Octopus Guard
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The octopus guard is a bottom position where you sit up beside the top player and reach an arm over their back instead of keeping them in front of you. From there, the passer's forward pressure feeds you toward their back rather than flattening you. Eduardo Telles popularized it, and Craig Jones rebuilt it for modern no-gi as Octopus Guard 2.0.
Why it works
Most guards fight to keep the passer square in front of you. The octopus guard gives up that fight: you come up to the passer's side, wrap an arm over the back, and stay attached. Each thing they do to escape, flattening you, squaring up, or circling away, opens the back or a sweep, so it is learned as a set of reactions rather than a position to hold.
Getting there
The usual ways in are from half guard when the top player's head drops low, from losing the underhook battle, or from turtle when you can sit out to their side. Once the arm is over the back, the main branches are taking the back, sweeping to come up on top, and re-guarding when the passer backs out.
Octopus Guard 2.0
Craig Jones' Octopus Guard 2.0 frames the position as a decision tree: read what the passer does with their base, their hips, and their direction, then follow that branch. That structure is why it maps cleanly into a flowchart, with one node per reaction.
Community flows for Octopus Guard
- Octopus Guard 2.0 by Craig Jones: Attach, Tilt, Redirect — Craig Jones' no-gi Octopus Guard 2.0: a deep reverse underhook (attach), hip bridge to off-balance (tilt), then redirect passers to back, legs, or top. Built…
- Lachy Lock: How Lachlan Giles Beat Marcelo Garcia — How Lachlan Giles beat Marcelo Garcia at ONE Fight Night 38: Marcelo's pressure passing, Lachlan's guard retention, and the leg entanglement entries. Marcelo…
- Armbar Study Guide: Escapes, Grips, and Juji Gatame Control — Armbar flow chart: escapes and combos, grips and grip breaks, armbar types ranked by control up to S-mount, and entries from closed guard and north-south…
- Tal Pistiner (@talpisti): OC Fall Open 2026 — Tal Pistiner (@talpisti, Alliance) at the IBJJF Orange County Fall International Open 2026: Brown Feather bronze, Brown Open Class bronze. Two bronzes in one…
- Jonah Medina (@yonah_medina): OC Fall Open 2026 — Jonah Medina (@yonah_medina, Sektor BJJ) at the IBJJF Orange County Fall International Open 2026: Purple Light silver. Three matches to the final. Every…
- Berlyn Davis (@berlyn_davisbjj): OC Fall Open 2026 — Berlyn Davis (@berlyn_davisbjj, AOJ) at the IBJJF Orange County Fall International Open 2026: Blue Light gold. Two matches. Two finishes from guard. Every…
- Wesley Possamai (@cenorexjj): OC Fall Open 2026 — Wesley Possamai (@cenorexjj, Marcio Andre Jiu-Jitsu) at the IBJJF Orange County Fall International Open 2026: Black Light gold. Every time on bottom, a sweep…
- Lorenzo Tarouco (@lorenzotaroucoo): OC Fall Open 2026 — Lorenzo Tarouco (@lorenzotaroucoo, Alliance) at the IBJJF Orange County Fall International Open 2026: Blue Heavy gold, Blue Open gold. Two golds, finished from…
- Vinny Magalhaes: Flower Sweep from Guard — Vinny Magalhaes (@vinnymma), ADCC World Champ and IBJJF No-Gi World Champ, maps the flower sweep: underhook and wrist control, breaking posture, driving the…
- James O'Connor's Closed Guard Attacks Off Sleeve And Collar — James O'Connor (@teamjamesoconnorbjj), BJJ black belt and academy owner, on four closed guard attacks off a sleeve and collar pull: arm lock, flower sweep…
- Livia Giles: X-Guard Leg Positioning and Pressure — Livia Giles (@livia_giles), 3x world champion and ADCC 2019 competitor, shows why the X-guard hooks sit where they do: hip hook drives back, the other leg…
- Jonathan Satava's Butterfly Guard Concepts — Jonathan Satava (@jtsatava), Marcelo Garcia black belt and No-Gi Pans champion, on butterfly guard: getting under their hips to elevate, reading their posture…
Frequently asked questions
What is the octopus guard in BJJ?
A bottom position where you sit up beside your opponent and wrap an arm over their back instead of keeping them in front of you. It turns their passing pressure into back takes and sweeps.
Who created the octopus guard?
Eduardo Telles is credited with popularizing it. Craig Jones later rebuilt it for no-gi in his Octopus Guard 2.0 instructional.
Does the octopus guard work in no-gi?
Yes. It depends on an arm over the back and body position rather than gi grips, so it works with or without the gi, and Octopus Guard 2.0 is built around no-gi.
Map your own Octopus Guard game
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