Spider Guard variations represent a comprehensive system of distance management and sleeve control techniques that transform basic spider guard into a dynamic attacking platform. These variations exploit different grips, foot positions, and angles to create sweeping opportunities while maintaining optimal defensive distance. The fundamental principle underlying all spider guard variations is the use of your feet on the opponent’s biceps or hips to control distance while your hands control their sleeves, creating a mechanical advantage that prevents them from establishing passing pressure. Understanding when to transition between variations based on your opponent’s base, posture, and passing strategy is essential for developing a complete spider guard game that can adapt to different body types and grappling styles.
Starting Position: Spider Guard Ending Position: Mount Success Rates: Beginner 35%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 65%
Key Principles
- Maintain constant sleeve control with strong grip fundamentals
- Use feet on biceps to control distance and prevent forward pressure
- Create angles with hip movement to off-balance opponent
- Transition fluidly between variations based on opponent’s reactions
- Combine upper body grips with lower body frames for maximum control
- Time sweeps when opponent commits weight forward or attempts to pass
- Maintain active guard retention ready to recover if grips are broken
Prerequisites
- Open guard established with opponent on knees or standing
- Strong sleeve grips secured on both arms
- At least one foot positioned on opponent’s bicep
- Hip mobility to create angles and adjust positioning
- Understanding of basic spider guard mechanics
- Ability to break opponent’s grips if they control your pants or belt
Execution Steps
- Establish sleeve control: From open guard, secure deep four-finger grips on both of your opponent’s sleeves at the wrists. Pull their hands toward your hips to straighten their arms and prevent them from getting heavy grips on your legs or collar. (Timing: As opponent opens your closed guard or as you open to transition)
- Place feet on biceps: Lift your hips off the mat and place the balls of both feet on your opponent’s biceps, creating a pushing frame. Keep your knees slightly bent to maintain spring-loaded pressure that prevents them from driving forward into your guard. (Timing: Immediately after securing sleeve grips)
- Create distance and posture: Extend your legs to push your opponent’s arms away while maintaining strong sleeve grips. This creates maximum distance and forces them into an extended posture where their base is compromised. Your arms should be pulling while your legs push, creating opposing forces. (Timing: Once both feet are established on biceps)
- Transition to chosen variation: Based on your opponent’s reaction and base, transition to specific spider guard variations: remove one foot to collar sleeve guard for triangle setups, add lasso control for stronger immobilization, transition to single spider for mobility, or move to omoplata control when they lean forward. (Timing: When opponent commits to a passing direction or stance)
- Execute sweep or submission: Time your attack when opponent’s weight shifts forward or their base narrows. Common attacks include: flower sweep when they stand, scissor sweep when they’re low, triangle when they lean forward, omoplata when they posture hard, or bicep slicer from lasso control. (Timing: When opponent’s weight distribution creates vulnerability)
- Complete transition or recover: Follow through to the dominant position (mount, side control, or back control) or immediately recover your guard structure if the technique is defended. Maintain sleeve control throughout transitions to prevent opponent from establishing top pressure. (Timing: Immediately after sweep initiation or when technique is countered)
Opponent Counters
- Opponent stands tall and backs away to break grips (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Follow their movement with your hips, extend legs fully to maintain distance, and transition to standing spider guard or single leg X-guard entry before grips break
- Opponent drops low and drives elbows to mat to collapse spider (Effectiveness: High) - Your Response: Immediately transition to lasso guard on one side for retention, use free leg for hip control, or switch to collar sleeve guard to maintain frames while adjusting position
- Opponent grabs your pants/belt and establishes heavy grips (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Use foot on bicep to push that arm away and break their grip, kick free leg to prevent being controlled, and shrimp to create angle that makes their grips less effective
- Opponent steps back with one leg to create wide base (Effectiveness: Low) - Your Response: Remove foot from bicep on that side and transition to single spider variation, use free leg to control their hip or enter De La Riva guard on the posted leg
- Opponent circles aggressively to pass around spider (Effectiveness: Medium) - Your Response: Follow their movement with your hips and shoulders, use outside foot to block their hip and prevent the angle, transition to reverse De La Riva or X-guard if they commit too far
Test Your Knowledge
Q1: What is the fundamental push-pull relationship that makes spider guard control effective? A: Your hands pull the opponent’s sleeves toward your hips while your feet push their biceps away from your body. This creates opposing forces that straighten their arms, compromise their base, and prevent them from establishing forward pressure or heavy grips on your legs. The tension between pushing and pulling is what maintains distance and creates the mechanical advantage for sweeps and submissions.
Q2: How should you adjust your spider guard when your opponent stands up versus when they stay on their knees? A: When opponent stands, extend your legs more to maintain distance, often transitioning to single spider or standing spider guard variations for mobility. Consider flower sweep or single leg X-guard entries. When they’re on knees, you can maintain tighter spider with more bent legs, focusing on collar sleeve variations, triangles, and scissor sweeps. Standing opponents require more dynamic hip movement to track their motion.
Q3: What are the key indicators that tell you when to transition from spider guard to lasso guard? A: Transition to lasso when opponent drops their weight and tries to pressure pass, when they’re attempting to strip your grips by driving elbows down, or when you want to completely immobilize one arm for omoplata or sweep setups. The lasso provides stronger retention against pressure but sacrifices some mobility. Also transition to lasso when opponent is larger and maintaining full spider distance becomes fatiguing.
Q4: Why is it critical to maintain sleeve control all the way to the wrist rather than gripping higher on the forearm or elbow? A: Wrist control gives you maximum leverage over their entire arm and prevents them from rotating their grip to break your control. Higher grips allow them to circle their hand and strip your grip more easily. Wrist control also allows you to manipulate their posture more effectively, creates better angles for sweeps, and prevents them from establishing strong grips on your pants or belt. The further from their center of mass you control, the more leverage you have.
