What are Wedges?
Wedges are body parts inserted into gaps to preserve space, redirect pressure, or block a movement route while you reposition.
Insert the wedge when a gap opens, then move while it holds the space. Its angle and support matter more than how hard you push it into the opponent.
Film Study
Watch Wedges in action — curated instructionals
Near side and far side knee wedges from chest to chest — taught by John Danaher · 4:38 · Watch on YouTube
Angles, wedges and leverage explained — taught by Josh · 4:25 · Watch on YouTube
Knee wedge in the tailbone to pass full guard — taught by StadiumMMA · 0:26 · Watch on YouTube
Building Blocks
- Find or create a gap before inserting the wedge.
- Angle the wedge to block the movement you need to stop.
- Support it with connected elbows, hips, or other contacts.
- Use the preserved space to move or establish the next control.
Prerequisites
Gap Recognition: The ability to sense or see the transient spaces between your body and the opponent where a wedge can be inserted. This requires tactile sensitivity and an understanding of how positions create natural openings — for example, the space between an opponent’s hip and your thigh in half guard, or the gap under the chin when someone reaches for an underhook.
Insertion Speed and Timing: Wedges must be inserted during the brief window when a gap exists. Developing the reflexive speed to slide a knee, shin, or elbow into position before the opponent can close the space is essential. This often means inserting the wedge during the opponent’s movement rather than waiting for them to settle.
Angle Optimization: Positioning the wedge at the correct angle to maximize its splitting or redirecting effect. A knee shield angled at 45 degrees across the opponent’s chest redirects far more pressure than one lying flat. Understanding how wedge angle changes the direction of redirected force is key to making wedges effective against larger opponents.
Progressive Driving: Once a wedge is inserted, driving it deeper along its axis to amplify the space created. This involves coordinated hip, core, and limb movement to advance the wedge progressively — for example, driving the knee shield deeper while simultaneously hip escaping to maximize the space created.
Wedge Sequencing: Using one wedge to create the gap for a second wedge, building a cascade of space creation. In guard retention, the first shin wedge stops the passer, the second knee wedge creates an angle, and a foot on the hip completes the re-guard. Understanding how to chain wedge insertions turns a single defensive action into a full recovery sequence.
Hard Surface Selection: Choosing the right body part for each wedge application. Shins and forearms provide broad, hard surfaces for blocking. Elbows and knees offer narrow, penetrating points for splitting. Selecting the appropriate surface for each context determines whether the wedge holds under pressure or collapses.
Wedge-to-Movement Conversion: Translating the space created by a wedge into actual positional change. A wedge that creates space but is not followed by hip escape, re-guard, or passing movement is wasted. This skill links the mechanical space creation of the wedge to the larger tactical goal of changing position.
Defensive Wedge Awareness: Recognizing when the opponent is inserting wedges against you and knowing how to deny or collapse them. This includes pinching knees to prevent knee wedge insertion, flattening hip angle to deny shin wedges, and swimming arms past elbow wedges before they can be driven deeper.
Where to Apply
Half Guard: A knee shield occupies space between the bodies and redirects pressure while you adjust the hips or seek an underhook.
Side Control: From bottom, insert a forearm or knee into the opening made by a frame and hip movement, then recover more space.
Mount: From bottom, use an elbow or knee at the hip opening to begin guard recovery while maintaining the space you create.
Headquarters Position: Use leg placement to separate the guard player’s knees and block their return as you begin a pass.
How to Apply
- Identify the opponent’s primary pressure line or movement direction: Feel where the opponent’s weight and force are traveling. The wedge should be inserted perpendicular to this line to split the force into two weaker vectors rather than opposing it head-on.
- Locate the nearest available gap between your body and the opponent: Scan for spaces — the gap between hip and thigh, the space under the chin, the opening between chest and arm. These are the insertion points for your wedge. If no gap exists, use a frame to create one first.
- Select the appropriate body part for the wedge: Choose based on the gap size and the force required. Shins and forearms for broad blocking wedges, elbows and knees for narrow splitting wedges. Use hard, bony surfaces rather than soft tissue.
- Insert the wedge with speed and commitment: Drive the wedge into the gap decisively. Half-inserted wedges are easily collapsed. Coordinate the insertion with a hip movement or weight shift that helps drive the wedge deeper into position.
- Set the correct wedge angle to maximize force redirection: Adjust the angle so the wedge directs force away from your vulnerable areas. A knee shield at 45 degrees redirects chest pressure toward the mat. A forearm wedge angled under the chin lifts the head and breaks posture.
- Drive the wedge progressively deeper while moving your hips: Do not let the wedge sit static. Advance it while simultaneously hip escaping or repositioning to amplify the space created. The wedge creates opportunity — hip movement converts it into positional change.
- Decide whether to chain a second wedge or convert to escape or pass: If one wedge has created sufficient space, use it immediately for guard recovery, escape, or pass completion. If more space is needed, insert a second wedge in the new gap created by the first.
- Withdraw the wedge once the positional goal is achieved: Wedges are temporary tools. Once you have recovered guard, completed the pass, or escaped the pin, transition the wedge limb to its next role — gripping, hooking, posting, or attacking.
Progress Markers
Beginner Level:
- Recognizes the knee shield as a defensive barrier but does not understand its wedge mechanics
- Attempts to insert wedges after the opponent has fully settled, resulting in muscular struggling
- Uses flat, soft surfaces rather than bony edges for wedge contact
- Inserts wedges but does not follow with hip movement, allowing the opponent to re-close the gap
Intermediate Level:
- Consistently inserts knee shield and elbow wedges during guard retention before the passer consolidates
- Angles wedges perpendicular to pressure for effective force redirection
- Follows wedge insertion with hip escape to convert space into positional change
- Begins using offensive wedges during guard passing (knee inside thigh, elbow against knee line)
- Recognizes and attempts to deny opponent’s wedge insertions from top position
Advanced Level:
- Chains multiple wedges in sequence to systematically dismantle pins or guard structures
- Inserts wedges during the opponent’s transitions, exploiting the brief gaps that appear during movement
- Selects optimal wedge surface (shin, forearm, knee, elbow) based on gap size and force requirements
- Integrates wedge insertion into complete escape, retention, and passing systems seamlessly
- Denies opponent wedges proactively by maintaining tight pressure and eliminating gaps before they form
Expert Level:
- Uses wedge insertions to manipulate the opponent’s reactions, baiting responses that open other attack paths
- Creates wedge opportunities through subtle weight shifts and angle changes that most opponents cannot detect
- Teaches wedge mechanics clearly, distinguishing wedges from frames and posts for students at all levels
- Applies wedge principles in novel scramble situations where standard techniques do not apply
- Maintains continuous wedge awareness from both top and bottom, never allowing gaps to persist and never missing insertion opportunities