The Spider Guard, in Portuguese: Guarda Aranha, is a grappling position whose origin points to kosen judo, having later been further developed in the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu during the late 1980s.

The spider guard has many variations, but its most common use is when the guard player holds both of his opponent’s sleeves while placing each of his feet on the adversary’s biceps (right foot on left biceps/left foot on right biceps), this allows the guard player more range of movement on his hips which coincidentally stops the guard passer from applying pressure or controlling his head.

The spider guard is specific to the sporting aspect of BJJ with the use of the gi (kimono) and demands from the guard player great grip and leg strength as well as good flexibility.