Spider Guard Sweep
Sweep · Open Guard
From spider guard you sweep the opponent onto his side and come up on top. The moment is when he kneels on one or both knees in front of you gripping your pants while your feet on his biceps stretch his arms. Holding both sleeves, angle out to one side, push with one foot and pull that sleeve across your body; drop the other leg to the mat outside his knee so that leg cannot step out to catch his weight. Then swing the biceps leg up over your head like a pendulum, bending the knee to pull his hips forward past his knees, while both sleeves keep pulling his arm away so he cannot post, and he tips over the blocked knee. Beginners put the feet on the forearms instead of the biceps and kick from square, which only pushes him away. If he breaks a sleeve grip, answer with the Lasso Sweep; if he pushes forward, the Spider Guard Triangle.
How to do it
- Grip both sleeves (pistol grip or fingers inside the cuff) and put your feet on their biceps, knees bent, so you can stretch their arms with your feet.
- Angle out to one side, then push with one foot and pull that sleeve across your body: the pushed arm is stretched out of the way and their balance goes to that side.
- Drop the other leg to the mat outside their knee to block it, so that leg cannot step to catch their weight.
- Swing the biceps leg up over your head like a pendulum, bending the knee to pull their hips forward past their knees, while you open your hips and the sleeve grips pull their arm away so they cannot post.
- They tip over the blocked knee; follow with the grips and come up on top.
Key details
- Stretch their arms with your feet: tight sleeves, active legs, because the push-pull is what keeps their posture broken and their arms unable to post.
- Angle out to one side before the sweep: from square the kick only pushes them backward, from the angle it tips them over.
- Feet on the biceps, not the forearms: the biceps cannot slide past the foot, the forearm can.
- Kick the leg that stays on the biceps past their hip, not into them: into them only pushes them away, past the hip turns them over the blocked knee.
- Pull his hips forward past his knees: the biceps leg bends and swings over your head, so his weight goes over the leg blocking his knee.
- Against a standing opponent the basic sweep fails: wait for a knee on the mat, or step on the outside of his ankle so he has to cross-step and you can enter 50-50.
Common mistakes
- Straight, passive legs. — Straight legs do not push or pull, so they stack the legs together and pass. — Keep the knees bent and the feet pushing and pulling all the time.
- Gripping only the edge of the sleeve. — A grip on the edge of the sleeve tears free with one sharp pull. — Use a pistol grip or fingers inside the cuff.
- Feet on the forearms. — On the forearms your feet slide off and there is nothing to push against. — Put the feet on the biceps, where the arm cannot slip past them.
- Shoulders facing the ceiling during the sweep. — The rotation stops halfway and he posts his elbow to stop the fall. — Twist your shoulders toward the mat as you open your hips, and keep pulling the sleeve so his elbow cannot reach the mat.
How to drill it
Spider guard retention and sweep, 1-minute rounds; the passer scores by breaking a grip.
Safety
Spider guard strains fingers: release grips when the partner breaks them hard.
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