My students and everyone who follows my work know how much I invest in, and insist on, training basic movements. The foundation of every movement lies in simple techniques, and today in this video lesson I show a basic closed guard sweep known as the Galega sweep.
If you're just starting to train Jiu-Jitsu, invest your time in simple movements, because they are what will help you understand more advanced techniques later on. And if you've been training for a while and already know this position, I hope I can help you fine-tune the movement, or at least remind you of the essential details of the Galega sweep.
Shall we put on our gi and hit the mats?
Video lesson – basic closed guard sweep - Galega!
Arm control
The first essential point of the Galega sweep is controlling your opponent's arm, so they can't post their hand on the mat and defend at the end of the sweep.
In the video lesson I show it controlling my opponent's sleeve, which I find the simplest way, but you can control the arm however you prefer, as long as you stop them from posting on the mat. Note that, the way I show it, besides controlling the arm I also gain even more leverage when I pull their arm to my left.
Getting under your opponent
The deeper you can get under your opponent and hug their leg, the more leverage you'll have. However, this is tricky for heavier or less flexible people. As a solution, I recommend gripping with your right hand on the outside of your opponent's left knee and using that leverage to help with the sweep.
Circular movement with the straight leg
All the leverage of the movement starts with my left leg. Notice in the video lesson that I straighten my leg and then make a circular movement until it almost hits my opponent's posted knee. Keeping my leg straight is key to coming up to mount more easily. If I keep the leg bent, my opponent will fall on top of it and make it harder for me to stabilize in the mount.
When I say keep the leg straight, it doesn't need to be fully extended, just enough not to block my movement as I come up to mount.
Leg under the armpit
The last detail, and no less important, is to get under your opponent enough to turn your right heel and point it towards their armpit. With the help of the other leverage points mentioned in this article, I complete the basic closed guard sweep known as the Galega.
Scoring for this movement
At my academy I always ask about the scoring after showing a position. In this case, I'm playing guard and I complete the sweep. Since I finish the movement in mount, besides the two points for the sweep I also get four points for the mount.
Questions
Did you enjoy this video lesson? Were you able to do or review the movement?
Remember, if you're just starting to train Jiu-Jitsu, I recommend you insist on and invest a lot in the basic movements, because they will be fundamental later on.
If you have any questions, get in touch and I'll do my best to answer them.
Don't forget to share with your training partners and like the video!
Good training!
OSSSS
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