Like Muffinho has said, you need to control the distance with some sort of 'shield' between you and the opponent's weight. That goes for any guard, be it inverted, open, deep half or whatever. This shield can be your foot, your knee, your hamstring or your hip. Either way, your body has to be in alignment in order to absorb the force. (Watch Ryan Hall's inverted guard DVD set.)
As for inverted guard not being a guard because someone can stomp your face, the same is much more true of a seated guard, yet nobody is slamming butterfly or single leg guard.
Now, hanging out upside-down with no grips on your opponent (which, as Muffinho stated, nobody does any more) would be suicide in a street fight or Pride rules MMA, but I'll be damned if anybody is gonna stomp my face as I spin through for a berimbolo or other dominant leg entanglement - my opponent would be too busy trying not to fall over. If you attack aggressively and use good guard fundamentals to prevent your opponent from controlling you, pretty much any guard can work in a real fight.
PTM2020 -Exactly
Shemhazai - Like Muffinho has said, you need to control the distance with some sort of 'shield' between you and the opponent's weight. That goes for any guard, be it inverted, open, deep half or whatever. This shield can be your foot, your knee, your hamstring or your hip. Either way, your body has to be in alignment in order to absorb the force. (Watch Ryan Hall's inverted guard DVD set.)Oh damn. Bracing for street fight/old school bumrush.
As for inverted guard not being a guard because someone can stomp your face, the same is much more true of a seated guard, yet nobody is slamming butterfly or single leg guard.
Now, hanging out upside-down with no grips on your opponent (which, as Muffinho stated, nobody does any more) would be suicide in a street fight or Pride rules MMA, but I'll be damned if anybody is gonna stomp my face as I spin through for a berimbolo or other dominant leg entanglement - my opponent would be too busy trying not to fall over. If you attack aggressively and use good guard fundamentals to prevent your opponent from controlling you, pretty much any guard can work in a real fight.
Any position that has this many caveats regarding when and how to use it safely is definitely not a position that is good for your long term health.
The only time i say its almost ok to use is as a last resort or very quick transitional position into a safer guard or submission. And that's if you don't get smashed and injured in that timeframe.
Oh, go on with that bs bro. Every position has many caveats as to when and how to use it.
90lb_weakling -Shemhazai - Like Muffinho has said, you need to control the distance with some sort of 'shield' between you and the opponent's weight. That goes for any guard, be it inverted, open, deep half or whatever. This shield can be your foot, your knee, your hamstring or your hip. Either way, your body has to be in alignment in order to absorb the force. (Watch Ryan Hall's inverted guard DVD set.)Oh damn. Bracing for street fight/old school bumrush.
As for inverted guard not being a guard because someone can stomp your face, the same is much more true of a seated guard, yet nobody is slamming butterfly or single leg guard.
Now, hanging out upside-down with no grips on your opponent (which, as Muffinho stated, nobody does any more) would be suicide in a street fight or Pride rules MMA, but I'll be damned if anybody is gonna stomp my face as I spin through for a berimbolo or other dominant leg entanglement - my opponent would be too busy trying not to fall over. If you attack aggressively and use good guard fundamentals to prevent your opponent from controlling you, pretty much any guard can work in a real fight.
I didn't mean to say I would look for the berimbolo as a go-to move in a streetfight, just that it could work if you were good at it and did happen to find yourself on bottom.
Obviously, you should avoid bottom position in a real fight. I happen to like fancy/dynamic open guard stuff (and would frankly rather use that to create distance and sweep/scramble to my feet than stay in closed guard if I ended up on bottom in a fight), but my strategy of choice in an altercation would be more along the lines of reverse headlock uchi mata to knee on belly/arm triangle. Wrestling and top game > guard offense.
Jessy30 - Oh, go on with that bs bro. Every position has many caveats as to when and how to use it.
I would love to hear the logic behind any argument that implies that the inverted guard in any position is safer on your body than any position that doesn't involve 3/4 of your own weight + your opponent's on your neck.
Can't use it at all. I know people always say this shouldn't be the case if you're doing it right, but it puts way too much strain on my neck and back.