The Reguard from Butterfly Half Guard is a guard retention technique where the bottom player extracts their trapped leg from the half guard entanglement and inserts it as a second butterfly hook, upgrading to full butterfly guard. This transition addresses situations where maintaining butterfly half guard becomes disadvantageous—whether the top player is close to passing, the butterfly hook alone provides insufficient leverage for sweeps, or the practitioner seeks the superior offensive platform that full butterfly guard offers with its dual-hook elevation mechanics.
Strategically, this reguard occupies an important role in the butterfly half guard system as a reset mechanism. When primary attacks like the 100% sweep or old school sweep are being shut down, and transitions to deep half or dogfight are not available, recovering full butterfly guard provides a fresh set of offensive options. The technique requires creating sufficient space through hip escapes and frames while maintaining enough connection to prevent the top player from capitalizing on the movement. The timing window is narrow—too slow and the opponent establishes dominant pressure, too explosive without proper frames and the space created becomes a passing lane for the top player.
The mechanical execution centers on hip escape mechanics to create an angle that allows the trapped knee to pummel through, followed by immediate redirection of the freed leg into a butterfly hook position. The entire sequence must flow as one continuous movement rather than discrete steps, as any pause between leg extraction and hook insertion creates vulnerability. Upper body control through the existing underhook or frames must be maintained throughout to prevent the opponent from collapsing the space or advancing position during the transition.
From Position: Butterfly Half Guard (Bottom) Success Rate: 55%
Possible Outcomes
| Result | Position | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Success | Butterfly Guard | 55% |
| Failure | Butterfly Half Guard | 25% |
| Counter | Flattened Half Guard | 20% |
Attacker vs Defender
| Attacker | Defender | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Execute technique | Prevent or counter |
| Key Principles | Establish frames before attempting leg extraction to prevent… | Maintain constant squeeze pressure on the trapped leg throug… |
| Options | 7 execution steps | 4 defensive options |
Playing as Attacker
Key Principles
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Establish frames before attempting leg extraction to prevent opponent from collapsing space and capitalizing on movement
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Use hip escape mechanics to create the extraction angle rather than trying to yank the leg free through the opponent’s squeeze
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Maintain active butterfly hook pressure throughout the entire reguard sequence as your primary connection and defensive anchor
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Time the extraction with the opponent’s weight shifts—extract when they commit pressure forward or laterally rather than into the trap
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Execute the entire sequence as one continuous flowing movement without pausing between leg extraction and hook insertion
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Immediately consolidate full butterfly guard with upright posture, active hooks, and dominant grips after successful extraction
Execution Steps
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Assess weight distribution: Before initiating the reguard, read the opponent’s weight distribution and pressure direction. Ident…
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Establish frame on trapped-leg side: Place your forearm or palm on the opponent’s shoulder, bicep, or neck on the side of the trapped leg…
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Execute hip escape to create extraction angle: Shrimp your hips away from the trapped leg side while maintaining your frame pressure. The goal is t…
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Pummel trapped knee through the gap: With the angle created, begin working your trapped knee through the space between your bodies. Use a…
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Extract leg and redirect to hook position: Complete the leg extraction by pulling the foot free from the half guard entanglement and immediatel…
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Insert second butterfly hook: Place the freed foot under the opponent’s thigh as a butterfly hook with your instep or ball of foot…
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Consolidate full butterfly guard: Sit up to establish proper butterfly guard posture with shoulders elevated and core engaged. Adjust …
Common Mistakes
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Abandoning the active butterfly hook to focus entirely on extracting the trapped leg
- Consequence: Losing the butterfly hook removes your primary defensive anchor and sweeping threat, leaving you in a compromised half guard with no offensive leverage while the opponent can freely advance their pass
- Correction: Maintain constant upward pressure through the butterfly hook throughout the entire reguard sequence. The hook is both your defensive insurance and the anchor that keeps the opponent engaged while you work the extraction.
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Attempting to yank the trapped leg free without first creating hip angle through shrimping
- Consequence: The opponent’s squeeze combined with your flat hip position makes direct extraction nearly impossible, wasting energy and telegraphing your intention without creating any meaningful space for the leg to escape
- Correction: Always create the hip angle first through a proper shrimp or hip bump. The extraction becomes dramatically easier once you have forty-five degrees of angle because the circular pummeling path opens up around the opponent’s squeeze.
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Pausing between leg extraction and second hook insertion, leaving a gap with only one hook
- Consequence: The pause creates a window where you have reduced guard structure—one hook is insufficient to prevent passing—and the opponent can immediately initiate knee slice, smash pass, or other passing attacks before you establish butterfly guard
- Correction: Treat extraction and insertion as one continuous motion. Drill the redirect so that the freed foot moves directly into hook position without any hesitation or positional adjustment delay.
Playing as Defender
Key Principles
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Maintain constant squeeze pressure on the trapped leg through proper knee and hip positioning to block pummeling attempts
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Establish crossface control to limit the bottom player’s ability to shrimp and create the extraction angle
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Distribute weight to prevent the bottom player from achieving the hip escape necessary for leg extraction
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Recognize reguard attempts early through tactile cues and immediately increase defensive pressure or initiate counter-passing
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Capitalize on space created during failed reguard attempts by advancing passing position rather than simply resettling
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Control the butterfly hook side to prevent the bottom player from using hook elevation to create extraction space
Recognition Cues
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Bottom player begins shrimping or turning their hips away from the trapped leg side, creating lateral space
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Bottom player establishes or increases frame pressure on your shoulder or neck on the trapped-leg side
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Bottom player increases butterfly hook drive as a distraction or anchor while working the trapped leg free
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Bottom player’s trapped knee begins circular pummeling motion toward their chest rather than pushing outward for sweeps
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Bottom player shifts upper body grips from sweep-oriented positioning to frame-oriented positioning on your shoulder
Defensive Options
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Drive crossface and heavy shoulder pressure to flatten bottom player’s posture - When: When you feel the bottom player beginning to shrimp or elevate their shoulder on the trapped-leg side
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Tighten squeeze on trapped leg and drive hips forward to block pummeling path - When: When you detect the bottom player’s trapped knee beginning circular pummeling motion toward their chest
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Time knee slice pass to exploit space created during extraction attempt - When: When the bottom player creates lateral space through hip escape and their frame is committed to the extraction rather than blocking passes
Position Integration
The Reguard from Butterfly Half Guard serves as a critical reset mechanism within the butterfly half guard and broader half guard systems. It connects the butterfly half guard position to the more offensively versatile full butterfly guard, providing access to double-hook sweeps, arm drags to back takes, and X-guard transitions that are unavailable from butterfly half. This technique is particularly important when the top player has neutralized the primary butterfly half attacks—the 100% sweep, old school sweep, and half butterfly sweep—by establishing strong crossface or underhook control. Rather than fighting a losing battle from a compromised butterfly half position, the reguard offers a strategic retreat to a position with superior offensive options. It also functions as a defensive tool when the top player begins advancing their pass, giving the bottom player a path to recover a strong guard configuration before the pass is completed.