26/06/2017 - Teaching | Open Guard | Single Leg Sweep

Teaching #679
Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 26/06/2017

A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on Jun 28, 2017 at 1:07am PDT

No doubt there are other names for this position, but koala guard is suitably evocative, that's where you end up. It is therefore possible to go straight to koala guard, but if you're starting from sitting guard, this can be a useful option if they have broken your grip on their collar. Immediately scoot in, hooking the leg you have on the ground around the back of their leg. Your collar-gripping arm goes around the back of their leg. Jam your head in tight against their leg, on the inside (or you're at risk of guillotines).

From here, you can do a mini technical stand-up, basing off your free hand and other foot. Lift your bum slightly off the ground, then scoop their leg with the leg you have behind theirs. Your head position also helps drive them to the mat, pushing their knee outwards. Maintain a tight grip, then move into side control. For even more control, it's useful to grip their sleeve with the arm you have behind their leg. Failing that, you can also grab their belt or their gi lapel. If none of that is available, you can just grab your own gi.

Be aware of their knee positioning. You want to try and stay on the side of that knee. If they are able to drive their knee into your chest, that gives them a chance to set up a pass, crushing your back down onto the mat.
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Teaching Notes: If you're doing this from the shin on shin position, as I was this lesson, some people were getting confused which leg you sweep with. You remove your shin on shin connection, but you aren't trying to bring that same leg behind theirs. Doing that would be awkward. Instead, you're bringing your other leg in behind. Your ex-shin on shin leg is not hooking anything.

If the person on top starts scooting around, good to have a counter for that, as one person asked about it in drilling. Standing up is probably the easiest counter, clamping their leg between both of yours. From there you can go for any number of takedowns. E.g., 'running the pipe' where your head is low and you step, or lifting the leg and moving behind, chopping their remaining leg to take them down. You could try the roll under sweep too, but I'm not confident enough with that yet (I did show it on Friday in the open mat afterwards, but will leave teaching that again for the moment).