Closed guard (Xande, flower) sweep

[goatfury]

Here's a closed guard sweep I call the "Xande sweep" (after seeing Xande hit it vs Marcelo Garcia in 2004):

http://hubpages.com/sports/The-Closed-Guard-Xande-Sweep-a-BJJ-Tutorial

I've included some options when your partner posts. Check it out and let me know if it works for you!

 

[Leify]

Good stuff, but coming from an RJJ affiliate, there are important details I'd add about the flower sweep.

The lower you can grab on the pants the better. It creates a longer lever, and the pants are just easier to grip towards the ankle. Usually getting the pants grips involves doing a side crunch in to get a monkey grip at the ankle. Now when you kick the leg, you also pull pant leg to you and then stiff arm it up and across your body.

Once you open the guard and bring the foot down, hip escape slightly to the side of the down foot. You essentially force the knee in the butt position, weakening their base to that side, and by angling your hips, you're able to create a more powerful arc with your leg when you swing it for the sweep.

On another note, my favorite follow ups to the free arm post are: triangle (catching the posted arm inside), omoplata on the gripped arm when they try and rotate back to center, and hip bump into them while still controlling the sleeve to finish the sweep to mount (which has the back take, triangle, omaplata, belly down armbar options if it fails).

 

[goatfury]

On another note, my favorite follow ups to the free arm post are: triangle (catching the posted arm inside), omoplata on the gripped arm when they try and rotate back to center, and hip bump into them while still controlling the sleeve to finish the sweep to mount (which has the back take, triangle, omaplata, belly down armbar options if it fails).

Thanks for the clarification on some key details. I have personally found that grabbing too far down on the leg can present the issue that my arm is too long, and I can't actually follow through with the lift. I like the "hip under" detail, although I do feel that it can tip your hand if your partner is aware of this sweep. Haven't been able to hit the triangle yet, although I love it from the hip bump sweep.

 

[anaconda]

I agree with a lot of what Leify said. I like grabbing as low as possible.This has been my favorite sweep since blue belt.

I also think that an even sneakier way to do this is to use a behind the elbow/triceps grip instead of the sleeve grip. Works very well and it's a very non-threatening grip.

One tip which hasn't been mentioned - contrary to what one might expect, this sweep works better when the guy starts leaning back vs when they lean forward. So if they're down and lean back to regain posture, while their body is extended like that gives you a nice long lever to stretch them and get the sweep.

If they fall halfway and you have a good grip and don't want to go to belly down armbar, a lot of times I jam my foot in their hip (the foot on the same side as the hand gripping the pants) and use that to finish.

 

[anaconda]

One of my favorite setups for this is to go for a collar choke with one hand while my other hand grabs their pants. When they posture back and try to break that grip I grab their arm and sweep right away.

 

[goatfury]

I also think that an even sneakier way to do this is to use a behind the elbow/triceps grip instead of the sleeve grip. Works very well and it's a very non-threatening grip.

Definitely this. You do need to have solid inward pressure during the sweep, of course, but you can catch a lot of people who already know this sweep by being sneaky.

 

[the heed]

 

[goatfury]

Excellent details.

 

[Jiu Jitsuka]

I love this sweep. Lots of success with little risk.

 

[Uchi Mata]

I love this sweep. I find that even if the guy has really good base and manages to avoid going over, he's tilted so far to the sleeve grip side that his other arm is really easy to attack. Personally, I really like to take omoplatas and step over arm bars from there.

 

[the heed]

its just one of those moves that doesn't require any kind of physical attribute at all.
Anyone can do this with practice.

 

[Uchi Mata]

I love this sweep. I find that even if the guy has really good base and manages to avoid going over, he's tilted so far to the sleeve grip side that his other arm is really easy to attack. Personally, I really like to take omoplatas and step over arm bars from there.

Quoting myself because just today at lunch sparring a very good brown belt flower swept me, which I defended but left my arm behind, and now my elbow hurts. Shit works.

 

[goatfury]

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm a huge fan of this sweep, obviously. Such a high percentage, low risk move.