My Favorite Half Guard Sweep

**Aesopian** · Posted On: 6/07/2006 2:05pm

Kinda. It's an arm triangle, so it shares that much with kata gatame, but the pressures and position to get and finish it make it more like a mixture of the anaconda, guillotine and RNC choke.

**Fighting Cephalopod** · Posted On: 6/07/2006 4:55pm

Yrkoon9 - you've mentioned that the brabo choke is very popular at CK. What have you noticed as the popular ways to play bottom half over there, in response to that? A lot of butterfly hooking?

***jnp*** · Posted On: 6/07/2006 5:13pm

Originally Posted by fatherdog

Yrkoon9 - you've mentioned that the brabo choke is very popular at CK. What have you noticed as the popular ways to play bottom half over there, in response to that? A lot of butterfly hooking?

Since several of the blues and purples where I train have started using the Brabo to counter the half-guard underhook, people are indeed starting to use the butterfly hook from HG to avoid the choke. This has changed some students HG game already. It will be interesting to note if the Brabo chokes' use in HG becomes one of those things that subtly alter common strategy in BJJ.

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 6/08/2006 11:44am

CK has a passing game that is more oriented towards standing. So half guard is really something the top guy completely avoids. In contrast, most of my passing is done on the knees because I play a very tight passing game. I am extremely vulnerable to the half guard because my legs are more horizontal than vertical. If you think about it, half guard does not really work very well against someone standing. X-guard does~

At CK you see half guard work many times from a guy who was in side control and recovers into half guard.

Now your question was, what is the response to the increase in brabo/D'arce chokes as people expose themselves in half guard sweep attempts. Well...that answer is still being developed. I will say that because these guys use it so much they are also VERY aware of it so it becomes harder to catch them. Suffice to say that guys who come up on thier side/shoulder to get a sweep are getting caught more with these chokes, since this is the position the person choking needs.

Sim Go has a very fluid and dangerous half guard. I have tried to catch him in this choke as he goes for his sweep. I can't. He controls one arm at the wrist until he gets underneath and in position. That was his solution a couple of times that I tried it. I won't go so far as to say that is THE answer. It was his answer at the time and certainly not indicative of CK people as a whole.

In short I don't really have an answer. Lately I have seen a couple of 'new' sweeps that are very dynamic from Glover that use quick changes of direction. He loves the arm triangles. Although there is no direct link between the two I think there is some sort of relationship between what he is showing and the general vulnerabilities of more traditional half guard sweeps.

**Fighting Cephalopod** · Posted On: 6/08/2006 4:44pm

Interesting. Thanks for the insight.

**Olly** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 11:27am

Rather than resurrect the old thread,

http://www.bullshido.net/forums/show...t=18619&page=3

The last few posts of this thread talk about not having one leg out in the butterfly guard, so I was wondering where the half-butterfly sweep fits into it?

**Aesopian** · Posted On: 6/22/2006 1:28pm

The "half butterfly guard" in that thread is when someone has one hook in like normal, but then has the other leg out, like they're trying to close guard. In this situation, the outside leg is mostly useless and it's more just "butterfly guard half passed". Putting people in this position is the start of many of my butterfly guard passes.

The half butterfly guard used in this thread has one hook, but the other leg is still "inside", just shot deep under them instead of hooking their leg. This works right into normal butterfly guard and x-guard, and is not as vulnerable to being passed.

**Aesopian** · Posted On: 6/26/2006 1:20pm

Andre Anderson shows a great sweep that goes from half to half butterfly to x-guard:

http://www.naguardakimonos.com/nagua...technique7.htm

He also shows a bunch of other excellent techniques:

http://www.naguardakimonos.com/naguardatechniques.htm

**drew-jitsu** · Posted On: 7/28/2006 11:22pm

Thank you for this technique. I pulled it off twice today on a 220 lbs white belt.

**Pinky** · Posted On: 8/06/2006 9:04pm

Don't knock any move until you try it...at least 1,000 times, then cry about how it doesn't work. People who try **** once or twice and call it null and void crack me up. The half guard offense is the evolution of bjj and a technique that many gracies refuse to become involved in, since they are the ones who created "BJJ".
Full guard is nice, but when you are 5' 9" and you weigh 160lbs the half guard offense against anyone, big or small, will become your bread and butter. This is fair warning to those of you who think your going to pass my half guard...I'm done tooting my horn. See you all at a Throwdown in ATL! Be safe!