Butterfly Sweep

The Butterfly Sweep is a fundamental technique from Butterfly Guard that uses leverage, hooks, and momentum to off-balance and sweep your opponent to a dominant position. It is effective against opponents who are postured low or leaning forward, allowing you to redirect their weight using your legs and grips.

Key Principles

Angles and Leverage

  • Use your hooks to lift and control their hips, creating the necessary angle to execute the sweep.

Grip Fighting

  • Secure strong grips, typically an underhook and a crossface or sleeve control, to manipulate their posture and movement.

Momentum and Weight Distribution

Steps to Perform the Butterfly Sweep

Set-Up in Butterfly Guard

  • Sit upright with your hips close to your opponent.
  • Use your feet as hooks under their inner thighs for control.
  • Keep a strong base by engaging your core and maintaining a slight forward posture.

Establish Grips

  • Secure an underhook on one side to control their upper body.
  • Use your other hand for a crossface grip or to control their arm at the sleeve or wrist.

Off-Balance the Opponent

  • Pull your opponent forward and slightly to the side of your underhook, breaking their posture.
  • Use your grips to direct their center of gravity toward the side you plan to sweep.

Elevate with Your Hook

  • Lift your opponent's thigh with your hook on the underhooked side, using your leg like a lever.
  • At the same time, use your upper body to continue pulling and turning them in the sweep direction.

Complete the Sweep

  • Use your hips to drive their weight over the lifted hook while maintaining grip control.
  • Roll them onto their back and follow the motion to end in a dominant position, typically Mount or Side Control.

Common Adjustments

  • If your opponent posts their hand to block the sweep, transition to submissions like a Triangle Choke or Armbar.
  • If their base is too wide, adjust your position to increase leverage by scooting your hips closer or switching to a Pendulum Swing for momentum.
  • If they lean back to avoid being swept, transition into another Guard attack or Single-Leg X Guard.

Applications

The Butterfly Sweep is versatile and can be applied in several scenarios:

  • Against aggressive opponents trying to pressure into Butterfly Guard.
  • As part of a sequence to transition to submissions or other sweeps.
  • In combination with techniques like the Arm Drag or Back Take Sweep.
Tip

Timing is crucial! Execute the sweep when your opponent is off-balance or leaning into your guard to maximize effectiveness.

By mastering the Butterfly Sweep and integrating its principles into your game, you can create a powerful guard attack system that transitions seamlessly into submissions and dominant positions.

Positioning

The Butterfly Sweep can be executed from several positions where Butterfly Guard principles apply, or where similar mechanics involving hooks and leverage are present. Here are the primary positions:

Guard Positions

Butterfly Guard

  • The sweep’s natural position, where you use your hooks under their thighs, Underhooks, and grips to destabilize and sweep your opponent.

Half Guard with a Butterfly Hook

  • When one leg is trapped in half guard and the other is used as a butterfly hook, the sweep can be initiated by off-balancing and lifting your opponent toward the butterfly hook side.

Deep Half Guard with a Butterfly Hook

  • Use a butterfly hook to elevate and sweep as you transition out of deep half, combining leverage from the hook with momentum from your positioning.

Closed Guard to Butterfly Transition

X Guard or Single-Leg X Guard

  • While not the primary setup, transitioning into Butterfly Guard from these positions can allow for a Butterfly Sweep if your opponent is vulnerable to forward pressure.

Passing or Scramble Positions

Opponent in Combat Base

  • When your opponent is in combat base (one knee down, one foot up), you can hook their posted leg and perform a Butterfly Sweep toward the lifted side.

Opponent Attempting Guard Passes/Knee Cut

Opponent in Turtle Guard

  • When transitioning from Butterfly Guard to attack a turtled opponent, you can use a modified Butterfly Sweep to roll them over and establish dominance.

Standing or Semi-Standing Positions

Opponent Postured in Guard

  • If your opponent stands up to break your guard, transitioning to Butterfly Guard allows for the opportunity to elevate and sweep them.

Opponent Leaning to Pass

  • In situations where your opponent is aggressively leaning into you to pressure pass, use their forward momentum to initiate the sweep.

Other Situations

Failed Arm Drag

  • If an Arm Drag fails, transition to Butterfly Guard and execute the sweep by leveraging their off-balance posture.

After a Failed Scissor Sweep

  • If your Scissor Sweep stalls due to their base being too strong, adjust your hips to insert butterfly hooks and transition to a Butterfly Sweep.
Tip

The Butterfly Sweep thrives in positions where you can effectively utilize Hooks under your opponent’s thighs, establish strong frames, and create angles for leverage. It's an excellent way to recover control or transition to dominant positions during dynamic exchanges.

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