What quarter guard is
Quarter guard is a bottom position in which your legs hold only your partner’s foot, ankle or lower shin. It belongs to the half guard family in our guide to BJJ guards, and it is played in both the gi and no-gi.
Usually you end up in quarter guard because your partner has freed their knee from your half guard, for example during a knee cut, and is close to finishing the pass. It also happens under mount when you trap one foot as your partner climbs over, a position often called three-quarter mount. Some players enter it on purpose from a knee shield to set up a back take or a sweep. Instructors use the name for slightly different holds, so you will see it taught in more than one shape.
How to trap the leg and hold it
Clamp your legs around your partner’s ankle or lower shin, with your feet crossed or your legs locked together, so the foot cannot slide out.
Your upper body decides whether the position holds. Stay on your side, facing your partner, with an underhook or a forearm framing against their hip. From there you can still move your hips and bring your knee back inside. If you lie flat on your back, your partner can settle their chest on you, and the trapped foot only delays the pass.
Grips
- Pants grip on the trapped legHolding the pant leg at the thigh or lower leg keeps the foot from pulling free.
- UnderhookYour arm under their arm denies them the underhook on that side and lets you come up on your side.
- Frame on the hipA forearm or hand on their hip keeps their weight off you.
Main attacks
- Half guard recovery
- Back take
- Deep half entry
- Sweeps
Grips
- Hand on the knee or thighPushing the knee down or holding the thigh helps you trap the leg and keep it.
- UnderhookYour main upper-body connection, since there is no fabric to grip.
- Frame on the hipA forearm on the hip keeps their hips from settling onto yours.
Main attacks
- Half guard recovery
- Back take
- Deep half entry
- Sweeps
Distance
Half and knee shield
Recovering, sweeping and taking the back
The first goal from quarter guard is usually to recover half guard. Frame on the hip, move your hips away, and bring your knee back between your partner’s legs until you hold their thigh again. A butterfly hook or a knee shield can then rebuild the distance you had before.
If your partner stays heavy over you, you can go underneath instead. Bring your shoulders under their hips and wrap your arms around the trapped leg, which moves you toward deep half guard.
A partner who backsteps to free the foot turns away from you as they spin. Several instructors teach a quarter guard back take for that moment, following their turn to reach their back. Sweeps from quarter guard also use the trapped foot. Your partner cannot step that leg out to catch their balance, so a push or a lift toward that side has less to stop it.
How partners pass it, and how to respond
To finish the pass, partners often use a crossface, an arm across your face with shoulder pressure that turns your head away from them. With your head and spine twisted, holding the foot gets much harder. Others backstep, swinging their free leg behind them, or cut their knee through to side control or mount. Many passers keep their weight on you while they work the foot free, because pulling the leg straight back lifts that weight and gives you room to recover.
Get your underhook or hip frame in before their shoulder settles. If the crossface is already set, frame across their shoulder or neck to push their upper body back before you try to recover your knee.
Common quarter guard mistakes
Waiting in quarter guard is a common problem. Each moment you spend only holding the foot, without working to recover your knee or go underneath, gives your partner time to free it.
Reaching too far with your frame arm is another. A straight arm leaves space under your elbow, and your partner can dig an underhook there and use it to flatten you.
What a reviewer looks for when quarter guard shows up
On footage, a reviewer first separates the times you chose quarter guard from the times you landed there because a half guard was passing. They follow what came next: how often you got back to half guard, how often you went to deep half or the back, and how often the pass finished. A verified black belt reviewing your training rolls or matches can show which connection gave way first: the underhook, the frame or the hold on the foot.