure it, you can easily control your opponent’s posture and disrupt their balance, revealing opportunities to sweep them in almost any direction. Because X-guard opens up avenues for transitioning into lower body attacks and submissions, it has great strategic value in both competition and training. By mastering the X-guard, you can dictate the pace of a match and transition seamlessly into dominant positions or leg attacks.