Q5: How do you chain together sweep attempts and submission attacks from spider guard variations to create a complete offensive system? A: Use failed sweep attempts to set up submissions and vice versa. For example, when opponent defends flower sweep by sitting back, transition to triangle or omoplata. When they defend triangle by posturing hard, return to sweep attacks. If scissor sweep is defended, switch to collar drag or arm drag. The key is recognizing that every defensive commitment creates another opportunity. Advanced practitioners create false attacks to provoke specific reactions that set up their primary technique. Flow between collar sleeve for triangles, lasso for omoplatas, and double spider for sweeps based on opponent’s defensive choices.
Q6: What are the biomechanical principles that make spider guard more effective against certain body types and passing styles? A: Spider guard excels against upright, athletic passers who prefer speed over pressure because it maintains distance and controls their arms. It’s particularly effective against taller opponents because extended arms give you more leverage. Less effective against heavy pressure passers who can collapse the distance or extremely flexible opponents who can circle around the control. Against short, stocky opponents, the angles are harder to create. Knowing these matchup dynamics allows you to either adapt your variation selection or transition to more suitable guards like closed guard, half guard, or butterfly against unfavorable matchups.
Safety Considerations
Spider guard places significant stress on finger joints and grip strength, so warm up hands thoroughly and develop grip strength progressively. Avoid maintaining maximum leg extension continuously as this can fatigue hip flexors and lower back; instead use dynamic extension for attacks. When drilling with partners, communicate about grip intensity to prevent finger injuries. Be cautious when inverting from spider guard as this can strain neck and shoulders if done without proper preparation. If you feel sharp pain in fingers, release grips immediately to prevent tendon damage. Partners should avoid yanking arms violently to break spider grips as this can injure both parties’ fingers and wrists.
Position Integration
Spider guard variations serve as a central hub in modern open guard systems, providing a platform that connects to most other guards and positions. From spider, you can easily transition to De La Riva, reverse De La Riva, X-guard, single leg X, lasso guard, collar sleeve guard, and seated guard based on opponent’s reactions. This makes spider guard an essential position for building a comprehensive guard game. The sleeve control established in spider translates directly to standing guard scenarios, making it valuable for guard pulling strategies. Many high-level competitors use spider guard as their primary distance management tool before transitioning to their specialized guards (leg entanglements, 50/50, deep half). Understanding spider guard variations gives you the ability to control the pace of engagement and force opponents into uncomfortable positions while setting up your preferred attacks.
Expert Insights
- Danaher System: Spider guard represents a masterclass in the principle of using multiple points of control to create a mechanical advantage. The genius of the position lies in its use of opposing vectors - your hands pulling while your feet push - to create a force couple that disrupts your opponent’s structure. What makes spider guard variations so effective from a systematic perspective is that each variation addresses specific defensive strategies while maintaining the core mechanical principles. The transition from double spider to collar sleeve to lasso isn’t random; it’s a systematic response to your opponent’s postural changes and grip fighting. When teaching spider guard, I emphasize that students must understand the biomechanical why behind each variation. Double spider maximizes distance but requires significant energy; collar sleeve sacrifices some distance for stronger off-balancing toward triangles; lasso immobilizes one arm completely but reduces mobility. Each choice has trade-offs, and intelligent guard players select variations based on their opponent’s body type, passing style, and defensive tendencies. The mark of mastery in spider guard isn’t executing perfect technique in isolation, but rather making correct variation selections based on constantly changing tactical requirements.
- Gordon Ryan: In competition, spider guard variations are absolutely essential for controlling aggressive passers and setting up high-percentage attacks. What I love about spider is that it gives me complete control over the engagement distance - they can’t pressure me effectively because I’m controlling their arms and keeping them at the end of my legs. My go-to sequence is using double spider to frustrate their initial passing attempts, then transitioning to collar sleeve when I’m ready to attack triangles, which is one of my highest percentage submissions. The key to making spider guard work at the highest levels is understanding that it’s not just about holding the position - it’s about creating constant dilemmas for your opponent. When they try to strip my grips, I’m already transitioning to lasso or single spider. When they back away, I’m following with my hips and entering leg entanglements. You have to be one step ahead of their defensive reactions. I also use spider guard extensively in my guard pulling game because the sleeve grips give me immediate control after pulling, preventing them from establishing passing pressure during that vulnerable transition. Against high-level opponents, I’ll often mix spider with De La Riva and reverse De La Riva to create a guard system they can’t prepare for.
- Eddie Bravo: Spider guard variations are crucial in the 10th Planet system even though we’re primarily no-gi, because understanding the principles of distance management and limb control translates directly to our open guard concepts. When we do train in the gi, spider guard is one of the positions where having flexibility and creativity really pays off. I teach my students to think of spider guard as a launching pad for inverted attacks and unconventional sweeps that opponents don’t see coming. The lasso variation in particular opens up the entire omoplata game, which connects to our rubber guard system philosophies about shoulder manipulation and back takes. What’s interesting is that spider guard principles - controlling distance with legs while manipulating grips with hands - directly inform how we approach certain no-gi positions like butterfly guard with overhooks or collar ties. The biomechanics are similar even without the gi grips. My students learn to flow between spider variations rapidly, using opponent’s grip-stripping attempts to set up inverted guards or rolling attacks. We also emphasize the triangle game from spider because it fits our submission-first philosophy. Don’t just use spider to sweep; use it to create submission opportunities that lead to dominant positions.