What was most interesting about Wednesday's training was that the main instructional part was based on the de la Riva guard, a guard I use virtually never. But the more I worked with it, the more I saw a potential role for the DLR sweep series that Rodrigo was showing us in my half guard, particularly as a counter to knee cross passes.
There were three main sweeps - which we did after a basic morote seionage warm-up. Starting from the DLR guard, with the heel or pants cuff grip, the same side leg cocked under the thigh, the off leg pushing back against the opponent at the far knee and a grip on the sleeve on that side, as well, the # 1 sweep had us pull on the sleeve until your elbow reached the mat. Then, turning on your side and lifting with the DLR hook, you tip the guy over onto his side. The guy should struggle to defend with a post, because you've got the would-be posting sleeve.
If the guy does manage to keep his balance, then the #2 sweep, has you keep both grips (IMPORTANT) and continue turning into the guy. What you will do is use your head and shoulder to essentially bull the guy over. As Rodrigo put it, jiu jitus isn't always pretty. What's important is getting back on top.
There was a final sweep out of the DLR that Rodrigo showed us. Actually, he didn't show us the entire sweep, just the basic initial motion to get the sweep started. The #3 DLR sweep is especially useful if the guy tries to put his weight on you, for example, by backstepping out of your DLR hook. Here, as you feel his weight coming forward, you want to pull the sleeve over your head and lift up on the heel and with the DLR hook. What you do is a backroll, using his forward pressure to provide momentum for the roll.
You can either stop the roll midway and turn into the guy, likely ending up in half guard. Or you can continue the move all the way over, with the opportunity to land in mount.
After class, I got to train with Clint for a good long while, maybe 20 minutes of straight rolling. I found myself working for a lot of kimuras, both from the bottom half guard and from the top. Late in the sparring, Clint caught me with a perfect scissor style sweep and moved to mount and eventually to the back. I spent the rest of the session defending chokes.
Speaking of choke defense, Clint had a really good brabo attack going early in my standard half guard attack. I noticed that every time I lengthened my body and got out of my half guard crouch, the choke got infinitely worse. That's definitely something to keep in mind going forward. I'm really starting to feel as if guys are catching up with my half guard - which makes these sweeps out of the DLR guard a welcome arrival, especially if I can work transitions from half guard to DLR to sitting guard and so on.
