diff --git a/lib/guard.rb b/lib/guard.rb
index 37653fb..6916f90 100644
--- a/lib/guard.rb
+++ b/lib/guard.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module Guard
   autoload :Hook,         'guard/hook'
 
   class << self
-    attr_accessor :options, :guards, :groups, :interactor, :listener
+    attr_accessor :options, :interactor, :listener
 
     # Initialize the Guard singleton.
     #
@@ -41,6 +41,46 @@ module Guard
       self
     end
 
+    # Smart accessor for retrieving a specific guard or several guards at once.
+    #
+    # @param [Object] filter an optional filter to retrieve specific guard(s).
+    # @option filter [String, Symbol] return the guard with the given name, or nil if not found
+    # @option filter [Regexp] returns all guards matching the Regexp, or [] if no guard match
+    # @option filter [NilClass] returns all guards
+    #
+    def guards(filter = nil)
+      case filter
+      when String, Symbol
+        @guards.find { |guard| guard.class.to_s.downcase.sub('guard::', '') == filter.to_s.downcase.gsub('-', '') }
+      when Regexp
+        @guards.find_all { |guard| guard.class.to_s.downcase.sub('guard::', '') =~ filter }
+      when Hash
+        filter.inject(@guards) do |matches, (k, v)|
+          matches.find_all { |guard| guard.send(k).to_sym == v.to_sym }
+        end
+      else
+        @guards
+      end
+    end
+
+    # Smart accessor for retrieving a specific group or several groups at once.
+    #
+    # @param [Object] filter an optional filter to retrieve specific group(s).
+    # @option filter [String, Symbol] return the group with the given name, or nil if not found
+    # @option filter [Regexp] returns all groups matching the Regexp, or [] if no group match
+    # @option filter [NilClass] returns all groups
+    #
+    def groups(filter = nil)
+      case filter
+      when String, Symbol
+        @groups.find { |group| group.name == filter.to_sym }
+      when Regexp
+        @groups.find_all { |group| group.name =~ filter }
+      else
+        @groups
+      end
+    end
+
     # Start Guard by evaluate the `Guardfile`, initialize the declared Guards
     # and start the available file change listener.
     #
@@ -141,9 +181,9 @@ module Guard
     # @param [Array] files the list of files to pass to the task
     #
     def execute_supervised_task_for_all_guards(task, files = nil)
-          guards.find_all { |guard| guard.group == group_hash[:name] }.each do |guard|
       groups.each do |group|
         catch group.options[:halt_on_fail] == true ? :task_has_failed : :no_catch do
+          guards(:group => group.name).each do |guard|
             if task == :run_on_change
               paths = Watcher.match_files(guard, files)
               UI.debug "#{guard.class.name}##{task} with #{paths.inspect}"
diff --git a/spec/guard_spec.rb b/spec/guard_spec.rb
index 714df2c..080dd97 100644
--- a/spec/guard_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/guard_spec.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ describe Guard do
     end
 
     it "initializes @groups" do
-      Guard.groups.should eql [{ :name => :default, :options => {} }]
+      described_class.groups[0].name.should eql :default
+      described_class.groups[0].options.should == {}
     end
 
     it "initializes the options" do
@@ -55,6 +56,99 @@ describe Guard do
     end
   end
 
+  describe ".guards" do
+
+    class Guard::FooBar < Guard::Guard; end
+    class Guard::FooBaz < Guard::Guard; end
+
+    subject do
+      guard = ::Guard.setup
+      @guard_foo_bar = Guard::FooBar.new([], { :group => 'backend' })
+      @guard_foo_baz = Guard::FooBaz.new([], { :group => 'frontend' })
+      guard.instance_variable_get("@guards").push(@guard_foo_bar)
+      guard.instance_variable_get("@guards").push(@guard_foo_baz)
+      guard
+    end
+
+    it "return @guards without any argument" do
+      subject.guards.should eql subject.instance_variable_get("@guards")
+    end
+
+    describe "find a guard by as string/symbol" do
+      it "find a guard by a string" do
+        subject.guards('foo-bar').should eql @guard_foo_bar
+      end
+
+      it "find a guard by a symbol" do
+        subject.guards(:'foo-bar').should eql @guard_foo_bar
+      end
+
+      it "returns nil if guard is not found" do
+        subject.guards('foo-foo').should be_nil
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "find guards matching a regexp" do
+      it "with matches" do
+        subject.guards(/^foo/).should eql [@guard_foo_bar, @guard_foo_baz]
+      end
+      
+      it "without matches" do
+        subject.guards(/foo$/).should eql []
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "find guards by their group" do
+      it "group name is a string" do
+        subject.guards(:group => 'backend').should eql [@guard_foo_bar]
+      end
+      it "group name is a symbol" do
+        subject.guards(:group => :frontend).should eql [@guard_foo_baz]
+      end
+
+      it "returns [] if guard is not found" do
+        subject.guards(:group => :unknown).should eql []
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe ".groups" do
+    subject do
+      guard = ::Guard.setup
+      @group_backend  = guard.add_group(:backend)
+      @group_backflip = guard.add_group(:backflip)
+      guard
+    end
+
+    it "return @groups without any argument" do
+      subject.groups.should eql subject.instance_variable_get("@groups")
+    end
+
+    describe "find a group by as string/symbol" do
+      it "find a group by a string" do
+        subject.groups('backend').should eql @group_backend
+      end
+
+      it "find a group by a symbol" do
+        subject.groups(:backend).should eql @group_backend
+      end
+
+      it "returns nil if group is not found" do
+        subject.groups(:foo).should be_nil
+      end
+    end
+
+    describe "find groups matching a regexp" do
+      it "with matches" do
+        subject.groups(/^back/).should eql [@group_backend, @group_backflip]
+      end
+      
+      it "without matches" do
+        subject.groups(/back$/).should eql []
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   describe ".start" do
     it "basic check that core methods are called" do
       opts = { :my_opts => true, :guardfile => File.join(@fixture_path, "Guardfile") }
@@ -135,19 +229,22 @@ describe Guard do
     it "accepts group name as string" do
       subject.add_group('backend')
 
-      subject.groups.should eql [{ :name => :default, :options => {} }, { :name => :backend, :options => {} }]
+      subject.groups[0].name.should eql :default
+      subject.groups[1].name.should eql :backend
     end
 
     it "accepts group name as symbol" do
       subject.add_group(:backend)
 
-      subject.groups.should eql [{ :name => :default, :options => {} }, { :name => :backend, :options => {} }]
+      subject.groups[0].name.should eql :default
+      subject.groups[1].name.should eql :backend
     end
 
     it "accepts options" do
       subject.add_group(:backend, { :halt_on_fail => true })
 
-      subject.groups.should eql [{ :name => :default, :options => {} }, { :name => :backend, :options => { :halt_on_fail => true } }]
+      subject.groups[0].options.should == {}
+      subject.groups[1].options.should == { :halt_on_fail => true }
     end
   end
 
@@ -282,7 +379,7 @@ describe Guard do
     before do
       @g = mock(Guard::Guard).as_null_object
       subject.guards.push(@g)
-      subject.groups.push({ :name => :foo, :options => { :halt_on_fail => true } })
+      subject.add_group(:foo, { :halt_on_fail => true })
     end
 
     context "with a task that succeed" do