By Eduado Ferreira

Photo Eduardo Ferreira

Main characters of the article on the fifty-fifty (50/50) guard, published in this month’s edition of TATAME Magazine, Rafael Mendes, Guilherme Mendes, and Bruno Frazzato defended their position, which has been causing great controversy in the Jiu-Jitsu world. “We study and improve variations on it, and are more used to that situation during a match than the other athletes. The guard is just as efficient as other attacks from other guards that we’re used to doing,” claims Rafael.

The position is heavily criticized for leaving the executer in a favorable position while leaving the opponent in a defensive condition, a lot of times stalling the match. “It’s a position that has many variations of movements to be used, it’s up to the athlete to used them to their advantage in a match. I think doing anything and stopping can be considered stalling”, explains Frazzato. The World flyweight champion, Guilherme Mendes, guarantees that the position is not a setback, but an evolution of Jiu-Jitsu.

“The opponents complain, but that’s normal. Nobody loses and leaves happy, complimenting the other guy. One thing is to use a strategy to neutralize the opponent and sweep during a match, like we do, stalling is something else. There are many ways to interpret stalling. If you pull to half-guard and just hold the opponent there are you stalling? And if you pull to the spider guard and hold both sleeves and don’t attack, even with the open guard?”, asked Guilherme. The entire article you can read in the 162 edition of TATAME Magazine, on sale in newsstands everywhere in Brazil.

*Translation Pablo Silva