The Single Leg X-Guard is a fantastic, dominant position you want to learn. Knowing how to use it will allow you to get more taps, and have more opportunities to get there. So let’s see what it is and why it’s so effective.
You set up the Single Leg X-Guard position by wrapping one of your legs around the opponent’s leg (the one that’s close to you.) You want to wrap your leg from the inward of his thigh and out to his hips. Finally, you slide your other leg between his legs and pinch both your legs together.
What this does is create a lot of pressure and control over this leg. However, a common misconception is to think that his other leg is free. While it seems that it is, you can control it as well. First, when you go for a sweep, you’re going to reach for his other leg’s ankle, allowing you to manipulate it.
But that’s not all. The fact that you control only one leg doesn’t equal not having some control over his other leg. That’s just untrue.
Anyways, I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m confident that this article will be the only resource you need to learn this fantastic guard position. So let’s dive into the first of this article: how to perform.
How to Single Leg X-Guard in BJJ
This part of the article will be entirely about basic execution. Before I demonstrate it, I want to emphasize a key point here. You must go through the basics thoroughly before you advance into the more advanced moves, such as sweeps and submissions.
Thus, I’ve dedicated two out of four parts of this article to the fundamentals, as you’ll see in the following section. I’ve done so thoughtfully, so please don’t skip them. It’ll be more difficult to learn if you skip them. So how do you perform the Single Leg X?
You want to start at the bottom guard to start setting up the Single Leg X-Guard. Let’s assume you want to control the opponent’s right leg. In that case, you wrap your left leg around his right leg, starting inward and placing your left foot on his hips while sliding your right leg between his leg and pinching.
This is it. That’s how simple it is. To further your understanding, please watch the following video.
I know it might seem odd and unintuitive at first. However, you’re going to find a lot of success with it once you’re done with this article. Now, let’s dive into its fundamentals, but let’s dive more deeply than we did now.
Single Leg X-Guard Fundamentals
Alright. So you now know what the Single Leg X-Guard is. You’re in a great place to continue diving more deeply into this effective position. You’ll get more results with it if you have a solid foundation that you have built through correct learning.
And this is what this article is designed to do. It’s designed for correct learning. So, alright. I want to start reviewing the practical material already. Without further ado, let’s dive into the first fundamental.
#1 – Control his far leg’s ankle (with your hand)
The first fundamental we’ll review is controlling the opponent’s far leg’s ankle. So by now, you understand that you control one of the opponent’s legs. That’s great because it allows you to attack more effectively, as the opponent will find it difficult to counter your leg grips.
Now when you plan to go for a sweep, you must control the opponent’s far leg’s ankle. You do so by reaching with your arm and cupping it, that’s in No-Gi BJJ. However, if you’re playing BJJ with Gi, you want to either cup his ankle or grip the sleeve there.
Now before we move on to the next fundamental, if you want to know the difference between Gi and No-Gi BJJ, follow this link. Likewise, if you want to buy a Gi that will serve you for your BJJ journey, follow the 2nd link!
#2 – Pinch your legs together
The 2nd thing you want to ensure you’re doing is pinching your legs together. I’ve seen plenty of coaches express their opinions on this topic. And through their opinions—I’ve come to one conclusion: pinching your legs together will create more pressure, resulting in more panic from the opponent’s side.
But it won’t only cause panic. What it’ll also do is permit you to fully lean on the leg you’re isolating. This is great news because fully leaning on the opponent’s leg will make it more difficult for him to escape.
The bottom line is: pinch your legs together to create more leg pressure and control.
#3 – Get deep under the opponent
The last fundamental of the Single Leg X-Guard is to get deep under the opponent. That’s, of course, before you even wrap your legs around the leg you’re targeting. You want your head to be under his hips. That’s how deep you want to be.
The deeper you are, the more force you’ll have when wrapping your legs. And that’s, again, fantastic news.
These were the fundamentals. By now, hopefully, you’ve been able to understand everything, as I’ve tried to minimize all the complicated language and give you the raw details.
You’re now ready to advance through and start learning about two sweeps which will help you attain a more dominant position over the opponent and the upper hand in the fight.
Before we dive in, if you want to learn about BJJ’s best sweeps, including details instructions on each one, and thus, boost your sweeping knowledge and skills, follow the above link.
Single Leg X-Guard Sweeps
Sweeps are your friend. Some grapplers don’t understand the impact sweeps can have on your success and winning rate in BJJ. They allow you to knock the opponent off-balance and you have a more dominant position.
Now a more dominant position isn’t necessarily Mount or Side Control, although these are great options we’ll review today, but a dominant position can be pre-submission. And, as a result, you’re going to apply said submission and finish the fight. And it all started with one sweep.
Enough intro; I want you to get on the mat and practice already. So let’s dive in!
#1 – Basic Single Leg Sweep
The first sweep we’ll review is both easy to learn and to execute. That’s why I’ve listed it as the first one. Consider learning it as soon as you’re done reading this article.
On a more broader note, it’ll be best to start practicing sweeps, and not submissions. That’s because the first leads to the second, and not the other way around.
