Watch out - today I pulled off my first Sissor Sweep! My opponent could not counter my awesome timing and technical skill, succumbing to my relentless Sissor Sweeping Fury!
Are any of you out there Sissor Sweep Demons? What are your Sissor Sweeping hints, tips and secrets?
Come on, share all with Dutch...
PS All those Aussies that were thinking they'd be up against Dutch at the Pan Pac '04 well you're lucky - it looks like I won't be able to compete this time around. But fear not, I will have the last laugh on the day...
All about the timing. That was my first good sweep I learned. I like it when I've got a good overhook and head control, and if they start to break away to situp, catching them right in the mid point between benig down on you and sitting up. That catches people offguard and off balance a lot. If not, good for a transition to open guard to regain your ground by bringing the knee that went across their stomach back up between their arms. Then you'll have both feet on the hips and have them in the dangerous area of one arm in and one arm out in your open guard.
It is amazing how long it takes a technique to be natural. I mean to do a technique is one thing, but to be able to do it without thinking at the right moment as a reflex...takes a LONG time. I have been doing BJJ for 6 years (purple) and the sciccors sweep was one of the first things I learned. It took me this long to be able to nail it on many people because my body "feels" it with no intellect or thought process involved to slow it down.
Imagine if all of your techniques were like that!
In class when I teach..people say things like "I know that already"...well there are different levels of knowing.
To this day I feel like I am still learning the armbar from the guard. There are so many little details I am still discovering...
For those who love the scissor sweep, can you guys list your step by step process? Meaning where you like to grip, your shin placement, sitting up on the elbow? etc.
If the sweep fails, I like to either slide backward and push the knee out from under them while still extending their arm. If it fails before I get space,
situp and over hook their opposite shoulder (at the belt if with a Gi. Then roll them the opposite way over your bent leg.
a possible way to get the straight armbar off of the scissors sweep is: After it has failed and they're basing out on say their right arm, begin to pull their basing arm out and across your body as you change the direction of your bent leg from being pointed in to the position you would have it while you armbar. Swing your left leg up around the head and finish. Sometimes because of the wide swing on that entry you have to finish face down.
I'm no good at this one because I've only practiced it on a handfull of occasions. My trainers aren't big on the scissor sweep so almost none of my training partners use it.
Margarida and Fredson Paixao use it but I can't think too many other champs that are big proponents of the scissor sweep. What I see happening alot is the inability by the guard player to fully break the passer's balance in order to completely reverse him. So the passer starts to get swept, bounces or even backsteps off the mat and then recovers to continue passing.
I'm a bit surprised by the level of response this thread has generated: I honestly thought nobody 'really' used Sissor Sweep.
During the last week our instructor has limited the Guard player to Sissor Sweeps, pulling Closed Guard and Butterfly-like Chokes, whilst the passing player can only use a couple of very specific passes. It was an interesting and valuable experience. I have never rated the Sissor Sweep perviously but via this 'strict' exercise I think I may actually have a better understanding of how to use the Sissor to set some good combinations. Also I better appreciate how to block the Sissor and use a Guard Pass or two I don't typically use.
scissor sweep collar choke combo works well for me.
Get a deep grip in right collar w/ right hand, go to scissor sweep position (sweeping to your left), if they block the choke w/ right arm go for sweep, if they base out right arm to block sweep, go for choke
Even "basic" techniques can be used on a variety of levels against a variety of opponents. Using basic techniques against good opponents show good timing and skill.
I'm only curious as to Ronald McDojo executes the scissor sweep and then has to escape from the guard . . . .
This is the first sweep I teach new students and I oten reteach it to my more advanced guys. The subtle details are what make it work. I never try to muscle it.
I have had blue belts come in that have never practiced it because they thought it was too basic only to have me scissor sweep them all over the mat.
I usually try to pair it up with the Half Elevator sweep.
So who out there think it is a 'necessity' as far as your BJJ game goes?
I'm still on the fence as far as the Sissor Sweep goes: I don't recall ever seeing it used successfully in competition, and I for one have never even bothered with it before now. That doesn't mean it is not effective, but the fact that I've never seen it employed with any regularity would suggest that there are higher % techniques that one is better off employing.
I'm almost likening it to some of the BJJ vs TMA thinking: is Sissor Sweep going to go the way of the Swooping Crane Ankle Strike i.e. acknowledged by practioners as an element of the game/art but 99% of people could and do get away with never bothering with it?
Question: is training this technique effectively wasting one's time when there are many more 'effective' techniques out there that could be perfected?
"Question: is training this technique effectively wasting one's time when there are many more 'effective' techniques out there that could be perfected?
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I don't know, according to the guys above, this sweep seems pretty high percentage to them. Obviously, working too much on a low percentage move is a bad idea. I've also heard that some people consider you a sitting duck against heel hooks if you use the scissor sweep. But then other people have said that that is only the case if you do the scissor sweep badly and/or aren't aware of the possible heel hook counter and the re-counters.
Sweeps are a great thing, and knowing this one can always be beneficial. It is a basic to know, and bjj is all about the basics. I use the movement to make a very nice transition to open guard all the time, so it's worth learning just for that alone. Then even when your training partners get used to countering it, you can move on to something else. I always like pulling something like that out randomly later on, so they can be thinking, "WTF? how did he get me with that again."