Passing Half Guard
The most common position in MMA, and the one that decides most rounds on the ground.
Passing Half Guard
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En esta lección
- Prioritise the underhook over the trapped leg
- Flatten the bottom player before attempting the pass
- Execute two reliable passes from the same position
Clave del entrenador — Win the underhook first. The leg comes free on its own once the upper body is settled.
Why it matters so much
Half guard is where most MMA ground exchanges end up. Takedowns land here, guard passes stall here, and scrambles resolve here. Whoever wins half guard wins most rounds that go to the floor.
The order of operations
Beginners attack the trapped leg. The leg is the last thing to deal with, not the first.
- Win the underhook. Whoever has the underhook in half guard controls the exchange. Without it you are being controlled, whatever your position looks like.
- Flatten them. They want to be on their side facing you. Drive their far shoulder to the mat with your chest and your head.
- Kill the frames. Their forearms are what keep space. Pin one with your chest, trap the other with your knee or hand.
- Then free the leg. By this point it usually comes out with a slide or a simple pull, because their hips have nothing left to hold it with.
Two passes to own
Knee slide. With the underhook and them flattened, drive your trapped knee across their hips toward the floor on the far side. Your chest never leaves theirs. Finish in side control or mount.
Back step. Instead of going forward, step your outside leg backwards and turn your hips away, freeing the trapped leg behind you. Ends in side control facing the other direction, and it works well when they are defending the knee slide hard.
The underhook war
If they get the underhook first, you are the one being controlled and you have two options:
- Whizzer and pressure. Overhook their arm, sprawl your weight forward and flatten them again. Works, but it is a strength contest.
- Switch sides. Give up the underhook contest and attack the other side entirely, where they have nothing.
If you find yourself struggling in half guard for more than thirty seconds, check who has the underhook. That is almost always the answer, and it is almost always the thing being ignored.
Drill it
Two rounds of half guard where the only objective for both players is the underhook. No passing, no escaping. Then two rounds of passing from a position where you already have the underhook. Then two rounds live from neutral half guard, top and bottom.