Thursday, August 02, 2007

Half Guard Sweep with Twist

Here's a nice quick instructional on the "twist" sweep out of the half guard. It's the compliment to Old School that I'd been talking about, and I think it is the same sweep that Tommy was talking about this spring.

In any event, this guy makes it seem very easy--more so that Bravo's Twist Back, which seems to require more leg/foot dexterity than I've got these days ...

A couple of details worth noting.

This is no gi, but is perfectly applicable to the gi. I can grab the pants at the knee instead of underhooking the knee, for example.

Also, the guy makes a good point of not just driving the guy across your hips, but diagonally. To do this, you lift as you roll, rather than just trying to haul the guy over your body.

The guy doesn't make too much noise about keeping the one leg trapped, which has been a problem for me. I suspect I'm just opening up my legs when I go to pivot, instead of just scooting my hips in, goshi-style. It also wouldn't hurt for me to get small instead of remaining stretched out ...

A last detail. Whereas with Old School you backstep to avoid winding in the other guy's guard, with this sweep--which still needs a good name ... "New School"?--you actually do a sort of sitout with the sweep side leg, bringing back under you, so that you don't just roll into the other guy's half guard.

A nice find. I'm very much looking forward to an improved half-guard game over the next few weeks.