Thursday (03/22) No-Gi Class Guard Sweep to Gift Wrap with Submissions

As you may have guessed from the graphic we went over the flower/waiter/easy sweep last night. This yet another example of everything that's old in jiu-jitsu being new again. Three names for the same sweep. We also went over using the arm that is trapped in the sweep to attack with submissions from the the "gift wrap" position. So to get us started I have a video of the basic sweep to gift wrap.

This is a very basic sweep that most people who have been training for a little while should have some experience with. There are a few keys that I like to emphasize to make your odds of success increase with this technique. 

1. You must break the posture-From your guard you should always be breaking your opponents posture and trying to force his arm across the body.
2. Shift the hip to the open side-If you are not threatening the back you wont be able to get the reaction you need from your opponent. Always hip out and at least make a grab for the back to get your opponent to push back in.
3. Side crunch to grab the leg-When going for your under hook on the leg you need to grab deep and bring the knee to your ear. 
4. Twist the hips-Remember to imagine bringing the nearside knee up into the arm pit while using the outside leg to chop your opponents base out.
5. Keep the arm secured-If the arm comes back across the body your opponent may base out and block your sweep. Also if the arm doesn't stay pinched to the chest you will lose the gift wrap and have to reset once you get to mount to start your offense. 

So now that we have our sweep with the arm trapped we can move on to our attacks. As you saw in the first video taking the back from the gift wrap position is as easy as pulling down on the arm across the face to turn your opponent onto his side and pulling him into your back control.  This is first attack we showed.

Second you can take the armbar from the gift wrap.

Pay close attention to the beginning of the video as after the transition he goes more into finishing the armbar than the set up. Just remember to the shin tight into the arm pit and keep the head pinned to the ground on your switch to the armbar. The leg across the chest is only necessary if your opponent is trying to roll out of your armbar. If your set up was tight the shin in the armpit should be sufficient to get the finish.

Third, the gift wrap is and excellent set up for a head and arm triangle.

He doesn't explicitly start in the gift wrap but it is a very easy transition from the gift wrap to the head and arm triangle. Just remember that when applying pressure for the finish you are bringing the forearm and shoulder together not squeezing the elbows together like you finish a rear naked choke.

Finally we have the kimura from gift wrap. I have covered the kimura and kimura to armbar in previous posts so please check those out if you need a little refresher. I couldn't find a good video of the switch from gift wrap to kimura and I am too lazy to make one (this should be incentive for more of you to make it into no-gi classes) so here is another video on the kimura and kimura to armbar transition. 

Again you are going to keep you gift wrap up into the mount, get your wrist control and reposition so you are sitting on your opponents ear and work for your finish.

Remember the sweep and transition is the key. If you cant secure the mount with the gift wrap position you are not going to be able to lock down any of these submissions. As I always say the submission is completed in the set up not the finish.

As always if there are questions or clarifications please leave them in the comments section and don't forget to follow me on Twitter and Like me on Facebook. I'll see you on the mats.