BJJ Position: Butterfly Guard

The key aspects of the butterfly guard position

1. Control: In the butterfly guard, control is established by placing both of your feet on the inside of your opponent’s thighs, creating “hooks” with your legs. This configuration allows you to elevate and off-balance your opponent effectively. Use your arms to maintain additional control by securing underhooks, overhooks, or various grips on your opponent’s upper body. It’s essential to stay active with your hips and legs, constantly adjusting your position to prevent your opponent from establishing a strong base or passing your guard.
2. Offense: The butterfly guard offers several offensive options, including sweeps, submissions, and transitions to other positions. Some common sweeps from the butterfly guard include the basic butterfly sweep, the double underhook sweep, and the single leg X sweep. The choice of attack will depend on your opponent’s reactions, posture, and the specific grips you have established. In addition to sweeps, the butterfly guard can create openings for submissions like the guillotine choke, kimura, and armbar.
3. Defense: The butterfly guard serves as a strong defensive position due to the control it provides over your opponent’s movement and the ability to off-balance and elevate them. By maintaining an active butterfly guard with effective hooks, you can effectively neutralize your opponent’s attempts to pass your guard. It’s important to stay active in the position, adjusting your grips, hip angle, and leg position as needed to maintain control and prevent your opponent from establishing a dominant position.
4. Transition: The butterfly guard can be used as a starting point for transitioning to other guard positions or setups, depending on your opponent’s reactions and your own preferences. You might transition to more specific open guard variations, such as X-guard, single leg X-guard, or De La Riva guard, or even move to closed guard or half guard positions. Developing the ability to transition smoothly between the butterfly guard and other positions can make you a more dynamic and unpredictable grappler.

In summary, the butterfly guard position is a powerful and versatile open guard variation that emphasizes control, elevating your opponent, and setting up sweeps and submissions. By focusing on these aspects, you can develop a strong butterfly guard game that can be challenging for your opponents to deal with. Remember, the key to success in the butterfly guard position is to stay active, constantly adjusting your grips, hip angle, and leg position to maintain control and create opportunities for offense while staying defensively aware.