skribs113 133
Grandmaster
This is the best quarter guard guide on BJJ Fanatics. This is not a compliment. It's a statement of fact. It's the only quarter guard guide on BJJ Fanatics. Therefore it's the best. You may remember from a previous review that I mentioned I don't grade on a curve. This instructional will not be given a rating compared to the other quarter guard instructionals (because they don't exist) and it will not be given a default rating because it has no comparison. Instead, I will rate it based on its value as an instructional.
On a recent guard tier list, I believe quarter guard was the only guard rated F-tier. It's a pretty bad guard to build your game around. And while I agree with that, it's also the last line of defense to getting your guard passed. Having the skills to recover from quarter guard (or even better - attack from it) can make you dangerous when your guard retention is backed into a corner. A quarter-guard instructional has been on my mind for a while, and I'm glad to finally find one and have the time to watch it.
With all of that out of the way...this was an excellent instructional. As with a few others I've reviewed recently, I wish they took advantage of the video format and got more camera angles and slicker editing. But that's my only complaint. The techniques are performed at different angles to give you a full view of what's going on. The techniques work (I've already applied these concepts in live rolls). He shows entries to this position on purpose and as a failure drill. For example, you can pull specifically to quarter outside guard. Or you may end up in quarter outside guard if your opponent does a knee cut. Or if you fail at some other techniques.
He does a great job of keeping the video on topic, but also providing context. Whenever he demonstrates a sweep, he will demonstrate how he postures after the sweep to set up a pass...but doesn't waste time going into the pass itself. At one point, he references another instructional of his. My problem with Brian Glick's "Under Pressure: Leg Entanglements" was that he assumed you had already watched his clamp guard instructional. Wolfgang Heindel doesn't assume you've watched his previous instructional, and instead quickly demonstrates the technique to provide context. (And then plugs the other instructional if you want more detail).
One funny thing with this instructional is that between his accent and my hearing, I misheard a few things that raised some eyebrows until I realized what he actually said. A couple of these...
I really enjoyed this instructional. It covers a very subpar position, but its a position that you might find yourself in. It's somewhere in between a normal guard instructional and a defense instructional. Is quarter guard worth making your A game? Probably not. Is it worth knowing? Yes, because it's worth knowing how to escape dominant positions and escape submissions.
Overall, I rate this instructional SS-tier. It may be an F-tier guard, but it's a top-tier instructional for it. And sometimes you don't have a choice but to be in this spot.
Tiers are F, D, C, B, A, S, and SS.
On a recent guard tier list, I believe quarter guard was the only guard rated F-tier. It's a pretty bad guard to build your game around. And while I agree with that, it's also the last line of defense to getting your guard passed. Having the skills to recover from quarter guard (or even better - attack from it) can make you dangerous when your guard retention is backed into a corner. A quarter-guard instructional has been on my mind for a while, and I'm glad to finally find one and have the time to watch it.
With all of that out of the way...this was an excellent instructional. As with a few others I've reviewed recently, I wish they took advantage of the video format and got more camera angles and slicker editing. But that's my only complaint. The techniques are performed at different angles to give you a full view of what's going on. The techniques work (I've already applied these concepts in live rolls). He shows entries to this position on purpose and as a failure drill. For example, you can pull specifically to quarter outside guard. Or you may end up in quarter outside guard if your opponent does a knee cut. Or if you fail at some other techniques.
He does a great job of keeping the video on topic, but also providing context. Whenever he demonstrates a sweep, he will demonstrate how he postures after the sweep to set up a pass...but doesn't waste time going into the pass itself. At one point, he references another instructional of his. My problem with Brian Glick's "Under Pressure: Leg Entanglements" was that he assumed you had already watched his clamp guard instructional. Wolfgang Heindel doesn't assume you've watched his previous instructional, and instead quickly demonstrates the technique to provide context. (And then plugs the other instructional if you want more detail).
One funny thing with this instructional is that between his accent and my hearing, I misheard a few things that raised some eyebrows until I realized what he actually said. A couple of these...
- He said, "One thing that can happen in live [rolls] is you end up in this position."
I heard, "One thing that can happen in life is you end up in this position." - He said, "If your opponent has good defense against this position, he is very familiar with it..."
I heard, "If your opponent has good defense against this position, he is very feminine with it..."
I really enjoyed this instructional. It covers a very subpar position, but its a position that you might find yourself in. It's somewhere in between a normal guard instructional and a defense instructional. Is quarter guard worth making your A game? Probably not. Is it worth knowing? Yes, because it's worth knowing how to escape dominant positions and escape submissions.
Overall, I rate this instructional SS-tier. It may be an F-tier guard, but it's a top-tier instructional for it. And sometimes you don't have a choice but to be in this spot.
Tiers are F, D, C, B, A, S, and SS.
