There’s a certain kinda guy in the room that I’ve run into more than once.

He absolutely refuses to give an inch, no matter what. Hell, the position could be completely and utterly lost and yet he still clings on desperately. Sometimes, it’s a grip and other times, it could be a particular guard.

It doesn’t matter.

He won’t let go.

And he’s perfectly fine with stalling you out for minutes on end. And he doesn’t care that this isn’t a tournament. In his mind, winning is all that matters. That’s why he’s going to hold on for dear life, and if you let him survive, he’s going to feel like it’s an accomplishment.

I’ll give an example.

I use to train with a guy I couldn’t pass with a normal kneecut. I would almost pass him then he would lock up a deathgrip on my ankle. It wouldn’t move. His ability to pinch with his legs was just unbelievable, and I would get stalled there allll the time.

Back then, I didn’t have some of the angle adjustments I have now.

But I did come up with a way to counter him.

I started forcing the quarter guard by tripoding up and then driving across, so that both my knees were on the ground. Yup, he still had his deathgrip. My ankle was still trapped, but it was a whole new situation.

And from there, there are three specific ways to Punish the guy.

The first, which I like a lot, is to do a reverse kneecut. When done right, it’s sooo hard to stop, and I consider it to be a vital tool in any half guardian’s arsenal (to play the half, you must also thoroughly understand how to destroy it).

Next up in the lineup is passing straight to mount. I do it a little differently though. I don’t like tripoding straight up. It’s far too risky. Instead, I create a certain angle that not only makes easy to clear the legs but also takes away almost all of the risk.

And last, there is also a rolling backtake for the sneaky and devious to play with, if they so wish.

Most of those are already laid out in all their glory up in micro adjustments.

Here’s where to learn em: