Half Guard Sweep 2

Technique

Leg take half guard sweep

The second half guard sweep we practised gives you the option of  'entering' from the other side of your opponent.  So rather than a deep half guard, you will effectively sweep from the outside.

Again you will start from the same active half guard position.

You will also take a very deep underhook and enter deep under your opponent.  However, this time using your cross face blocking arm you will take your opponents belt or gi skirt, or both, in your hand. 

Then using your underhook hand you will swap the belt or skirt remaining as deep as possible.

Here your feet positioning is very important, your must swap your feet around so that you have a secure base on which to 'stand'.

 Then rise up onto your forearm, elbow and then knee so you are almost kneeling alongside your opponent.

To execute the sweep you must drive forward grabbing your opponents knee.

To pass make sure you hold onto the lapel, sprawl, exert 100 kilos of pressure on your opponent but keeping your hips as low as possible and walk on your toes.

To secure the side control you must then swap the skirt/belt back to the other hand.

To complete the pass continue to exert pressure and take neck control.

Half Guard Sweep 1

Technique

Deep half guard sweep

Once you have established your active half guard, its now time to attack.  There is a myriad of attacks you can launch from this position, but we will focus on two solid entry level sweeps.

The first is the deep half guard sweep.

From the active guard position you must move your position as deep as you can under your opponents body.  A very deep underhook is essential here, remember to try you get your shoulder deep under opponents arm pit. You can maintain your blocking cross face hand during this initial period.

However, once you are deep enough you will find that your opponents ability to apply the cross face will be severely limited.

Once you have the deep underhook you must use the cross face blocking arm to reach under your opponent and grab inside your opponents far leg.

An important detail here is to 'superman' your opponent, this mean driving his weight over your body.  Once your opponent is 'supermaned' your must then bring your opponents knee over your shoulder.

The sweep is completed by rising up to your forearm, elbow.

And then your knees.

When finishing the sweep, remember to keep hold of the leg, this limits your opponents ability to pull guard.

Establishing Half Guard

Technique

Half Guard

Concept

Establishing half guard
Defending half guard

The focus of the sessions for the majority of August have been half guard.  This is one of the most widely used guards in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but can be one of the most technical positions to 'master'.

When establishing half guard its important to ensure you are active and not inactive. In practice this means you must ensure that you on your side, almost in a foetal position.

The position of your arms is also key here, you must ensure that you have control over your opponent to prevent him from flattening you out.  For this first in-depth look at the Half Guard we recommend you take an underhook with the arm furthest away from the ground, whilst the other hand blocks the arm which will attempt to 'cross face' you.

This is best exemplified by looking at the flattened out half guard position. Here we can see that without the underhook, your opponent has the opportunity to cross face, underhook, and flatten.

To defend the attacking half guard position, you need to stop your opponent from establishing his side and arm positions. As mentioned above you need to underhook, cross face to flatten out your opponent. This may sound simple, but you really need to ensure you engage your hips and apply 100 kilos of pressure to your opponent.

The other half guard position worth looking at is the long range half guard.  This utilises your knees and shins to create distance between you and your opponent.