Butterfly Guard Top represents a challenging defensive scenario where the top player must navigate constant sweeping threats while attempting to advance position and pass the guard. From the top perspective, facing butterfly guard requires excellent balance, base management, and understanding of passing mechanics to neutralize the bottom player’s hooks and elevation capabilities. The top player faces an opponent with inside position via hooks, superior angles for off-balancing, and constant threat of explosive sweeps that can immediately reverse position.
The fundamental challenge of butterfly guard top lies in managing the dual threat of the hooks providing elevator pressure from below while dealing with the bottom player’s upper body control through grips. The hooks create a mechanical disadvantage by positioning leverage points directly under your center of mass, making traditional pressure passing more difficult and risky. Simultaneously, the seated bottom player can establish strong grips on collar, sleeves, or underhooks that break your posture and control your movement. This combination forces the top player to be methodical and strategic rather than relying purely on pressure and athleticism.
From a tactical perspective, passing butterfly guard requires specific technical approaches that differ from passing other guards. The primary strategies involve clearing or neutralizing the hooks through distance management, establishing over-under configurations, or transitioning to standing passes. Successful top players use grip fighting to prevent the bottom player from establishing dominant upper body control, maintain proper posture to avoid being pulled off-balance, and time passing movements with moments when the bottom player’s hooks are less effective. The position rewards patience and technical precision over aggressive, forceful passing attempts.
Elite competitors approach butterfly guard top by viewing it as an opportunity to bait reactions and capitalize on the bottom player’s offensive attempts. When the bottom player commits to sweeps or transitions, brief moments of vulnerability emerge where quick passing opportunities present themselves. Understanding the timing and mechanics of butterfly guard attacks allows the top player to anticipate and counter these attempts, turning defensive situations into offensive opportunities. Success from top requires reading the bottom player’s intentions, managing distance and grips strategically, and executing precise passing sequences when windows of opportunity appear.
Position Definition
- Opponent has both hooks inserted under your thighs with insteps or balls of feet making contact against your inner thighs, creating elevation threat
- Opponent maintains seated upright position with active core, preventing you from applying effective downward pressure to flatten them
- Opponent controls distance and your posture through grips on collar, sleeves, or underhooks, limiting your movement options
- You are positioned in combat base, on knees, or standing posture, attempting to maintain base while working to clear hooks and advance position
Prerequisites
- Strong base and balance fundamentals to resist off-balancing attempts and maintain stability under elevation pressure
- Understanding of grip fighting principles to prevent opponent from establishing dominant upper body control
- Knowledge of butterfly guard passing mechanics including hook clearing, distance management, and transition to standing
- Ability to recognize and counter common butterfly sweeps before they reach critical execution phase
- Proper posture maintenance to resist being pulled off-balance while maintaining passing pressure
Key Offensive Principles
- Maintain strong base with wide stance and low center of gravity to resist elevation attempts from hooks
- Control grips strategically to prevent opponent from establishing dominant upper body control that enables sweeps
- Keep proper posture with chest up and hips back to avoid being pulled forward into optimal sweeping range
- Clear or neutralize hooks through distance management, over-under control, or transition to standing passes
- Time passing movements with opponent’s offensive attempts when their structure is temporarily compromised
- Avoid committing weight forward excessively which makes you vulnerable to explosive elevation sweeps
- Transition fluidly between combat base, standing, and passing configurations based on opponent’s reactions
Available Attacks
Butterfly Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 65%
Double Under Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 40%
- Intermediate: 55%
- Advanced: 70%
Long Step Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 38%
- Intermediate: 53%
- Advanced: 68%
Knee Cut Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 36%
- Intermediate: 51%
- Advanced: 66%
Stack Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 32%
- Intermediate: 47%
- Advanced: 62%
Toreando Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 34%
- Intermediate: 49%
- Advanced: 64%
Over-Under Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 42%
- Intermediate: 57%
- Advanced: 72%
Half Guard Pass → Half Guard
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 44%
- Intermediate: 59%
- Advanced: 74%
Knee Slice Pass → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 37%
- Intermediate: 52%
- Advanced: 67%
Decision Making from This Position
If opponent maintains strong upright posture with deep hooks and dominant grips:
