Eddie Bravo's 'old school' sweep + Brabo Choke

i'm bored so here goes, these are my experiences with this sweep. for those that don't know it you can find it on this eddie bravo highlight

http://www.bjjfighter.com/Video/twister.wmv

The Pros;

the 'lockdown' where you grapevine the trapped leg between your ankles- really stretches your opponent out and breaks down their posture making their pass harder, and the sweep easier.

most folk focus on defending the sweep where i'd reach under their free leg and sweep them across me, when they sit back to defend this they make the 'old school' sweep easier

if they defend by leaning forward and putting weight on you they open themselves up to the sweep i mentioned above

the most common defence is for them to post their free leg out wide so you can't grab the foot. this leaves a huge gap to bring the inside leg through for full guard, so at worst it's a sweep that helps improve position.

The cons;

half guard is like the last line of defence in a positional sense, so any mistakes can result in getting passed and dominated.

halfguard sucks if you get flattened out, if i can't get the underhook and they get head and arm control then i'm fucked and they're as good as passed.

when balled up and reaching in to get the foot for the sweep, there's always the threat of getting roughed up ie choked/cranked or just plain cross-faced. especially as my arms are trying to get the foot and can't defend the neck.

It's hard to time when to get up on my elbow and open my legs to get on my knees and sit up. gotta practice more i guess.


anyone else like to use 'old school' and got any thoughts on it?

 

I use it non stop when in half guard. i think I saw it on Marcio Feitosa instruktionals. Its really working

 

The modified anaconda choke seems to stifle it pretty good. I like to call it the knife choke. Everybody has been using that submission on guys in every tournament I been watching. I finally saw it work in MMA too. Usually I see it when a guy is side mounted and turns in to escape or come to the knees, but it works just as well on somebody playing halfguard. Feitosa shows it off in pictures, in the most recent issue of either Black Belt or maybe it was Bodyguard magazine. There is also a very nice version using the gi, but it's a sick sick move no gi.

www.greenwhaleproductions.com

 

moving shadow, you hit the nail on the head in the first post. biggest thing to make sure of in half guard is to not let your opponent flatten you out. it makes escaping to guard a bitch and sweeps are damn near impossible. i usually put in a hook to a half-butterfly guard when this happens and try to create space like that

 

When playing half guard, one little way to help make sure you are never flattened out is real simple. Do not let them control your head! As long as your head is free, you are free to move your hips. Let's say you are playing 1/2 guard and you have his right leg trapped. You want to make sure you use your right hand/forearm to constantly check his left bicep. This will improve your half guard so much you won't believe it. As long as your check that arm, he won't be able to control you head and you absolutely will not be flattened out. There are a couple of more details that are too hard to really explain in words, but have some fun with that for now.

www.greenwhaleproductions.com

 

thanks green whale, ill try that out tonight.

is the first choke you were talking about the "shaolin" half-guard choke? like an anaconda but with your arms switched and a different angle? im always getting this choke and ive got a nifty sidemount setup for it, but i can't finish it for shit, any tips?

 

Shaolin showed it in Grappling Mag a couple years ago but when he did it, he didn't have the guys arm trapped in there. It's way way easier to finish when his arm is stuck in there. Pull up the head to snug it in then grab the bicep, and the other hand grab his lat. Your sharp part of the wrist, that boney part, should be turned up so it's hurting his neck, this is why it sometimes feels like a neck crank. This move doesn't work well for people with really short arms, unless you're trying it on somebody who has a small neck. This is essentially the same move also known as the "D'arce choke" named after Joe D'arce. One of Renzo's guys.

www.greenwhaleproductions.com

 

word, renzo shows this choke a lot.

so the boney past of my wrist should be just to the side of the trachea right? i have short arms as well, but my problem is never closing the arm triangle. i think i may be sinking my arm in too deep, putting the fleshy part of my forearm against his artery instead of the boney part of my wrist.

 

This is all good half guard advice so far. I've found all of this to be true.

As for the choke Green Whale is talking about, you can find it here:

http://www.aesopian.com/143/brabo-choke-homework/

 

thanks for the link aesopian. i think you posted it in another thread as well. ive been meaning to try finishing it by going to my guard but i havent had the chance to try it yet.

 

Good thread. I just wanted to add that I was always taught to sprawl out while performing the brabo choke (choke that Greenwhale's describing) to increase your leverage to finish the guy.

 

Guess I was wrong, Shaolin does show it there as posted above WITH the arm inside. That move is absolutely brutal and is killing people in tournaments these days.

www.greenwhaleproductions.com

 

Let's decide on something here. This choke has WAY too many names. So far we have "The D'arce", Shaolin and brabo choke. And now the knife choke. I hear a lot of people confusing it with the anaconda (which itself gets called different things, such as "Nog choke"). Others just call it an arm triangle, side choke or head-and-arm choke.

I move that the official title be brabo choke because 1) its fighter nuetral and 2) it sounds the coolest.

 

ANYWAY, to the topic at hand (old school sweep), I have been working on it and have gotten it a couple times now, but my biggest problems have come from people who keep good base and won't give up their foot, usually followed by crushing and/or crossfacing me away from their foot. I would really like to see Eddie instruct it in detail, though you do get to see in almost every single fight in The Twister.

 

Yeah the old school is kinda tought to figure out all the details even though you can watch him do it over and over. The times I have hit it, I've been a little surprised. If you are half guard and trapping his right leg, it seems very important to pop that left shoulder into him real good.

www.greenwhaleproductions.com

 

Aesopian: I second your motion.

As for the old school sweep, if you are getting flattened by a crossface.... I usually switch to full guard (his leg is usually back to establish his base so you can't sweep) or I switch to butterfly (or quarter guard) and sweep him in the direction of the side he's crossfacing me.

 

Ho ho ho! It Christmas in July! My Underground sources have just supplied me with Stehpan Kesting's latest update, an interview with Marcio Feitosa and TWO brabo chokes!

Interview: http://www.grapplearts.com/Marcio-Feitosa.htm

Brabo choke with gi: http://www.grapplearts.com/Brabo-Gi-Choke.htm

Brabo choke no-gi: http://www.grapplearts.com/Brabo-No-Gi-Choke.htm

Merry Christmas!

 

great reply

 

Maybe this thread should be renamed: Eddie Bravo's old school sweep and the Brabo choke

 

Hey Mutt,
Do you just train night classes with Tinguinha. I was actually there Monday morning and did a little rolling. I was supposed to meet with Marcelo but we had some miscommunication and couldn't both make it but I came down anyways and had some fun rolling with some of the guys.

www.greenwhaleproductions.com