You should be facing your opponent on your side in a position that looks similar to a fetal position.
If you were to let your opponent get your back flat on the mat then he will have a much better chance of stopping your movement on the bottom and you will also feel much more of his weight on top of you.
It’s extremely important to make sure you stop your opponent from crossing facing around your head and gaining head control.
Use the paw grip to stop your opponent from gaining head control on you.
Your opponent is mainly going to try to gain head control on you most of the time by starting first to hook around your head with his arm that is further away from your body so you need to at least take the hand of your bottom arm and control his arm that is attacking your head. A very effective way to do this is by having all of your fingers close together forming something similar to a paw and controlling at your opponent’s bicep.
Many times stopping your opponent from getting head control is so important that you may have to use a double paw grip to prevent your opponent from getting head control.
Ideally you want to tuck your head deep under your opponent.
Getting an underhook with your top arm is a good position because it assist with helping you stay on your side, but you also need to be aware of certain attacks your opponent can do to you.
Be ready for your opponent to turn his hip down and work passes facing towards your legs similar to a reverse scarf hold position but while in half guard.
Another thing to focus on is preventing your opponent from crossing their ankles while in your half guard.
You should be aware of the position of your legs and the position of your opponent’s trapped leg at all times.
When you’re able to get low under your opponent you increase your opportunities to take your opponent’s base out and mess with your opponent’s balance.
Work on always compromising your opponents balance and do not let them settle on you.
Be aware of the pressure your opponent is putting on you.
Always look for your opponent’s arm that is closer to your top arm to be across your body/chest.
There may be times where your opponent’s arm that is closer to you ends up going past the front of your body.
To get their chest off of you and to gain some distance between the both of you make a frame across your opponent’s neck with your top arm.
Z-Half Guard – In this half guard position you will have your top shin across your opponent’s body.
Lock Down Half Guard – In this position you establish strong control of your opponents trapped leg by lacing it in a particular way with your legs.
Terfly Half Guard – In this half guard you have one of your opponent’s legs trapped and with your outside foot you tuck it under your opponent’s thigh that’s trapped very similar to how you would get a butterfly hook.
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