Inside the University 741 - Protect Yourself and Recover Your Guard

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Breaking down the steps of recovering guard, Saulo shows the necessary movements to first protect yourself, and then look to recover guard. His main concern is always to protect himself, which is why he keeps his hands close, and doesn't overextend to reach for his opponent.

Inside the University 740 - Placing Your Hands Under Your Body

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Now Saulo points out that your hands should stay under your body when turning belly down. Many times people will reach for the legs and get stuck because of this. If you are reaching for the legs, it should be in effort to take your opponent down. However, in this case, we are looking to recover guard, so he keeps his hands near his body for protection.

Inside the University 739 - Turning Belly Down

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Tying all his movements together, Saulo shows how to avoid getting stuck in turtle when turning belly down. After escaping his hips and bringing his bottom leg through, he doesn't hang out on his knees, allowing his opponent to set up attacks. Instead he brings his other leg to S position and falls back, where he can reset his guard.

Inside the University 738 - Framing with Your Knee

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Now Saulo focuses on the importance of recovering guard with two specific movements after turning on his side. When he brings his knee in the first time, this is to set his frame. He is not yet looking to recover because he doesn't have the space. Next he escapes his hips, and now he has the space to bring his knee in more and begin to recover.

Inside the University 537 - Framing Before Recovering

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Now Saulo focuses on the importance of recovering guard with two specific movements after turning on his side. When he brings his knee in the first time, this is to set his frame. He is not yet looking to recover because he doesn't have the space. Next he escapes his hips, and now he has the space to bring his knee in more and begin to recover.

Inside the University 535 - Recovering Guard when Your Opponent Passes Your Legs

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Saulo's opponent is passing his guard, so as soon as he gets around the legs, Saulo's first move is to turn on his side at his 45 degree angle, with both elbows attached to his body. His opponent drops his weight to put pressure, so Saulo bridges to create space. If he now has room to move his hips, he brings his legs in to recover guard.

Inside the University 501 - Sweeping the Floor with Your Feet

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One detail Xande points out here is that it is not good to stomp your feet on the mat to gain leverage for your bumps when you want to escape. Instead, he is just sweeping the mat as he takes small steps away from his opponent. This allows him to stay connected to the mat, ready to react whenever necessary, and also does not telegraph his next move to his opponent. Now he works his side control escape drill with this in mind, and focuses on keeping a connection with the mat.

Inside the University 500 - Setting Up the Hip Bump

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Touching on a common mistake, Xande points out how he does not like to make a big hip bump right away. Instead, he moves a little to makes some space, makes sure his frames are in place and then makes his big hip bump and extends his body. Sometimes he even waits for a reaction from his opponent to time his bump. Also, he makes sure to keep his frames in place until he has recovered his guard.

Inside the University 499 - Pushing Off the Shoulder

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Fine tuning some details, Xande explains how he places his top hand at his opponent's clavicle, with the edge of the pinky finger side making the initial contact. His other hand can stay down at the hip to keep a block and feel his opponent's movement. After Xande makes his first hip bump, now he can extend his upper body to straighten his arm, rather than just trying to push the shoulder away. This gives him the space he needs to bring his leg back in and recover his guard.

Inside the University 498 - Replacing Guard from Side Control

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With his opponent on his side control, Xande places both hands on his opponent's shoulder, his outside foot flat on the mat and his inside foot on its side with his knee attached to the body. He steps his flat foot out a bit and makes his first small hip escape. Now he has a little space to take another step and push off the shoulder for a big hip escape, and he can bring his leg in to begin replacing guard.

Inside the University 470 - Pushing Yourself Out of a Hole

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Using the idea of pushing himself up out of a hole, Xande explains the importance of pushing at the correct angle when escaping side control or recovering guard. When he pushes off his opponent, his arms directed down from his body, not away in front. This gives him the leverage and space he needs to escape and recover.

Inside the University 469 - Anticipating Side Control

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Xande emphasizes a very important point that he is not so much playing guard at this point as he is anticipating and defending side control. With that in mind, his continuous focus is on keeping his foot out wide to keep stepping and escaping his hips so he has the space to bring his elbow frame inside. It's also very important that he does not get stuck flat on his back, and he is always working from his side.