The “Guard” is probably the most common term most Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners hear in their training. It is of many types, with the most common being the closed and open guard. They serve various purposes in the BJJ match, and if one can master their execution, they will be able to get many advantages over their opponents. But there is also one type of guard that often gets neglected until a few years ago. That type is inverted guard. Most BJJ practitioners might not have even heard of its name. But it has a lot of benefits that you can get if you execute it against your opponents in a match. Let's explore this rare guard type with a lot of significance.
Table of content
1. What Is BJJ Inverted Guard?
- The inverted guard is an uncommon type of guard in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In this guard, the grappler tries to move his body upside down in such a way that his legs and hips are elevated in the air. They are in the air and are not touching the ground. The upper part of their body is touching the ground. They are lying on the ground with their upper part touching the ground.
- The inverted guard, although not a very familiar type, can still be used for making a lot of techniques in a Jiu Jitsu match. It can be used to make sweeps, scrambling for moving from one position to another, for escape from a position.
- At this position, they can also control the space to execute any technique, which will lead to the submission if they follow it correctly. They are also in a perfect position to take the back of their opponent. Moreover, they have the opportunity to execute a lot of techniques that will help them submit to their opponent.
2. Top Strategies For Handling The Inverted Guard In BJJ
The following are some of the best strategies you can implement for dealing with the inverted guard in your Jiu Jitsu game:

2.1 Try To Control The Legs And Hips of Your Opponent
You must remain cautious throughout the match. You should keep observing your opponent’s movements. If they are going to do the inverted guard, they will try to go upside down or move their legs and hips upward. Immediately, as you see this, have control of their legs or hips so that they cannot go fully to the inverted guard. This will break their momentum and shift them to their defense instead of offense.
2.2 Maintain Your Strong Base
The second strategy is to establish a strong base. This should be in your mind all the time. Keep your base on the ground. Don't let your opponent submit you through inverted guard. This is only possible if you have maintained your base strongly throughout the match. Because otherwise it will be very easy for your opponent to lift you or take your back, leading to submission. To keep your base strong, you should distribute your weight evenly on the mat. It means that you should be lying equally on the ground. You should not be lifting your body from one side and keeping the other side down. In this way, your base becomes stronger. Also, try to keep your weight low on the mat.
2.3 Prepare For Countering The Attacks
Inverted guard is often followed by a number of attacks. So if your opponent has become successful in the inverted guard, they will try to take you to submission. They will try sweeps or take you to any other technique that will help them take you to submission. Firstly, you should never let your opponent execute the inverted guard on you. Secondly, if somehow they have taken the situation to the inverted guard, be cautious of their attacks. You will have to face a lot from this situation. The easy thing to do from here is to just control their legs and hips, and they will not be able to do anything.
2.4 Try To Escape
It is very important for you in this position to escape from the guard. In inverted guard, the grappler will always look for opportunities to attack because the inverted guard alone cannot submit you. They can restrict your movement. They can shift you to defensive mode from offensive mode. But they cannot take you to submission. So if you are a guard executed by your opponent, they will certainly execute submission techniques or other attacks on you.
So while looking for and trying for the opportunities to attack you, your opponent will lose their control in the guard. This gives you the opportunity to pass. So you should try to escape from your opponent’s guard while they are trying to attack you. It is not very difficult to escape from an inverted guard. Because in this guard, they are controlling you with their legs mainly. Their arms or hands are not the main players here. So they cannot exert the same force as their hands. So you can easily pass if you think strategically.
2.5 Invert Yourself
Another way to deal with the inverted guard is to invert yourself. Your opponent has applied the inverted guard on you. So the easy way to defend yourself at this stage is to just invert. By inverting yourself, you are disrupting your opponent’s posture and balance. They will no longer have a guard on you. When they don't have the guard, then they can't execute any techniques on you for submission.
3. Importance Of Inverted Guard In Jiu Jitsu
The inverted guard pass is very important in BJJ because it can allow the bottom opponent to take back control of the top opponent, apply sweeps, control guard passes, execute techniques, and apply many other techniques. The following are some of the benefits of inverted guard, which demonstrate its importance:
3.1 Versatile Technique
There are very few versatile techniques in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and inverted guard is one of them. It is versatile in the sense that you don't have any restrictions in using it in any form of BJJ, whether it's Gi or No Gi. Also, it can be executed from any position or situation in BJJ. Moreover, you can use it for both defensive and offensive situations. You can defend yourself against various techniques and attacks of your opponent, and you can also use it to create the opportunity to execute many techniques on them.
3.2 Gaining Advantageous Guard Position
The inverted guard is a perfect way to change your position from submissive guard to dominant guard. If you are in a position in which you are not very dominant or you are not able to take your opponent to the submission, then you can go to the inverted guard position. It will give you more advantages than the standard guard, and you will be able to create opportunities for taking your opponent to submission.
3.3 Making Guard Pass Difficult For Your Opponent
In traditional guard passes, it is very easy for your opponent to have a guard pass. They have a lot of techniques for guard pass and escaping out of difficult situations. There are hundreds of lessons available online for this. But what about the inverted guard pass? Is it easy? Are there any tutorials on how to do a guard pass for inverted type? No, it is not easy to do. It is very difficult to do a guard pass on your opponent. The inverted guard makes it very difficult for your opponent to do a pass, and hence, you are very protected. Moreover, you are also able to shift your pressure from your back or core to your shoulders to make it easy for yourself to continue the guard and protect your core from excessive pressure.
3.4 Various Opportunities For Attacks
In the inverted guard position, you have a lot of opportunities for attacks. These attacks can be of various types. You can execute many sorts of techniques against your opponent to make yourself more dominant. You have a chance to take the back of your opponent. Once you have their back, they will be restricted to a major extent in terms of their attacks and defenses. You can make sweeps to continue in another position in which you are more dominant. Another opportunity is the leg entanglement techniques or leg locks. You can lock their legs in inverted guard.
3.5 Leg Locks
Another benefit of executing the inverted guard is that it is useful for executing the leg lock position on your opponent. Leg locks are the positions or techniques in which you attack your opponent’s foot or ankle. This causes severe pain or injury to the opponent’s feet or ankle, depending on the force you used to execute the leg locks. This pain restricts their ability to do anything.
4. Last Words
Inverted guard technique is not commonly executed in BJJ. It is a rare technique, and this makes it even more beneficial for you to learn and implement in your training and game. The reason is that when the technique is less common, people also don't try to learn the defenses against it. So you have the opportunity to submit your opponent with this guard.
5. Frequently Asked Questions
5.1 What is Inverted Guard in Jiu Jitsu?
In this guard, the grappler tries to move his body upside down in such a way that his legs and hips are elevated in the air. They are in the air and are not touching the ground. The upper part of their body is touching the ground. They are lying on the ground with their upper part touching the ground.
5.2 What Are The Top Strategies For Handling The Inverted Guard In BJJ?
The following are the strategies for dealing with the inverted guard in BJJ:
Try to control the legs and hips of your opponent
Maintain your strong base
Prepare for countering the attacks
Try to escape
Invert yourself
5.3 Why is the Inverted Guard Important in Jiu Jitsu?
The following are the points highlighting the importance of the inverted guard in BJJ:
It is a very versatile technique.
You can gain an advantageous guard position.
The guard pass becomes difficult for your opponent.
You have various opportunities for attacks.
You can implement leg locks.
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