Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 03/08/2016
The windscreen wiper sweep is something I was first shown by Ciaran at the Belfast Throwdown. That's also the terminology he used: as I think it's the most descriptive I've heard, I have continued to follow Ciaran's lead on that ever since. I next saw it demonstrated on Andre Anderson's closed guard DVD, where he called it the 'Rey Diogo sweep', naming it after his instructor. John Will does something similar he dubs the 'bearhug ankle lift', except that his grips are different. You have various options for grips, but I tend to start by grabbing their same side trouser leg. For this variation, it was off the two on one grip break. It starts much the same as the back take from the same grip break (and indeed combines well, you can switch between those techniques). Gather their sleeve in your fist (i.e., a pistol grip), then your other hand goes underneath their arm, grabbing your own wrist. The positioning here matters: you want to get the sleeve grip with your arm on the inside.
With that configuration, you can either punch straight up to break their grip, or angle your hips away slightly. Make sure that you maintain your grip on their sleeve, straightening your arm. You want to push their arm across their body, while simultaneously pulling in with your knees. The intention is to collapse them on top of their arm. Due to the grip configuration, your outside hand can reach around to their far armpit. Hook your fingers in for a solid hold, then twist your elbow in firmly. Combined with your stiff-arming sleeve grip, that should rotate their torso and make it hard for them to turn back towards you.
Grab either the outside of their knee or the lower part of their trousers (keeping in mind you don't want your fingers inside the cuff of their trousers). Be careful, as if your opponent knows this sweep, they may post their other leg out to stop you. Put your same side foot by that other leg, keeping it tight so there is no room for them to wriggle. Next, kick your foot on the trouser-grip side up into their armpit, aiming to curve their body away as you do. You're aiming to knock them diagonally forwards, towards your shoulder. Lift their gripped leg and roll through into mount.
If you're having trouble getting the leverage to knock them over, an alternative is to swivel your body perpendicular. You should end up looking into their ear, in a similar motion to Ryan Hall's triangle finish, or the armbar. You can then kick the leg that is in their armpit forwards, fitting with Hall's theory of bringing larger muscle groups to bear rather than small ones. Finish as before, lifting their leg and rolling into mount.
You should end up in a solid low mount. I'd suggest immediately staying low and grabbing their head, focusing on solidifying the mount before you continue. Keep hold of their leg, as well as the sleeve if you gripped it earlier, extending that sleeve forwards. Holding the leg makes it hard for them to bridge, while holding the sleeve and straightening the arm could lead directly into a submission, such as an americana. To further help with that, slide your knee up on the sleeve grip side, so they can't bring their elbow back to their side.
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Teaching & Sparring Notes: I'm not sure I'm getting the angle right. Should I have the body positioning higher or lower? This sweep is often tricky in terms of just how you're kicking, how best to explain that? In simple terms, you're blocking their arm and leg on one side, kicking into their armpit and lifting the knee on the other. I managed a variation later on, where I relied instead on shoving the head down and then kicking through, a bit like the butterfly sweep. It wasn't totally smooth though.
In sparring, I had another reminder about how it's incredibly important to PROTECT YOUR NECK! I was staying way too low with Simon attempting to get my double underhooks. At one point there was a worryingly loud crunching noise all down my neck, as he spun around over the top. I've done this before in closed guard, it's a really bad habit I have to stamp out before I get hurt. You absolutely cannot be lazy about your positioning, leaving your neck exposed. I have to get some kind of frame to protect my neck in that position, or simply don't let myself get so low.
The old, old truth remains about passing closed guard too, I have to stand up. Follow my own advice, do it repeatedly and get knocked over, until you have balance. I'm overly nervous about not having control of a hand when I stand, so perhaps I should just stand up and see what happens. Maybe I can break the grip and control it as they're looking to grab, maybe I can kick my foot through and drop, etc. I did try to bring my knee to bear for a pressure opening, but it wasn't all that successful. Went for pressure to make space and go for double underhooks too, but stayed too low, didn't get the hips up, which is what led to neck crunching later.
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