MMA Training Book Review: The X-Guard by Marcelo Garcia
Written by Mike on October 1, 2008 – 1:55 am -Marcelo Garcia is yet another accomplished grappler with a book that can be used for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, submission wrestling or even mixed martial arts training. After winning several Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships and many bjj competitions, he also tried his hand at the mma world debuting at K-1 Hero’s back in October 2007.
The X-guard is one of Marcelo Garcia’s signature moves. Generally, he uses nearly the length of his whole body to separate a partner’s legs. This creates tremenodous havoc on the other guy’s balance and can clear the way for sweeps or getting the back. In addition, he shows various control options such as lapel, sleeve and hand grips. There are of course, submissions galore in Garcia’s instructional with armbars, shoudlerlocks, chokes, kneebars and heelhooks from the X-guard.
Upholding the reputation of publisher Victory Belt, “The X-Guard” shows these techniques very well with multiple colored photos, multilple angles, for gi and no gi. The gi techniques can easily be converted to no gi for possible use in submission wrestling and mma training. The book even has handy coding for easy reference as to which moves are preferable for gi, no gi or both.
BJJ/ No Gi/ MMA Training: The X-Guard by Marcelo Garcia (cover)
Some practitioners will at first be intimidated by the flexibility and complicated moves that Marcelo Garcia shows in using the X-guard. Garcia though shows the basic concepts of the move in the first few pages so that beginning users of the X-guard can start slowly and learn at their own pace.
Another reason for purchasing this instructional book is Marcelo’s use of the butterfly guard. His concepts and sweeps from the position are extremely detailed, more so than most bjj or mma training books.
A few negatives are present though. This is another one of those instructionals that are not meant to be a beginner’s book for jiu-jitsu. Some basic moves have to be ingrained into a practitioner before trying out the X-guard, that can easily be taught by a legitimate bjj instructor. The X-guard is also something not too often seen in mma. This could be because trapping an opponent’s legs can leave his arms free for punching. Still, the sweeps from this open guard variant can easily be used in mma to obtain superior positioning, if not submissions. Something more useful inside the octagon or ring is Marcelo’s section on the butterfly guard. That section makes this book a must for those training mma and would like to improve their open guard instead of relying solely on the closed guard (or the referee to stand the competitors up).
For those who use the open guard or want to use it, Marcelo Garcia’s “The X-Guard” is a good instructional for advanced white belts and up.
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