BUTTERFLY HALF POSITION

Butterfly half is the hybrid bottom-game configuration combining butterfly hook on one side with half-guard leg trap on the other side. The position is one of the most versatile modern bottom-game configurations and has become standard pedagogy at academies that emphasize hybrid open-guard systems. The configuration provides offensive and defensive options that neither pure butterfly nor pure half-guard accesses alone.

The mechanics involve the bottom player with one foot hooked under the opponent's same-side thigh (butterfly hook) and the opponent's far-side leg trapped between the bottom player's legs (half-guard). The bottom player's hands typically engage with the opponent's far-side arm or upper body. From butterfly half the bottom player can: elevate the butterfly hook to sweep (when the underhook supports the elevation); transition to deep half by burrowing; convert to full butterfly by retrieving the trapped leg; or work the half-guard underhook sweep system.

Butterfly half has been refined by Bernardo Faria, Tom DeBlass, and various modern half-guard specialists. The configuration is particularly effective as a transitional position during open-guard scrambles. Defensively the position is countered by maintaining wide base, by establishing whizzer to neutralize underhook attacks, or by passing on the half-guard side rather than the butterfly side.