The Ultimate Guard Test (High Guard, Long Guard, Hands Down, Philly Shell)

In this video, I test out 4 different types of guards. In each round, I specifically use only one guard to show and talk about the pros and cons!

FIND ME:

#longguard #highguard #testingoutguards

[jelaneytaters]

The reason this channel is so great is Jeff actively pursues two of the most important and most forgotten concepts in martial arts. #1. Practical application: If it doesn't work spontaneously, it doesn't work.
#2. Personal application: Different things work for different people

And that's why we drill and spar so we can figure out OUR best fighting style by trial and error.

[MartialArtsJourney]

Awesome video! I'm recently learning to develop the high guard but kept wondering which guard would be best for me in the long run. This video answers so much. Thank you Jeff

[jelaneytaters]

I personally like the long guard, I especially think it's best for a no gloves situation. And I'm very focused on real life scenarios so I gravitate towards that, but admittedly I'm still fairly beginner skill level.

When I use the long guard though it's still fairly high and tight, so maybe it's half and half.

[pedrobrocato]

Fred is super Dope too... he deserves many kudos for being a great training partner, not just for you, but for us too.. Thank you Fred

[alotafhindi]

I like a long/high guard hybrid depending on my opponents range. Also I think body type plays a significant role in which guard you should use and can excel at.

[tyrikmoore]

Long guard and hands down are my favorite cuz it’s easier to switch between the two and set up attacks. You even can pressure with the long guard to create opportunities than get to the hands down get out of danger to reset. High guard and Philly are good too but situations is what determine when to use all these

[SlckRck]

My favorite is definitely long guard, not comfortable enough with my head movement yet for hands down but I want to be! Great content as always 🙏

[Reubengotgame]

You look most comfortable in the long guard. It seemed like you had more time and space to see punches and kicks coming. The biggest con I saw was that the long guard makes you almost forget to move your head.

[ScottLeeson]

Love the long guard, but coming from a boxing background myself, I like using the philly shell, especially if i'm looking to counterpunch

[AliothAncalagon]

I learned to like the Philly Shell in Self Defense.
Its a context where encountering many kicks or takedowns is not as likely anyway and you can throw great lowkicks as well, which is something nobody in self defense ever sees coming.

[leofedorov]

Excellent content, as always. Would add that gloves are a major factor. In a self-defense (no gloves) scenario - long guard is the safest option by far, unless cornered.

[THEpaulyBOY]

Jeff sparing is like a real fight they go hard in the gym fair play lads I’m nowhere near ready for that kind of sparring but damn you are both good fighters keep working hard bro and it’ll pay off when you are the UFC champion of the world 🌎!!!! Good luck god bless you all

[phillyfightworld]

I like my palms forward in the high guard. It allows me a greater chance to parry and i can feel the punches on the outside of the range vs the closer range of the palms in, which will give you 0 counter opportunities and you feel the shock of the impact more.

[sword]

Personally a big fan of low guard since I mainly like to focus on keeping distance and counter-striking. Really nice to see it get some recognition as a valid style!

[lukeskywalker]

Like you I switch up my guard and it really depends on who I'm fighting if I'm sparring a newcomer I'll use Philly shell and just defend so they can get use to striking. If I'm sparring some who's intermediate level I tend to go long arm so I can get quick shots in and teach them to keep their hands up and move. If I'm sparring someone more experienced or on the same level as me then I'll use helmet/turtle guard and switch to the Philly shell. Then if I'm sparring with a guy/girl that I've known for a while I'll go hands down just to have some fun

[AG-urlj]

‘Stuffing’ or stiff-arming your opponents with a long guard can also be turned into a shoulder roll (with arm extended) to avoid head kicks.

I say this because normally we shoulder roll while covering up the body, and often fighters using a long guard eat headkicks (a side effect of holding your opponent out headkicking range.) They will make the mistake of only leaning to the side, which isn’t enough movement to avoid the kick. By rolling with your arm still extended, you get your head out of the way and also deflect the kick some with your arm and back.

[kingades]

*You can still attack and counter with any guard. Specific offensive counter techniques are easier to pull off depending on the guard*

High guard-good for offensive aggression, not as good defensively. Vision can be blurred and harder to maintain distance

Long guard-helps to stay outside of striking range by keeping the lead hand out and extending the lead arm. Easy to get hit once someone gets into your lead arm range. This guard keeps everyone out of range. Jab and lead hooks are faster since the lead hand is already out instead of from the face. Parry and counter with the lead hook or parry and counter with the cross. If the opponent moves into the lead arm then the lead roundhouse kick to the body can be used. Even possible to blitz in with punches to stay in striking range if the opponent isn’t being aggressive or is also using the long guard

[BorninPurple]

Long guard is great, especially if you do standing hammer strikes (something the Ancient Greeks used to do a lot). Might be worth experimenting with.

[trojano]

I experimented a bit during sparring using the philly shell in kickbox/muaythai. To prevent a barrage of low kicks I simply lowered my height a little so they either had to kick calves (mostly easy to avoid) or risk kicking into my knee by accident. This also allowed for quick/partial checks, stepping forward at the same time to get closer into boxing/elbows range, sometimes throwing an overhand along or a solid jab to the face after the check. Sometimes it allows quick, unorthodox lead arm elbows in interesting targets too at this close distance, and also gets you too close for low kicks. Having my legs unusually bent also allowed for faster turning/swiving and level changes to avoid punches, also allowing a bit better footwork. But this was never tested against proper competitors, merely few sparring experiments/exercises. Still I would love to get back into training and re-develop that to see how far can I take it without getting KTFO
Much love and success, thanks for a great video Jeff!

[buffdude]

Philly shell is my favorite but like you said I’m always more susceptible to leg kicks. However if you shuffle step inside their kicking range and get inside I like to really bait my chin and intercept their punches with a clean shoulder roll and followup with a cross counter or liver punch combo off the 1/2. My bread and butter. As usual amazing content.