Underhook Half Guard

Blocking your opponent's arm prevents them from flattening you out and getting head control, which allows you to stay on your side and access multiple attacking options. According to Jason Scully, if you get an underhook but fail to block their arm, they can flatten you out—this is critical to avoid.

Work an underhook on your opponent, swipe their leg open with your outside leg, and drive to your side while tucking your head and controlling their arm. Jason Scully emphasizes that swiping their leg open off-balances them and gives you a more advantageous position.

Continue to control and block your opponent's arm throughout the technique—this makes it much harder for them to get head control or escape. Jason Scully stresses that tracking your opponent's arm prevents them from flattening you while you execute your offense.

Keep your arm flared out as wide and as fast as possible to prevent your opponent from underhooking your bottom arm, which would allow them to collapse you back to the mat. Jason Scully notes that a loose arm position gives your opponent easy access to counter you.

The Underhook Half Guard positions the guard player with a deep underhook on the opponent's far arm while maintaining half guard leg control, creating the most offensively oriented half guard configuration. The underhook provides strong upper body control and hip access, enabling the classic old school sweep, dog fight transitions, and back takes.

The underhook half guard is the offensive foundation of half guard play, central to Roberto 'Gordo' Correa's original half guard system and subsequently developed by Lucas Leite, Tom DeBlass, and other half guard specialists. The underhook is universally considered the most important grip in half guard.

IBJJF: разрешён — Legal — guard is fundamental to BJJ, sweeps from guard score 2 points; IJF: ограничен — Guard pulling penalized as non-combativity — groundwork from guard permitted …; ADCC: разрешён — Legal, guard pull penalized -1 point in points portion; Unified MMA: разрешён — Legal — no penalty for playing guard; FIAS Sport Sambo: разрешён — Legal

Оценка опасности 2/10. Low — guard positions are defensive; injury risk comes from transitions, not the position itself

Стандартная цепочка подготовки: Achieve Guard Contact → Control Grips → Manage Distance → Threaten Submissions/Sweeps.

Стандартные контрприёмы: Guard Pass — systematically work to clear the legs and establish a dominant position / Leg Pin — control one or both legs to neutralize guard retention / Pressure Passing — use heavy chest pressure to flatten and immobilize the guard player.

Распространённые варианты: Standard half guard (one leg trapped between both legs with an underhook); Deep half guard (fully under the opponent with the leg fully entangled); Lockdown half guard (figure-four leg lock on the trapped leg (10th Planet)); Z-guard (knee shield) (knee across the opponent's chest creating a frame).

The underhook half guard is the standard attacking half guard in BJJ competition.

Основные ошибки, на которые стоит обратить внимание: Getting a shallow underhook — the hand must reach deep to the far lat or shoulder blade / Establishing the underhook but staying flat — immediately come to the knees or the hip / Not protecting the underhook — the opponent will try to strip it; maintain it aggressively / Using the underhook without advancing position — the underhook leads to sweeps and back takes; use it.

Underhook Half Guard также известен как Andāfukku Hāfu Gādo, Underhook Half, Dog Fight Position, Battle Half Guard.