Standing vs Seated Guard
Mat mode
1:30
Tell the roomPass, or take them down if they stand.
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Notes (this phone)
TOP PLAYER
POSITION
Standing, about one body length from seated partner.
OBJECTIVE
Pass, or take them down if they stand.
CONSTRAINTS
The standing player cannot stall outside engagement range — at fifteen seconds without engagement attempts, the round resets. Heel hooks are not finished; entanglement establishment counts as a win. Reset when either win condition is achieved, when both players end up standing, or after the round time expires. Roles switch each rep. Default rounds 1:30.
WIN CONDITION
Pass to a position above the knee line with three seconds of clear separation, or score a takedown if the seated player stands up to engage.
BOTTOM PLAYER
POSITION
Butterfly or seated guard.
OBJECTIVE
Sweep, wrestle up, or lock a confirmed entanglement.
CONSTRAINTS
Ashi, outside ashi, or K-guard entries allowed. Heel-hook finishes off. Same named reset and role rotation.
WIN CONDITION
Sweep the standing player to the mat, come up to a takedown of the standing player, or establish a confirmed leg entanglement (ashi garami or outside ashi) with hip-to-hip connection for three seconds.
Original positional game. Standing vs Seated Guard. GAME-STD-vs-GUARD-PULL.
Problem
Standing, about one body length from seated partner.
Tell the room
Pass, or take them down if they stand. Sweep, wrestle up, or lock a confirmed entanglement.
Setup
Standing, about one body length from seated partner. Butterfly or seated guard.
Score
Pass to a position above the knee line with three seconds of clear separation, or score a takedown if the seated player stands up to engage. Sweep the standing player to the mat, come up to a takedown of the standing player, or establish a confirmed leg entanglement (ashi garami or outside ashi) with hip-to-hip connection for three seconds.
Rules
- The standing player cannot stall outside engagement range — at fifteen seconds without engagement attempts, the round resets.
- Heel hooks are not finished; entanglement establishment counts as a win.
- Reset when either win condition is achieved, when both players end up standing, or after the round time expires.
- Roles switch each rep.
- Default rounds 1:30.
- Ashi, outside ashi, or K-guard entries allowed.
- Heel-hook finishes off.
- Same named reset and role rotation.
Progressions
Harder constraint variants from the source. Same game, tighter problem.
- Allow heel hook finishes for Proficient-and-above pairs only. The game becomes the closest live trainer for actual no-gi competitive standing-vs-guard exchanges.
- Add a time penalty for the standing player who disengages and resets — they lose access to the takedown win condition for the next ten seconds. Forces engagement decisions to be deliberate.
- Run with a coach who calls “stand!” mid-round, requiring the seated player to stand up immediately and engage in standing-vs-standing exchange. Trains the come-up-to-takedown sequence under live pressure.
standup