BJJ Lasso Sweep

Okay, so I totally screwed the name up of the sweeps we were working last night. I called them some sort of a “loop,” when they were actually “Lasso” sweeps. I’ll post some videos below referring to the general idea.

I like this family of sweeps. The Lasso Guard is similar to the Spider Guard in that it uses one leg as the dominant positioning leg and the other as more of a control, utilizing the push/pull we’re all familiar with. This differs from the Spider Guard in that with the Lasso, your leg is fully committed. The Spider Guard allows for much playfulness, easily transitioning between Spider Guard and some sort of a Hooks Guard. I’m also finding that some people use Hook Guard and Lasso Guard interchangeably. The Hooks Guard I’m referring to here is when you sidle up close to your opponent and get both hooks between his legs.

Watch the beginning portion of this video and you’ll see the guard I’m talking about. Ignore the second part. If I want to show you the exact sweeps in the future, I’ll have to do the video myself.

Jiu-Jitsu Hook Guard / Lasso Hook Guard Sweep

And here’s a decent video that breaks things down a bit more. Again, ignore the second half of the video. I’m simply referring to the basic setup we went over last night.

Live the BJJ Lifestyle.com – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Techniques – Leg Lasso to Rolling Triangle

Now, I’ve seen variations of these sweeps before, but what was new was the Reverse Lasso or the De La Riva hook on the arm. This second setup is essentially the opposite of the first. Instead of bringing your knee to the outside and sliding your leg over your opponent’s arm and your foot under and behind the armpit, you bring your knee to the inside of your opponent’s arm and bring your leg up and around your opponent’s arm and your shin across his belly. Your foot would hook the opposing ribs. It’s something you really need to see. From this point, you can get a nice shoulder lock I’m sure the other guy wouldn’t appreciate. Very slick.

I know these sweeps are difficult to follow online, so in the future, I hope to take some video of a few guys demonstrating them. Kevin does an excellent job of slowly and methodically going over each point.

If your feeling especially ambitious, check this last one out. I found it while searching for the other sweeps.

De La Riva Sweep with Robson Moura

So what’s the point of using these guards and sweeps? Here’s what I get out of them and here’s why they feel so good to so many players:

1. You get to maintain a safe distance from your opponent.
2. You can easily keep control of your opponent by putting pressure on their elbow and shoulder.
3. You can also control your opponent by utilizing the principle of push/pull with your opposite leg.
4. By keeping your opponent high and back, you stretch and offset their base. This sets up a higher percentage sweep scenario.
5. There are a few available submissions straight from the guard. Like I often say, the fewer necessary movements, the more likely you are to accomplish what you’re after.
6. You can bait your opponent into a sweep or submission. Accomplishing this feels especially good.
7. These guards and sweeps really allow you to practice what Jiu-Jitsu is all about – leverage and balance.