Rubber Guard longevity ?

Laza cds mma

Laza cds mma

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I love using the rubber guard in grappling and MMA sparring , but i had some back problems before and i keep thinking about longevity, what do you guys think about it , is it really that bad on the back and knees , is it bad at all ?
 
If you have adequate hip flexibility, enough to place your foot on your chest, it shouldn't put strain on your knees at all. Back issues I think it's basically as bad as playing closed guard i.e. quite bad, don't do it every roll and make sure you do some stretching where you extend-out your spine to counter balance all that crunching in.
 
yetanother said:
It's dangerous for knees. It keeps you flat and encourages fucking up your leg to pull of a sub.
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I remember there was a guy on here a few years ago who broke his hip doing rubber guard, I guess his training partner pressured into him in a weird way and it broke, if I remember correctly
 
I've never found rubber guard to be much useful sadly.
 
Might piss some 10th planet guys off but IMO it’s one of those things that works better in theory than practice. That being said there are some guys out there who are legit killers from rubber guard, but that has more to do with if you train something long enough you’re gonna get good at it.
 
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is jiu jitsu hard on the body....yes.... whatever guard you play
 
Knees: the movement should come from the hip. You need to be the kind of freak who can do the lotus without using his hands to pull it off without getting hurt. If you feel tension in your knee it's not a guard for you.

Back: I feel like this is more of a closed guard issue. You legs aren't aligned, you get stacked often, you're crunching weirdly constantly. It's rough on the body.
 
I would be more worried about the wear and tear on your back. Funny thing, eddie is more of a half guard guy than rubber guard by far.
 
nefti said:
I would be more worried about the wear and tear on your back. Funny thing, eddie is more of a half guard guy than rubber guard by far.
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It doesn't seem to be that bad on your back, you are just flat on your back there not going for any angles or doing crazy inversions. You just sit there and either nothing happens or you hurt the guys face enough to get him to open up enough.
 
Laza cds mma said:
I love using the rubber guard in grappling and MMA sparring , but i had some back problems before and i keep thinking about longevity, what do you guys think about it , is it really that bad on the back and knees , is it bad at all ?
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Watch the good guys that play it from 10th planet like Geo etc. If you aren't like that and are feeling pain why not just use a high closed guard?
I like it when people use rubber guard as it's easier to pass or bait the omoplata and try and step over. I feel much more in danger from a good high closed guard than I ever have from rubber guard.
 
I love it whenever Joe Rogan gets excited about rubber guard or lockdown or anything "10th planet" and acts like the Jiu Jitsu world is about to be flipped on it's head and then nothing comes of it
 
Look at guys with approximately your body type who compete at masters 3 and above at purple and brown belt to see what styles show proven longevity. Don't look at black belt because most of those competitors have been training 20+ years so they tend have an old school bias.

I've never seen someone that old play rubber guard in competition but I don't scower the world looking for it either.

I will say from personal experience trying to get good at rubber guard when I was a white belt slowed my grappling development and lead to multiple knee injuries.
 
yetanother said:
It doesn't seem to be that bad on your back, you are just flat on your back there not going for any angles or doing crazy inversions. You just sit there and either nothing happens or you hurt the guys face enough to get him to open up enough.
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You are not flat on your back, you are curled up with your opponents weight/pressure on top of you. Eddies back is wrecked and needed disk surgery, i know eddie bravo black belts and they tell me how messed up eddie is.
 
I think it's more important to take care of yourself and avoid injuries down the road. If you're experiencing pain doing rubber guard, maybe try a different technique. Especially if you've had back problems before. But that's just my opinion :)
 
RyanR said:
Might piss some 10th planet guys off but IMO it’s one of those things that works better in theory than practice. That being said there are some guys out there who are legit killers from rubber guard, but that has more to do with if you train something long enough you’re gonna get good at it.
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This. If someone wants to play rubber guard they should really emphasize getting to a good angle and playing off the hip and not flat on the back. There are good 10p guys at that that don’t teach to play it off the small of your back.

It’s not a guard for me
 
Its ok maybe in mma or self defense scenario MAYBE in the right cicumstances but in grappling or bjj I fell like outside of outliers(who dont catch top level guys with any rubber guard moves by the way..im talking to you Geo and Ritchie) its a gimmicky technique but should be learned to know how to counter it. Its not gonna be used by most practioners and the idea of anchoring a heavy ass guy with incredible pressure on you and making it tighter by using your leg to clamp down harder is asinine imo but i think it has place if strikes are involved and you cant stand up or get the guy off of you.
 
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