24/06/2015 - Teaching | Closed Guard | Scissor Sweep

Teaching #344
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 24/06/2015

Start by getting a deep grip on their opposite collar, then with your other hand grab their same side elbow or sleeve. Alternatively, you can grip their wrist and pin it to your chest. Rener makes a clear distinction here, as he suggests grabbing the sleeve if they are pushing into your bicep, grabbing the wrist if they are pushing into your chest. Either way, your intention – and this is true for lots of sweeps and reversals – is to prevent their ability to post with that hand. That makes for a straightforward test for whether or not what you’re using is effective: can they put their hand on the mat and prevent the sweep?

The next step is to put your foot on their same side hip (or the floor, depending on your preference) and shrimp out slightly, to make space to insert your knee. Slide that knee over, once again to that same side, until your shin is across their stomach. Hook your instep around their other side. Another option (which I prefer) is to angle your knee towards their shoulder, pushing forward with your knee at the same time as you pull on their gi (this can act as an entry into the triangle too). That also makes it much tougher for them to shove your leg down and pass, a potential vulnerability of the shin over the stomach.

A key detail is to get them off their heels. Sit up into them, then drop back with a secure collar grip in order to move them. Alternatively (or in addition), raise your elbows towards your head, so that you're pulling them up onto your shin. The aim is to load them onto your leg, which in turn means that their weight is no longer heavy their own leg, making it easier to chop. Extending your torso back, rather than remaining curled up, may help that weight transfer as well. Kid Peligro suggests squaring your torso up, really arching your back and looking over the shoulder nearest the ground. You want to be on your side as you do this.

Having hopefully made them lighter, drop your other leg to the mat, chopping underneath them as you bring your hooking leg over. You can then roll into mount. Ryron has two handy tips here. Firstly, use the heel of your hooking foot to swivel and clamp to their side, becoming a leverage point to assist your shift into mount. Secondly, bring the elbow of your sleeve gripping arm further backwards, to put your opponent even more off balance.
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Teaching Notes: I'll add the Kid Peligro extension into the teaching next time. It's a detail I remembered in the middle of my demonstration, having read it a while back in one of his ebooks. I normally add in the push sweep, but decided to leave that to when I was walking round. Next time I teach this lesson, I will show the push sweep instead for variety. I also need to emphasise squaring your torso up and getting on your side more, as a number of people were ending up curled towards them, which I find makes the leverage weaker.

In sparring, yet more shoulder clamp. I need to get my legs more involved. On the plus side, I found it led into the windscreen wiper sweep a few times, I think because I'm now being a lot more active in attacking for those angles. Handy, as I'm teaching that sweep on Friday. ;)