- Execute Long Step Pass → Side Control (Probability: 48%)
- Execute Toreando Pass → Side Control (Probability: 45%)
If opponent extends arms or creates distance for grip fighting:
- Execute Double Under Pass → Side Control (Probability: 52%)
- Execute Butterfly Pass → Side Control (Probability: 48%)
If opponent commits to sweep attempt and momentarily loses optimal structure:
- Execute Butterfly Pass → Side Control (Probability: 55%)
- Execute Knee Cut Pass → Side Control (Probability: 50%)
If opponent sits very upright with high knees creating stack vulnerability:
- Execute Stack Pass → Side Control (Probability: 46%)
- Execute Over-Under Pass → Side Control (Probability: 54%)
If opponent transitions to single hook or half guard configuration:
- Execute Half Guard Pass → Half Guard (Probability: 58%)
- Execute Knee Slice Pass → Side Control (Probability: 52%)
Optimal Submission Paths
Submission path after successful pass to side control
Butterfly Guard Top → Butterfly Pass → Side Control → Kimura from Side Control
Submission path via double under pass
Butterfly Guard Top → Double Under Pass → Side Control → Arm Triangle
Submission path to mount after pass
Butterfly Guard Top → Butterfly Pass → Side Control → Transition to Mount → Americana from Mount
Front headlock submission during scramble
Butterfly Guard Top → Snap Down to Front Headlock → Guillotine Choke
Success Rates and Statistics
| Skill Level | Retention Rate | Advancement Probability | Submission Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 45% | 30% | 8% |
| Intermediate | 60% | 45% | 15% |
| Advanced | 75% | 60% | 25% |
Average Time in Position: 30-60 seconds to successfully pass or be swept
Expert Analysis
John Danaher
Passing butterfly guard effectively requires understanding the biomechanical principles that make the position dangerous and systematically neutralizing them before attempting to advance position. The primary threat comes from the hooks creating a fulcrum under your center of mass combined with upper body control that enables the bottom player to generate rotational force through coordinated pulling and elevation. The key to defeating this mechanism is managing distance and posture - you must either create sufficient distance that the hooks cannot generate effective elevation, or you must establish such dominant upper body control that the bottom player cannot coordinate the necessary pulling action with their hook elevation. The most critical error in butterfly guard passing is attempting to pass while in the optimal range for the bottom player’s sweeps; instead, you must first transition to a configuration where the hooks are neutralized, either through standing passes that remove your legs from hook range, or through over-under control that pins the bottom player’s torso and prevents the upright posture necessary for effective sweep execution. Superior passing is characterized by patience in establishing these controlling positions before committing to advancement.
Gordon Ryan
Against elite butterfly guard players, I’ve learned that attempting traditional pressure passing is often counterproductive because you’re playing directly into their strongest mechanics - the more pressure you apply forward, the easier you make their sweeps when they have proper inside position with hooks. My approach is to use a lot of false pressure where I appear to commit forward but maintain my weight back and posture up, baiting them to attempt sweeps that I can counter as they commit. When they go for the sweep and temporarily lose their optimal structure, that’s when the actual passing opportunity presents itself. I also heavily favor transitioning to standing and using distance-based passes like the toreando against butterfly guard, because this removes my legs from their hook range entirely and forces them to either follow me up or transition to a different guard. The key insight is recognizing that butterfly guard is primarily dangerous in a specific distance range - too close and they sweep you easily, but create proper distance and their position becomes much less threatening. I also use a lot of over-under passing against butterfly because when you can pin their torso and prevent them from sitting up, the hooks lose almost all their effectiveness.
Eddie Bravo
One thing I’ve noticed competing and teaching is that most people try to pass butterfly guard like they’re passing closed guard or half guard, using forward pressure and trying to flatten the opponent, but this is exactly what makes you vulnerable to the explosive elevation that butterfly specializes in. In 10th Planet, we teach our students to recognize butterfly guard as a position where you need to either be all the way in with over-under control or all the way out with standing passes - that middle distance where they have hooks and you’re in combat base is their optimal attacking range, so don’t hang out there. I particularly like using the step-over pass where you literally step over one of their hooks while controlling their upper body, transitioning directly to leg drag position or back exposure. Another key thing is recognizing when they’re transitioning to our lockdown or other half guard variations - if you catch that transition early, you can often get a really good passing position because they’re between positions. The guillotine is also a huge threat when you’re passing butterfly guard incorrectly, so I teach a very defensive head positioning where your chin is protected and your posture is strong throughout the passing sequence.