Adam Wardzinski is known for being one of the best butterfly guard players in the history of the sport and his instructional, Butterfly Guard Re-discovered, is focused solely on his main area of expertise. The instructional is filmed solely in the gi and does make use of some gi grips, but everything he demonstrates can be translated into no gi with some minor adjustments to gripping. Everything he shows has been pressure-tested against the best competitors in the world, as Wardzinski has used his elite butterfly guard game to become the first European man to win an IBJJF World Championship.
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Adam Wardzinski: Butterfly Guard Re-discovered Review
Butterfly Guard Re-discovered by Adam Wardzinski is split into four different sections, and there’s around 3 hours of content in total. Each section covers a different guard that all link together and it’s presented in a way that naturally flows from one position to another. The instructional is formatted well, as it starts out with the fundamental elements of butterfly guard before moving on to more advanced concepts. It’s a great resource for anyone looking to work on their butterfly guard at any level, from white belt all the way through to being a competitor.
Basic Butterfly Sweep And Options
Adam Wardzinski focuses on the basic version of the butterfly sweep to start Butterfly Guard Re-discovered, but he dives really deep into options around it and after it. Not only does he explain how to dramatically increase your success rate with the basic sweep with the underhook but he also demonstrates options with an overhook instead, and without either. Wardzinski also explains how to finish the pass once you do come up on top, and a few completely different routes like taking the back or attacking an omoplata. This section alone provides an incredibly useful butterfly guard game, all built around the same fundamental sweep that the position is famous for.
Lazy Butterfly Guard
What Wardzinski calls the lazy butterfly guard is the same position as the classic butterfly, but laid back instead of sat upright. Although this might naturally seem like a weaker variation of the guard, Wardzinski actually demonstrates a strong sweep and submission threat that work well together to make the position dangerous. He also explains how to fight your way back to traditional butterfly guard and how to deal with common reactions that the opponent will give and use them to transition straight into attacks from Single-leg X guard instead.
Single-Leg X Guard
No study of butterfly guard would be complete without looking at Single-leg X guard as well, because the two positions are very closely related. Wardzinski shows several more options from Single-Leg X guard along with an entry to the position rather than relying on the opponent reaction he previously demonstrated. This is where Wardzinski goes even deeper into the idea of attacking in one direction to force an over-compensation in the other direction, and capitalising on it. By adding this to the butterfly guard and lazy butterfly guard games that Wardzinski has already broken down, anyone can now develop a series of attacks that link together through different positions and lead to either a submission or dominant top position.
Half-Butterfly Guard
The final section of Wardzinski’s instructional focuses on the half-butterfly guard, filling in another important gap in his system. He shows yet another strong sequence of attacks from this position too, but he also goes over ways to deal with an opponent’s passing attempts too. One of the most valuable insights from Wardzinski can be found here, as he spends several segments going over the classic John Wayne sweep and some options that branch off it. Although this often seen as a low-percentage technique by some competitors, Wardzinski has used it time and time again in elite competition and it’s easy to see why when he breaks it down.
Adam Wardzinski: Butterfly Guard Re-discovered Conclusion
Adam Wardzinski is able to show exactly why he’s one of the best butterfly guard players on the planet over the course of this instructional. By giving options from four different guards and explaining how they connect together, he’s able to give anyone going through it a completely functional guard to play. There’s no holes in what he presents and by going over secondary attacks that capitalise on reactions to the initial attack, anyone who’s able to integrate this into their game will always have an answer for what their opponent does.
Click here to purchase Adam Wardzinski: Butterfly Guard Re-discovered instructional on BJJ Fanatics.
