Getting back on the mat, and getting into deep half guard

So I have about ten excuses why I have been off of BJJ for the most part for about 6 months. Here is a not so comprehensive list in no particular order. Just know it was one thing after the other and not all at once, hopefully it gets the point across:

• Broken big toe (first time)
• Dual nevicular fracture (foot broken in two places)
• Another broken toe, very bad break
• Eye surgery
• A ton of other stuff I don't feel like posting on the internet
• etc...

So yeah, those are my excuses. Everything is healed up and some more personal things seem to be falling back into place. The important thing? I am back on the mat and hungry as ever! So while being away some of the guys that were new when I was in the gym have stuck around and gotten pretty tough. I come in rusty as ever and while they aren't quite crushing me they are definitely giving me a hard time! I did notice right away that one demon in particular that I was working through before my string of injuries came back to haunt me; getting caught in turtle guard.

I have identified how I am ending up there (losing a scramble) but could not find a way out. It seemed like I was doomed to be turtled up every time I rolled with no way to escape. Sure, I wasn't being submitted but I think what my opponents didn't know was that I really was kind of lost as to how to escape. So what did I do to finally crack the code? I Googled it.* I came up with a great video that demonstrates an exceptionally simple way to recover from turtle guard. The video below illustrates the simple turtle guard escape: sitting on your ass and pulling guard/half guard.

*Please note that my instructors attempted to teach me firemans carry's, peek outs, sucker drags and a bunch of other techniques every time I asked for help and I just couldn't grasp it. This is my fault, not any fault of my instructors. I suck so this simple stuff works for me.



So yeah, simply sitting on my hip when they are coming around has made my turtle guard experience about 1000x better. I used to spend my drive into class thinking "gee, I wonder how much of today's class I will spend in turtle guard." Not anymore. But, as with pretty much anything in BJJ, learning one new technique opens up more obstacles or as I call them, opportunities.

The problem? I keep getting stuck in half guard now and have learned just how terrible my half guard game is. So, I did what I did last time I had a hurdle like this: I Googled it. In my search for a half guard sweep I found this next beauty and drilled it with my girlfriend before class (she wasn't too happy but was a trooper), with a few students during class, and my instructor after class. I didn't know it but it looks like the video below has started my deep half journey and I am happy to finally see it.




Before this video I must admit that I wasn't quite sure what deep half was but after trying this out and feeling the change in my opponents balance, they way that I am in control from the bottom, I know that I am going to start using deep half moving forward. There is another guy in my class who works a ton of deep half and I think him and I are going to be trying a lot of new stuff together. I am excited!

So, I suggest both of these videos to anyone who gets stuck in turtle guard or half guard. Both great techniques; the first one simple, the second one not so much, but both are fantastic and so far have proven to be effective. I truly feel that linking these two techniques has gotten me over two huge hurdles in my game. 1) Constantly being stuck in turtle guard and 2) Getting over the relative fear of always getting crushed when pulling half guard.

Thanks for listening.

--Danny