Half Guard BJJ: Sweeps, Variations & Passing Guide

For decades, half guard was a stop on the way to getting passed. Your closed guard broke, they got one leg through, and you scrambled to recover. Then Roberto “Gordo” Correa hurt his knee in the early 1990s, and because he could not play closed guard he stayed in half guard and started attacking from it, eventually winning world titles that way.

Today, Bernardo Faria has won five world championships from half guard, Lucas Leite built a career on it, and Tom DeBlass has kept his guard unpassed for years with it. John Danaher puts it simply: the older you get, the more you need it, because it runs on position rather than speed.

What Half Guard Is

You are on the bottom, and one of their legs is trapped between both of yours. Closed guard controls both hips while half guard controls one leg, which makes the position lopsided: they can move one hip freely, but the trapped leg anchors them.

That trapped leg is a lever, and if you control it and get on your side you can sweep, take the back, or submit. It is a guard and a passing position at the same time, which is why both players always have work to do.

The Underhook Battle

Everything in half guard starts here, with the underhook: your arm under their arm and into their armpit.

• If you have it, you can get to your side, angle off, sweep, and take the back. They cannot crossface you.
• If they have it, plus the crossface, they can flatten you and pass. Your attacks mostly disappear.

Every half guard drill starts the same way, by getting to your side and winning the underhook before you attempt any sweep.

Rule One: Stay on Your Side

A flat bottom player has almost nothing, whereas staying on your side gives you a posted elbow to frame, a shoulder angle that resists pressure, mobile hips, and space to thread the underhook. If you get flattened, forget everything else and shrimp, bridge, and get back on your side.

The Old School Sweep

Gordo’s original sweep. Learn it first.

1. Get to your side and post your elbow.
2. Win the underhook and grab their back or belt.
3. Use your outside leg to keep their trapped leg pinned. Your inside knee stays tight to their thigh.
4. Reach your bottom arm under and grab their far ankle or knee.
5. Drive forward with the underhook as you pull the far leg toward you. They fall to their side.
6. Come up on top and pass to side control, or land in mount.

Z-Guard (Knee Shield)

Your top knee goes across their chest or hip like a shield, keeping their weight off you and stopping the crossface. From here you can push them away to recover full guard, pull them in for the underhook, or attack sweeps and kimuras, which is why it is the most common half guard in the gi today. Our Z-guard guide breaks down the full shield mechanics and attacks in more depth.

Deep Half Guard

You slide all the way under their hips, so their trapped leg is over your shoulder and your head is under their body. Jeff Glover made it famous, and it is great for sweeping big opponents because you are already under their centre of gravity, though the main risks are getting flattened and giving up the back if you stall. See our deep half guard guide for the full entry and the waiter sweep step by step.

The Lockdown

This is Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet system, where you figure-four your legs around their trapped leg and stretch it out. It stops them passing and sets up the electric chair sweep and the whip up, and it works best in no-gi, where it is a big part of many MMA grapplers’ games.

Half Butterfly

Your inside foot becomes a butterfly hook under their thigh. It adds lift to every sweep and connects half guard to the butterfly sweep. Tom DeBlass built his retention game around it.

The Dogfight

When you come up on your knees with the underhook and they still have a whizzer, you are in the dogfight. From here you can run the pipe forward for a sweep, drop for a low single, or roll under to a back take. Winning dogfights is a skill on its own and worth drilling.

Back Take from Half Guard

Once you have the underhook and are on your side, drop your head to the mat, drive under their armpit, and come up behind them. Add your near hook and pull them down. Our back control guide covers what to do next.

Submissions from Half Guard

Kimuras from Z-guard, kneebars off a forward roll, loop chokes when they lean in, and guillotines when they drive their head down. Sweeps and back takes are still higher percentage, but these keep them honest.

Passing Half Guard from the Top

The top player has one job first: kill the underhook, get the crossface, and flatten them. From there the main passes are the knee slice, the over-under pass, and the leg drag, and the key is to never let them get their knee shield in place by staying heavy on their chest and freeing your knee before they can build a frame.

Gi vs No-Gi

In the gi you have lapel and belt grips, and the knee shield game is stronger. In no-gi, the underhook battle is everything and the lockdown and dogfight show up far more often. Both versions come back to the same rule: win the underhook, stay on your side.

Common Mistakes

• Lying flat and waiting for something to happen.
• Fighting for the sweep before winning the underhook.
• Leaving space between your inside knee and their thigh.
• Trying to hold half guard as a stall instead of attacking from it.

How to Train It

White and blue belts should own the old school sweep and the back take. Purple belts add Z-guard and deep half. Brown and black belts connect it to leg locks and top-side passing. Position sparring that starts in half guard is the fastest way to build it.