The Best Guards for BJJ Beginners (and Which Ones to Skip)

You’re Going to Pick the Wrong Guard

Most beginners pick their first guard the same way they pick a restaurant. Whatever’s closest and looks okay from the outside. Maybe your coach showed it once. Maybe the purple belt who keeps smashing you plays it. Maybe you saw a highlight reel on Instagram and thought, “That looks cool.”

And three years later, you’re deep into a guard that doesn’t match your body, doesn’t lead anywhere useful, and might be wrecking your knees.

So here’s the thing. A black belt with 18 years of mat time recently ranked every guard in jiu jitsu. All 28 of them. Josh McKinney, host of the I Suck At Jiu Jitsu Show and a 16-time IBJJF gold medalist, built a tier list based on four criteria: high-level effectiveness, cost to learn (including injury risk), ease of entry, and versatility across gi, no-gi, and MMA.

His rankings aren’t about what generates wins this week. They’re about what makes sense for the long game. And that’s exactly how beginners should think about guard selection.

Why Your Guard Choice Actually Matters

It takes roughly three years of focused work to reach a black belt level in a single guard. Three years of every positional spar, every question, every open mat being about that one position. That’s a serious investment.

And if you invest those years in a guard that tops out at B tier, you’re going to hit a wall. You’ll either have to start over with a better guard or spend years patching a system that has structural problems.

The right guard for a beginner does three things: it controls distance, it leads to other positions, and it doesn’t destroy your body while you’re learning it. Simple criteria. But most people ignore all three.

S Tier: The Guards Worth Building Your Game Around

These are the guards that work at the highest levels, don’t require extreme athleticism or flexibility, and connect to everything else in jiu jitsu. If you’re a beginner, start here.

Closed guard. This is the single best guard for someone starting out. It works in gi, no-gi, MMA, and self-defense. It controls posture, limits your opponent’s offense, and gives you time to think. Most people underestimate closed guard because it’s “basic.” But here’s what McKinney points out: most black belts will admit they’re not even close to mastering it, because nobody dedicates time to it anymore. That gap is your opportunity. Closed guard has stood the test of time for decades, and it will keep standing.

X guard. Probably the most powerful sweeping guard in all of jiu jitsu. When you get underneath someone in X guard, you’re controlling both of their feet at once. That neutralizes athleticism almost completely. It doesn’t matter if your opponent is stronger, faster, or 30 pounds heavier. Their explosiveness disappears when you own their base. X guard works in gi, no-gi, and has been used effectively in MMA by high-level fighters. It pairs naturally with single leg X and butterfly guard, so learning it builds connections across your entire game.

Butterfly guard. Butterfly earned S tier for good reason. It addresses distance, creates sweeping opportunities, and transitions directly into X guard when your opponent bases out. The catch is that the timing and feel take real work to develop. Sweeping athletic opponents from butterfly is harder than it looks. But the guard connects to so many other positions that the investment pays off many times over.

A Tier: Strong Complements to Your Main Guard

These guards are highly effective and worth dedicated practice, but they work best as part of a layered system rather than your only guard.

Knee shield (half guard). Knee shield controls distance by keeping your top knee as a frame against the passer’s torso. It’s one move away from butterfly, one move away from single leg X, and connects directly to several sweeps and submissions. McKinney put it in A tier because it addresses the most important thing a guard should do: stop someone from walking through you.

Single leg X. Almost as effective as X guard for sweeping and leg lock entries, but slightly harder to get into. If you’re already learning X guard, single leg X is the natural companion. The two together give you a complete system for dealing with standing opponents.

Seated guard. A practical, high-percentage guard for pulling guard or engaging from a seated position. It leads into shin-on-shin, which leads into X guard. Think of it as the entry point that connects to your best positions.

B Tier: Useful Tools, Not Foundations

These guards have real value in specific situations but shouldn’t be the center of your game as a beginner.

Turtle guard is a legitimate position, not just a mistake you end up in. But too many people get their backs taken from it. 50/50 is effective but symmetrical by design, which means your opponent has the same options you do. Coyote guard has strong wrestling connections but limited exits when it doesn’t work. Reverse De La Riva is more defensive than offensive in no-gi.

These all have a place. Just not as your primary guard.

Guards Beginners Should Skip (For Now)

Some guards look impressive on Instagram but will cost you years and possibly your joints.

Lockdown is taxing on the body, especially your neck and spine under pressure. It limits your offensive options and allows your opponent to get too close. It’s easier to learn to beat lockdown from top than it is to learn to play it from bottom.

Deep half guard puts you flat on your back carrying someone’s weight. People who get good at deep half almost always end up migrating to X guard anyway. Skip the detour.

Inverted guard had its moment 15 years ago. The injury risk is real, and the rest of the grappling world has largely figured out how to deal with it. It’s useful as a momentary guard retention movement, not as a position to build around.

Rubber guard controls posture beautifully and was literally designed for MMA. But the flexibility requirement and knee injury risk put it firmly in “not for beginners” territory.

Disconnected open guard (sitting in front of someone with no grips) against anyone fast is just asking to get passed. Get a connection first.

What We Teach at GJJ and Why

At Golden Jiu Jitsu in Golden, Colorado, our curriculum is built around the guards that score highest for long-term development: butterfly guard, closed guard, X guard, single leg X, and half guard with knee shield. Our guard retention system teaches you to maintain layers of defense so that losing one guard position drops you into the next one, not into a pin.

We also teach our students to think about guards as layers of distance. Each guard addresses a specific range. When your opponent beats one layer, you have another waiting. That mindset is more valuable than any single guard.

This is intentional. We picked these guards because they work across rulesets, don’t require extreme flexibility, connect to each other, and reward the kind of patient, layered game that gets better for decades.

Try a Class and See How It Feels

Your first class is free. You won’t be asked to pick a guard on day one. But you will start building the movement patterns that make these guards work.

Book your free class at Golden Jiu Jitsu