Spider guard has become a mainstay guard these days and can be frustrating if you’re not prepared to deal with it. The most common passes usually involve the person attempting to pass by breaking a grip using mostly his arms and then throwing the legs like a Toriano pass, the entire time maintaining the distance that the person using the spider guard is looking for. Henry’s spider guard pass quickly eliminates the distance, and once again, forces his opponent to deal with his weight from the beginning.
1. Sean has his foot on the crook of Henry’s right elbow, with control of that same sleeve. Henry steps off to his left side, Sean’s right, and forces his weight onto Sean’s leg.
2. Henry’s weight is applied, not as just a “thrust,” but is being “applied” across and down onto Sean’s leg. This kills his control of the arm and puts Henry’s weight on top of Sean.
3. Henry keeps his weight on top of Sean, he’s practically in a side control position.
4. If Sean keeps control of Henry’s left arm with his foot, then Henry rotates his elbow over or can use his knee to free it.
Notice that during this pass Henry’s knees never contact the mat. If he were to drop to his knees after killing the control of his left arm, Sean would be able to recover by bringing his right knee up as a shield. If his knees hit the mat, then Sean wouldn’t be forced to deal with Henry’s weight.