“Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.” That’s one of my favorite sayings. Most things can be good in moderation. Excessive overuse, however, will turn even something good for you into something bad. For the most part I try to take wisdom from this adage when it comes to things I like doing.
That being said, I’m clearly addicted to BJJ in a bad way, and it can’t be stopped. On or off the mat, I’m constantly thinking about it. Looking up ways to tweak my techniques, replaying the previous night’s class(es) and sparring sessions in my mind, thinking of what I want to work on and what I can or should try next class. I even obsess over things that aren’t directly about rolling, like when I’m going to workout to improve my pathetic excuse for cardio, or if I am finally going to start taking private lessons, or when I should compete, or how I’m going to manage to make it to at least 3 classes a week when I’m so busy with three jobs. See? Obsessing.
But enough about that. On to interesting stuff (i.e., techniques):
Oftentimes when an opponent stands in your guard they may step over one leg, and you will find yourself in a sort of “standing open half-guard.” From here it is important to quickly gain control, or you may find yourself on the bad end of a guard pass.
First, cross your legs so that your inner leg’s heel (I’ll use right leg for this example) is above your outer leg’s ankle. Grab the opponent’s right arm, as that’s the side of the trapped leg. Extend your legs up against the back of his right leg, and pull down the arm, to force him to step forward with his left foot, off-balance. Unlock your legs, then bring your hips up quick and wrap your right leg around his left, placing the heel of your foot on his left hip and your left foot hooking behind his hips. Your knees should be squeezing together around his left leg, right above the knee. Let’s call this the “leg wrap” position. When you are ready, continue by placing your left foot on the right knee so you can push away just a bit to make distance. Your right knee should come out from behind the leg so your shin is pressing against the inner thigh, with the instep still hooked behind the leg. Turn your body so your right shoulder is on the inside of his left foot, and underhook the leg. Now, extend your legs against the knee so you push his weight away from you. Post your left hand and right foot on the ground, using your left leg to keep distance. Once you are comfortable, execute a technical stand-up, putting the left leg back behind you by sliding it through between your posted limbs. Standing up, you’ll get either a sweep or a takedown.
It’s also common for your opponent to lower his base once caught in the half-guard from the beginning of the previous paragraph, in order to prevent getting pushed off-balance. In this case we can still lock in the “leg wrap” position. When the opponent comes down, grab the opponent’s right lapel (remember, that’s the same side as his trapped leg) with your left hand. Grab his left heel in the palm of your right hand with an overhook. Now bump your legs wrapped around his right leg up slightly, pulling down and to your left with your left hand. This will unbalance him slightly, taking the weight off his left leg. Now you can lift the foot, unlock your legs, and swing your right leg under, out, and around to place your heel on his left hip. Bring your left leg in next to clamp above the knee and secure the leg wrap. From here you have several options:
1. With overhook, twist out for sweep
As the heading describes, while maintaining an overhook around the foot, use the pressure of your knees twisting his leg outward to get a sweep. With your free right hand you can try to control his left arm so he will be unable to post and block the sweep.
2. Set up X-guard for technical stand-up sweep
First work to underhook his left leg near the Achilles tendon with your right arm. Place your left foot on his right knee and push to force him to create some space. Slip your right foot under his hips so that your foot is hooked where his right leg meets the torso. Your right knee should be sticking out behind him, pointing to your right. At this point you have the X-guard.
Pushing away with your legs now will upset his balance, and he will be forced to hop back, taking his weight off the left leg. To stand up, first place your left hand on the ground, then remove your right leg first and post the foot on the ground. Now execute a technical stand-up by swinging your left leg off his right knee and back through the gap between your left hand and right foot. By doing this you will be in a prime position to sweep out his other leg or secure some other takedown/sweep.
3. Use X-guard to sweep with one foot on hip and one behind heel
Beginning from the X-guard position as describe in #2, simply drop your left foot so that your ankle is hooking his right heel. Scissor your legs away from one another to sweep him backwards and come out on top.