Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro is one of the OGs of the sport.
And one of the sweeps he hits from the kneeshield half guard is a thing of beauty. When done right, it seems like some gnarly ninja trickery.
I have the same sweep in my arsenal too.
But I don’t do it the same way he does.
The biggest difference lies in the fact that I abandon the kneeshield in the transition of the sweep. In fact, it’s one of first actions I take when going for it.
Why?
It’s because of the mechanics of the sweep.
In essence, it’s just a back roll, but it only works as a sweep, if you put your opponent in a position where they’re forced to do a forward roll. To accomplish that, though, it’s essential that their body be pulled across yours and that their far side shoulder touch the mat.
So the challenge lies in the how.
And when I was adding the shaolin sweep to my game coming up, I found it really hard to pull opponents my size or bigger across to the execution position with the knee in. Not only did it force me to carry a lot of weight on my legs, but it was also a barrier that impeded their movement.
Of course, one factor was attribute related. It used to be difficult to the point of being impossible for me to fully flex my legs (ie bring my heels to my gluteus maximus).
And another factor (I realize now) is that my grip on the sleeve was different than the one that Shaolin uses, and that grip definitely warrants further exploration on my part.
But it didn’t take me that long to find another solution.
I started abandoning the kneeshield when people drove into it, and the result was that they would fall into the space where my knee used to be. The momentum of that fall also made it easier to pass the sleeve across the body and with an extra little shift of the hips, opponents would drop right into the strike zone.
Worked like gangbusters for me (and still does).
In fact, I taught someone my variation of the sweep last week, and just today, he told me that he hit twice already, and one was on a guy who had some weight on him too.
If you’re curious though, I once put a breakdown of my execution on tape.
And you can find it here: