Big Red
Green Belt
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I've begun to realise that sweeps are much more beautiful to see than submissions & although I want to bust many a submission on my opponents, I have great satisfaction when getting a sweep.
This is a big topic so I thought I'd aim it mainly for sweeps from closed guard. For me, the two most successful sweeps I can perform are the kimura grip sweep & the arm drag, scissor sweep. That is most probably not the correct names but at training, we rarely are given specific names for techniques unless it is triangle, kimura etc.
For those who may not get me, here is a brief description of the sweeps:
Kimura attempt to sweep
1. From closed guard, pull opponent towards you (the actual sweep works better if they lean right back or even just upright, but the majority of experienced grapplers keep a good balance between leaning too far back & too far forward) using your legs so they land with their arms either close to your body or even better, palm(s) down on the mat.
2. If you are wanting to attack their right arm you need to grab at their right wrist with your left palm & immediately swoop your own right hand over to the side of the arm you are attacking. Then, you pass that right hand around the back of their arm & grab your own wrist of your left hand.
3. If the kimura itself has failed (perhaps your opponent has countered the attack) yet you have maintained the position, it is more than likely that their right side of their body is still vulnerable. Their body is now not equally posted as they have one of the posts (in this case, their arm) gripped in a figure four style.
From this position, all you need to do is drop your closed guard & bridge your body to the side where the arm is being held. To aid the sweep, you can pull back towards your body.
Armbar attempt to scissor sweep
1. You have your opponent in closed guard & you have established a cross grip on their arm yet you cannot shift your body or isolate the arm well enough to attempt an armbar. The cross grip, is a good technique to trap an opponents arm. I am usually pretty lazy with this grip but I notice a big difference with the security I obtain when doing the grip properly.
The grip, if attacking the left arm, is like so. You grab at their left wrist with your right hand & hold it close to your chest. In most cases, it is diffucult to have this secure as an opponent may be sweaty or strong enough to break a single handed grip. To make the grip stronger, pass your left hand onto the back of their tricep & try to pull their left arm to the right side of their body (this makes it slightly easier to pop your hips up for the submission & also gets them off balance). If the sub attempt has failed, you still have a good chance to sweep them from here.
2. If your foot is on their hips on half a leg is up their back, it probably isn't a bad position but I tend to go back to closed guard if the sub attempt has failed.
3. From here, in this case, we have their left arm, I would drop my right leg as a turn my hip to the right. I leave my leg next to their knee, the area of your leg is like the fold part between your calve & quad at the back.
3. From here, make a hook with your left left leg by placing your left shin on their belly (hooking your foot at their side makes the sweep easier to control your opponent).
4. The movements are normally easier to be done fast & in conjunction with one another, but this final bit will normally get your opponent off balance even if they see the move coming. From the hooked position, pull the trapped arm away from their body, towards your own & almost kick/push your hooked leg towards the arm that is trapped. The sweep normally lands you diagonal from your starting position.
Similar to the kimura sweep you are left pretty much with the original sub attempt failed, but you always have mount to work from, which isn't bad at all.
What are your own favourite sweeps. The two above are not pretty, but generally pretty effective. I often see guys pissed with people stalling & strongly defending their sub attempts. These may be able to help.
If possible, give a desciption of the sweeps. I haven't exactly given up on guard sub attempts, but I like sweeping, it is less expected by a newbie as a lot of guys seem to waste alot of energy working triangles that don't lock in.
This is a big topic so I thought I'd aim it mainly for sweeps from closed guard. For me, the two most successful sweeps I can perform are the kimura grip sweep & the arm drag, scissor sweep. That is most probably not the correct names but at training, we rarely are given specific names for techniques unless it is triangle, kimura etc.
For those who may not get me, here is a brief description of the sweeps:
Kimura attempt to sweep
1. From closed guard, pull opponent towards you (the actual sweep works better if they lean right back or even just upright, but the majority of experienced grapplers keep a good balance between leaning too far back & too far forward) using your legs so they land with their arms either close to your body or even better, palm(s) down on the mat.
2. If you are wanting to attack their right arm you need to grab at their right wrist with your left palm & immediately swoop your own right hand over to the side of the arm you are attacking. Then, you pass that right hand around the back of their arm & grab your own wrist of your left hand.
3. If the kimura itself has failed (perhaps your opponent has countered the attack) yet you have maintained the position, it is more than likely that their right side of their body is still vulnerable. Their body is now not equally posted as they have one of the posts (in this case, their arm) gripped in a figure four style.
From this position, all you need to do is drop your closed guard & bridge your body to the side where the arm is being held. To aid the sweep, you can pull back towards your body.
Armbar attempt to scissor sweep
1. You have your opponent in closed guard & you have established a cross grip on their arm yet you cannot shift your body or isolate the arm well enough to attempt an armbar. The cross grip, is a good technique to trap an opponents arm. I am usually pretty lazy with this grip but I notice a big difference with the security I obtain when doing the grip properly.
The grip, if attacking the left arm, is like so. You grab at their left wrist with your right hand & hold it close to your chest. In most cases, it is diffucult to have this secure as an opponent may be sweaty or strong enough to break a single handed grip. To make the grip stronger, pass your left hand onto the back of their tricep & try to pull their left arm to the right side of their body (this makes it slightly easier to pop your hips up for the submission & also gets them off balance). If the sub attempt has failed, you still have a good chance to sweep them from here.
2. If your foot is on their hips on half a leg is up their back, it probably isn't a bad position but I tend to go back to closed guard if the sub attempt has failed.
3. From here, in this case, we have their left arm, I would drop my right leg as a turn my hip to the right. I leave my leg next to their knee, the area of your leg is like the fold part between your calve & quad at the back.
3. From here, make a hook with your left left leg by placing your left shin on their belly (hooking your foot at their side makes the sweep easier to control your opponent).
4. The movements are normally easier to be done fast & in conjunction with one another, but this final bit will normally get your opponent off balance even if they see the move coming. From the hooked position, pull the trapped arm away from their body, towards your own & almost kick/push your hooked leg towards the arm that is trapped. The sweep normally lands you diagonal from your starting position.
Similar to the kimura sweep you are left pretty much with the original sub attempt failed, but you always have mount to work from, which isn't bad at all.
What are your own favourite sweeps. The two above are not pretty, but generally pretty effective. I often see guys pissed with people stalling & strongly defending their sub attempts. These may be able to help.
If possible, give a desciption of the sweeps. I haven't exactly given up on guard sub attempts, but I like sweeping, it is less expected by a newbie as a lot of guys seem to waste alot of energy working triangles that don't lock in.
