Grapplearts: Two Ways to Stand Up Out of Guard

[Stephan Kesting]

TWO WAYS TO STAND UP OUT OF GUARD

In the early days of MMA fighters who took someone down tried to keep
the fight there. They'd stay on the ground even if they couldn't pass
their opponent's guard or mount an effective ground-and-pound offense.

Then the game evolved. I still remember how surprised I was the first
time I saw a fighter stand up out of his opponent's guard, back up 10
feet and invite the guy lying on his back to stand up too.

Then the game evolved AGAIN. Strikers figured out how to get back to
their feet when they were on the bottom. They'd use the guard to
survive but also immediately start to work for the standup.

The first big name fighter I saw get back to his feet repeatedly from
the bottom was Chuck Liddell. He could even do it multiple times
against the same opponent, which speaks to how well he'd developed his
guard standup techniques.

It's easy for grapplers to forget this, but there are still hundreds
of thousands of martial artists with ZERO knowledge of the ground
game. The funny thing is that most of them have roughly the same
strategy as Chuck Liddell (just without the skills to back it up).

"I'll just get back to my feet and use my super-duper kung fu pressure-
point punching technique to finish off my opponent," they say. What
they don't realize (and probably never will until they get in a real
fight) is how difficult it is to stand up when a skilled opponent is
holding you down.

Please notice how I said it's "difficult," not "impossible," to stand
up.

We do difficult things in grappling all the time. Proper technique and
training strategies make difficult things possible. Train standups
the same way you would train any other move: first learn the correct
technique, drill it, and then try to use it against people who are
trying to stop you from standing up.

This topic was on my mind when I interviewed Marc Laimon a few years
ago (he was coaching on The Ultimate Fighter TV show at the time).
Afterwards I published an article with Marc showing two specific ways
how to stand up out of guard in Ultimate Grappling Magazine, but I've
only just now made it available online.

So if you're interested in more information (and two step-by-step
techniques) on standing up out of guard please check out:

http://grapplearts.com/standing-up-from-the-guard.htm

Even if you NEVER intend to fight MMA, you can't guarantee that you
won't end up on the bottom in a streetfight. Hanging out in the guard
on the street isn't a great idea, so either sweep the guy, submit the
guy, or get the hell back up to your feet.

Stephan Kesting
http://grapplearts.com/standing-up-from-the-guard.htm