Knee Shield

What it is

The knee shield, also called Z guard, is a half guard with your top knee across your opponent's hips or chest, your shin like a bar between you. The shield keeps their weight off you, which is exactly what smashed half guard lacks, and it gives you a moment to frame, breathe and choose. Stay there too long and a good passer slices the knee straight through it.

What you want from here

• On bottom: you are in half guard and their chest pressure is coming, and you need to keep them off you.
• On bottom: you want a safe spot to set up an underhook and come up, kick through to butterfly, or recover full guard.
• On top: control the shield knee with a hand or your hip, push it down or past you, and pass with the knee cut or the weave.
• On top: keep your posture upright until you have dealt with the knee; leaning over the shield feeds the sweeps.

Key details

• Knee across the hips or the chest, shin angled, foot hooked by their ribs so they cannot push it to the mat easily.
• Bottom leg hooks their leg at the knee or the ankle, keeping the half guard closed.
• Frame with the top hand on their shoulder or bicep, so the shield and the arm share the work.
• Stay on your side. The shield only works with your hips angled toward them.
• Use the moment it buys: underhook and come up, kick through to butterfly, or pull the leg back to full guard.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: relaxing behind the shield and waiting. They push the knee down and the knee cut pass goes straight through.
• Mistake: letting your knee drift flat across your own body. It stops being a frame and becomes something to smash.
• Mistake: on top, leaning your chest over the shield. The bottom player kicks through and sweeps, or takes the back.

How it is escaped or passed

• Pushing the shield knee down and cutting through with the knee (the knee cut).
• Weaving the arm under the shield leg and smashing it across the body.
• Backstepping out of the half guard to the other side.