When it comes down to it, everybody is looking for the real deal. 

And there’s nothing more real deal than the Combat Sports!

But sometimes, it seems like the truth of the matter can get obscured by dogma, ritual, and the dreaded “ because we’ve always done it this way!”

That’s why to truly understand what we are doing in the Combat Sports arena…and subsequently kick butt and take names…

We gotta go back to the basics!

But just what do I mean by “the basics”, you ask? 

THAT MAGIC WORD 

Thomas Aquinas called it Telos. 

Aristotle called it the Final Cause. 

These days, we just call them Goals.

And at the end of the day, “the basics” of the Combat Sports are the Goals that are unique to each discipline. 

Whether it’s Wrestling, BJJ, or Boxing, each of the discipline’s unique Goals provide the secrets to success in the realest deal of them all…

But not in the way that you’d expect! 

3 BIG GOALS  

What’s the Goal of Grappling? 

Well, in all Grappling…whether it’s Wrestling, BJJ, what have you…you are trying to control the Hips and then the Shoulders. 

In Wrestling, you’re trying to control the Hips and/or Shoulders so you can pick your opponent up off the ground and lay him down flat. 

In BJJ, you’re trying to control the Hips and the Shoulders so your opponent can’t get up and submit you, and so instead you can get a submission at the joints of the Arms and/or the Legs. 

That’s the Goal!

In Boxing, you are trying to target the head and the vital organs of the torso with your fists. You do this to cause as much pain as possible to get your opponent to quit.  

That’s the Goal there!

But to achieve those Goals, you’ve got to master one word that has many different meanings…

THE TRUTH ABOUT BJJ GUARD 

That one word you’ve got to master is “Guard”…

But you’ve got to know ALL the meanings of the word to be able to get to the top of Mastery Mountain!

Most people know the term “Guard” today in the BJJ context. 

“Guard” in BJJ is when you are trying to prevent somebody from getting up to control your Hips by wrapping your legs around the bad guy.

By deploying Guard in BJJ, you are preventing your opponent from achieving his Goal of controlling your Hips and then your Shoulders. 

But in the context of Boxing, “Guard” is a totally different movement!

THE TRUTH ABOUT BOXING GUARD

“Guard” in Boxing is when you are trying to prevent somebody from hitting your head and torso by protecting them with bent arms in front of your head and torso. 

By deploying Guard in Boxing, you are preventing your opponent from achieving his Goal of causing punch-induced pain to the head and the vital organs of the torso.

And in the context of Wrestling, “Guard” is totally different still! 

THE TRUTH ABOUT WRESTLING GUARD 

“Guard” in Wrestling is when you are trying to prevent somebody from shooting to grab at your legs. You prevent this by pushing them away with your hands and keeping your legs and hips back. 

This is Guard in Wrestling!

By deploying Guard in Wrestling, you are preventing your opponent from achieving his Goal of grabbing your legs to remove your base in a take down…also known as picking you up off the ground so you fall down!

Guard in Wrestling prevents that, keeping you standing on your feet, so you can turn around and remove your opponent off the ground instead! 

THE 2 CATEGORIES OF GUARD

It’s interesting to note that when we look at Guard in all these different contexts, we find that Guard comes in two different categories. 

These two categories are: 

• Static 
• Dynamic

We find that Guard is static in BJJ and Boxing, while Guard is dynamic in Wrestling. 

But all this talk about Guard leads us to one big question…

How best do you train your Physical Capabilities to do Guard and to stop your opponent from achieving his Goals? 

HOW TO TRAIN BJJ GUARD 

When it comes to Guard in BJJ, two things stand out.

You need to have a lot of Anterior Chain Abdominal Strength. 

Things like Leg Raise for the Lower Abdominals and Seated Crunches for the Upper Abdominals, and the Pilates 100 exercise for both of them.

These things strengthen your Anterior Chain Abdominal Strength, and are the key to working Guard in BJJ. 

Second, you need to have a lot of Adductor Strength.Those are your inner thigh muscles. 

You’ve got to squeeze your opponent like an Anaconda in BJJ Guard, so you need to be doing a lot of things like dynamic reps on a simple Thigh Master, which you can get for $5 at any 5 and Below store, or isometrically squeezing a sandbag with your thighs. 

“Farmer” Burn’s, the famous early 20th Century Catch Wrestler, advocated the former type of training. 

That’s because in Catch Wrestling, they called BJJ Guard “The Scissor”, and
“Farmer” Burns found that isometrically squeezing a sandbag with your thighs best trained this capability. 

HOW TO TRAIN BOXING GUARD

When it comes to Guard in Boxing, there are a number of different exercise to give you a lot of bang for your buck

The first is Push-Ups. The second is Planks. When you do either one of them, you need to keep your elbows locked in close to your body, and your hands near your face. 

The third is Seated Crunches. These also work the Pectoral muscles needed to keep your arms up in front of your face in Boxing Guard.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth exercises for Guard in Boxing are Leg Raise for the Lower Abdominals and Seated Crunches for the Upper Abdominals, and the Pilates 100 exercise to tie them all together.

You may notice that these are all the same as the exercises for the BJJ Guard…and you’re right!

And while these exercises don’t help you keep your arms up in front of your face, they build an “Abdominal Wall” to protect your vital internal organs from painful blows.

And at the end of  the day, protecting your head and vital internal organs is what Boxing Guard is all about!

HOW TO TRAIN WRESTLING GUARD  

When it comes to Guard in Wrestling, there are a number of different combos you can do to stay on your feet and push your opponent away.

The first combo is the Hindu Push-Up and Hindu Squat combo of Matt Furey fame, also know as Dands and Bethaks respectively by Tom Billinge of Waryoga. 

Hindu Push-Ups are great because they train the pushing away motion while keeping your hips far back. 

Hindu Squats are great because they train you to stay on your feet in a precarious balance situation…for reps. Just like you would while Wrestling. 

The second combo is the Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up and Kettlebell Swing of Pavel Tsatsouline fame.

The Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up is great because it isomtretically trains you to keep a heavy object pushed away from you, in all kinds of difficult and precarious body positions. Just like you would while Wrestling.

The Kettelbell Swings are great because they train you to keep your hips back and push away with the power of your hips and glutes. 

If you add the Calf Raise element of Triple Extension to it, as I have recorded the original Soviets doing, then you will get even more bang for you buck. 

That’s because you’ll be pushing up from the ground with your toes, through your hips, and through your arms. 

Lastly, a final combo is Bench Press and Weighted Hindu Squats.

The Bench Press pushes away as directly as it can get, and the Hindu Squats with weight give you the same benefits of balance as regular Hindu Squats, but add a pure strength element with the weights to it.

Whether it’s a Kettlebell behind the tailbone, racked Kettlebells in a front Squat position, Dumbbells at the Shoulders, a Barbell on the Back, or even a Barbell in the crooks of the arm Zercher style, the choice is yours!

At the end of the day, they all train for balance, because all forms of Hindu Squats…weighted or unweighted…take place on the toes, making a smaller base for balance challenge!

I’M ROOTING FOR YOU! 

Well there you have it!

All the Goals of each of the Combat Sports…plus all of their Guards, and how to train them, too!

Now you’ll be able to make sure that your General Physical Preparation is serving the Goals of your chosen Combat Sport….

And the truth is no longer obscured!

If you ask me, that’s as real deal as it gets.

Now go out there in the Ring and on the Mat…

And start kicking butt and taking names! 

I’m rooting for you!

Sincerely,

Richard Barrett 

11-09-2025

Written at 5:04 PM, somewhere in the USA…

Sources Cited 

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