Nevertheless, here’s how this Basic Single Leg Sweep works:
You start in a standard Single Leg X-Guard (as we’ve learned) and grab the opponent’s sleeve (of the same side of the leg you’re targeting.) Then, you bring your feet higher toward his hips and twist them. Finally, you push using your far leg’s knee (left on left, for instance) while pulling his sleeve.
And the opponent will fall to the ground!
This sweep is suitable for leg locks. As the opponent falls, you’re going to maintain an ankle grip on the leg you previously were targeting with your guard. From there, you can finish with the Straight Foot Lock.
#2 – Fancier-Looking Sweep
Before we dive into the steps to performing the: Fancier-Looking Sweep, know that this is the best name I found suitable for this technique. Trust me, I’ve been staring at the screen for a few good minutes and this is the name I found most suitable.
Anyways, let’s examine this sweep: why it’s fancier-looking and how to use it properly to get real results with it!
To perform this more advanced sweep, you want to start in a standard Single Leg X-Guard. Your next step is to elevate your hips while pinching your close elbow (on the same side of the leg you’re targeting) aside his foot. Finally, you rotate while maintaining all your grips.
Again, a pretty simple sweep. But, it’s definitely fancier-looking, as you end up with your belly facing down. Then the one thing left for you to do is set up a leg lock. You do that by twisting back while maintaining a Guillotine Hold on his foot. Going for the Straight Foot Lock after that—is ideal.
Single Leg X-Guard Submissions
So you now know how to sweep the opponent from when you’re in Single Leg X-Guard. Excellent! Sweeping the opponent and gaining a more dominant position is only useful if you know how to continue your move.
As a result, you must also learn to submit the opponent from the position you’ll end up in after the sweep itself. That’s why I encouraged you to learn sweeps before submissions. I hope you listened to my advice, which will shorten your learning time.
Which submissions can you learn and execute from the Single Leg X-Guard? The following list describes just that.
- Straight Foot Lock
- Heel Hook
- Kneebar
- Calf Crush
- Triangle Choke
- Back Take to Rear Naked Choke
- Armbar
- Straight Arm Lock
Let’s now review one of them, so you’ll have something to practice on. I chose this submission because it’s a great choice for the first one you learn, as it’s uncomplicated. Let’s review the steps to perform it from the SLX (I love this acronym.)
Straight Foot Lock From Single Leg X-Guard
I’ll keep this short, as I want you to get on the mat already! By the way, we only have one more section after that—and you’re done! I hope you’re excited—because I sure am.
To perform the Straight Foot Lock from the Single Leg X-Guard, you want to begin in the initial guard position. Then, you sweep the opponent by grabbing his sleeve, pushing your knee into his hips, while pulling his sleeve toward your chest. Finally, you grab his close ankle and hyperextend it to finish the submission.
This sweep I described was the Basic Single Leg Sweep I’ve reviewed previously. It’s the ideal sweep to transition into the Straight Foot Lock. Let’s break down the finishing mechanism. How do you hyperextend his foot and ankle once you got said grip?
The finishing mechanism of the Straight Foot Lock can be divided into two parts. The first is suffocating the ankle, which you can do by squeezing your biceps against the ankle. The 2nd one is rotating the foot and ankle, which is done by arching your back while looking backward.
The following video explains how to finish this submission properly.
How to Pass the Single Leg X-Guard
We’re now in the last part of this article. We’ve been able to review a bunch up until now. We covered the fundamentals, sweeps, and submissions. But what if you get caught in the Single Leg X? In this case, you want to know how to react to the opponent.
The last thing you want happening is to get caught in the SLX Guard and get swept. So we’ll now review a great, uncomplicated pass, designed to avoid getting swept while passing his guard.
Before we review it, if you feel like your guard passing game isn’t as solid as you want it to be, follow this link to learn about BJJ’s best guard passes and how and when to use each one.
To pass the Single Leg X-Guard, you first want to ensure your opponent can’t reach your far leg, which you do by stepping back. Then, you grab his toes and shin while placing all your weight on your other leg and sliding your shin on his belly. Finally, you push his shin down while stepping back and attaining Side Control.
Fairly simple stuff. Please watch the following video to further understand how this pass works.
Final Words
And that’s it! You’re now a more capable user of the Single Leg X-Guard position in BJJ. You know how to use it to sweep the opponent and finish the fight easily. These are fantastic news for those wanting to get more results from their BJJ training.
This position is definitely one of the best ones you want to learn when you’re a white/blue belt. Learning it early on in your journey will make it far easier to master it as you progress.
But the SLX Guard isn’t the most effective and dominant one. In fact, you want to learn other guard positions before you learn the SLX. Follow this link to learn about the best guard positions in BJJ and the order in which you want to learn them!
Here are other articles you’d enjoy reading:
BJJ 101: Reverse De La Riva Guard
X-Guard – BJJ 101 (How to Use and Finish)
BJJ 101: Spider Guard (The Proper Way)
BJJ 101: De La Riva Guard (Sweeps & Submissions)
BJJ 101: Butterfly Guard (Lots of Sweeps & Submissions)
Closed Guard 101 – Complete BJJ Guide
Pull Guard BJJ – Everything You Need to Know
13 Best Submissions From Closed & Open Guard (BJJ)
11 Best Half Guard Submissions From Top and Bottom