Tonight I tried the Leopoldo v. Lutter sweep from the 2003 Pan Ams on Rodrigo during sparring. As you might imagine, Rodrigo was not swept. But it was indicative of a pretty damn good night on the tatame: moving, trying some moves I'd always liked but never really put in the mat time to perfect ... It's why I said that Monday nights are really "must train" nights. I'm terrible at open mats because I feel too self-conscious to ask people to roll. So the structured sparring on Monday nights, many times beginning with the specific position sparring, is absolutely perfect for me.
I was failing to get the one-legged X-guard a few times, mostly because I was not getting nearly deep enough. You need to get all the way under the guy, throw up the inside hook high under the target thigh, and then wrap the outside leg from behind the target leg, circling outside to inside and in front against the hip.
The other detail I missed, especially with Rodrigo but also with Stephen, was the hand game of getting into the X-guard, the overhook of one leg and the push on the other to create space to get your hooks in. I'll have to work on that.
One thing that was working okay was the "kimura sweep." What was so nice about it tonight is that I was able to get the sweep without doing a full kimura, just by stuffing the arm with my right hand, and butterfly hooking with my left hook up and over. It's the same sweep, just without a full kimura lock.
It's worth remembering that you are sweeping over the same shoulder that the kimura or arm stuff is. It's a really nice sweep.
Thinking about it, the Leopoldo sweep is a variation on the sweeps from moth guard that Rodrigo was showing a few weeks back. I think the trick to set it up is to pull on the knee and push with your knee as if you were doing a tackle. Then when he pulls the knee back to resist your pull, use that momentum to twist in the other diretion, flaring out your knee and the trapped arm on the sweep side and pushing on the knee out and up.
You also want to watch the footwork. You have to keep the leg trapped with an inside hook (for me it will tend to be my right leg as the inside hook). That's the same leg that you're going to use to pivot and do the sweep. I think it's probably done in two motions, like most twist sweeps: get the guy's center of gravity over you first, then sweep him off to the side.
A good, good night of training. And 159.2 on the scale. I guess that's what missing my regular Saturday oysters and chips lunch (and Sunday Quiznos classic Italian sub brunch) will do for you.
