also: くいぜをまもる
expression, godan verb (-ru)
stick stubbornly to old ways; be overly conservative; refuse to adapt
Idiomatic expression from a Chinese fable in the Han Feizi about a farmer who guarded a tree stump waiting for another hare to run into it. Used to criticize someone who clings to outdated methods or refuses to change with the times. The literal meaning 'guard the tree stub' is not used in modern Japanese outside of explaining the idiom's origin.
古いやり方にこだわって株を守るようなことをしていては、進歩はない。
If you cling to old methods like guarding a tree stump, there will be no progress.
時代が変わったのに、彼はまだ株を守っている。
Even though times have changed, he still stubbornly sticks to his old ways.