Squid Guard Sweep
Sweep · Open Guard
From squid guard you knock the opponent onto his back and come up on top. Squid guard is a lapel guard: his lapel is pulled out, passed under your leg and gripped, and your foot controls his lead leg from the outside, the leg that stayed near you when he backstepped. The moment is when he leans back to free that leg. Pull the lapel hard toward you and kick the controlled leg out from under him: his weight is already going back, so nothing catches it. Come up on top keeping the lapel tight until you are up. The lapel is your lever, so any slack kills the sweep; and never let him step over your foot and squat down on it. If he cuts the lapel grip, go to the De La Riva Sweep; if he steps out of reach, the Single Leg from Butterfly.
How to do it
- From lapel guard, pull their lapel out and pass it under your leg, taking out a long piece so it can wrap.
- Grip the lapel end and take out the slack; your foot controls their lead leg from the outside, the leg that stayed near you when they backstepped.
- Do not let them step over your foot and squat down on it: keep the foot active and the lapel tight.
- When they lean back to free the leg, pull the lapel hard toward you.
- Kick the controlled leg out from under them: with their weight already going back, nothing catches it.
- Come up on top as they fall back, keeping the lapel tight until you are up.
Key details
- The lapel is your lever: keep it tight.
- The foot steers their leg: it decides where the leg goes when you kick.
- Sweep as they lean back: their own effort to free the leg puts the weight where you want it.
- Squid guard answers the backstep that kills the worm guard: you lace the leg that stays near you.
- Do not let them step over your foot and squat down on it.
- Pull his trapped knee down onto your belly, below your belt line, palm of the lapel hand facing you: his weight goes onto his hands, he cannot put that foot back on the mat, and the more he sits back the deeper he falls into the sweep.
- Keep your other foot high on his hip or in his armpit: it stops him turning back to face you and keeps him rotated.
Common mistakes
- Loose lapel. — With slack in the lapel they free the leg. — Take the slack out first.
- Sweeping without their lean. — Their weight is forward, so they simply post. — Wait for the backward lean.
- Staying on the back after the sweep. — They land and recover their own guard. — Follow up to the top right away.
- Your knee outside his leg. — Without the knee inside you have no twisting power and he turns back to face you. — Turn your knee and foot inward so the knee locks on the inside of his thigh and twists him.
How to drill it
Set the squid guard 6 times each side, then 6 sweeps each side.
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