Adam Wardzinski's Butterfly Sweep

Adam Wardzinski is one of the premier Polish black belts making his name known in the world of BJJ.  Poland, with a cultural love of grappling, has produced over 300 black belts and Adam Wardzinski has become one of the most accomplished.  Recently at the IBJJF, he had one of the more exciting matches with Felipe Pena.  Though he did not come out with the victory, Adam's foot attacks left a mark on Pena that he won't soon forget.

Adam has become well known for his butterfly guard game.  He utilizes the butterfly guard and butterfly sweeps extremely well.  The butterfly guard and the sweeps derived from this guard can be some of the easiest techniques to begin mastering early on in our jiu jitsu career.  Butterfly guard can be one of the first styles of dynamic open guard that one gets exposed to.  Check out this highlight video which showcases his sweeps, most of which come from butterfly guard.

 Adam recently visited the Bernardo Faria Academy to train and work on some instructional materials that will be forthcoming from BJJ Fanatics.  In the video below, he teaches Bernardo Faria one of his favorite Butterfly Guard Sweeps.  Check it out below and then we'll break it down for you.

Two On One Grip

 Adam sets up this technique by taking a cross grip on Bernardo's sleeve.  He couples that with a same side grip of material on Bernardo's gi above the tricep.  This grip provides an extremely high level of control and makes it easier to move the opponent.  This two on one grip is reminiscent of the 92 double sleeve grip.

Drag Arm

Once the grip has been secured, Adam will drag Bernardo's arm to further break his posture and control that side of his body.  

Foot on Hip

 Adam will place his far leg against the hip of Bernardo to maintain distance and keep him from potentially passing his guard.  He is also sneaking in his butterfly hook on the near side to get the hook prepped for the sweep to come.

Belt Grip

At this point in the technique, Adam makes a point that either the opponent will stay low or posture up.  If they stay low, then the two on one grip and the arm drag will open up a pathway to take the opponent's back.  For the purpose of the sweep explanation, he has Bernardo posture up, which is says is the more common reaction.

Once Bernardo has postured up, Adam will release the tricep material and reach across and down the back and secure a belt grip.  This will further control the near side of Bernardo's body and make sure that his arm cannot escape.

Dive Under/Leg Inside

Now that he's secured the belt grip, he will take the foot off the hip that is controlling the distance and shoot that leg between the thighs, extending it as far as he can as he dives under maintaining the control on the arm and sleeve.

Under Hook Thigh

 Once he has shot under Bernardo's body, he will under hook the far side thigh of Bernardo to keep himself connected.  The belt grip and his body have essentially taken Bernardo's arm out of the picture as a potential tool to maintain the base.

Switch Hips/Sweep

Adam will now plant the extended leg's foot on the mat and use it to make a hip switch.  This hip switch combined with the butterfly hook on the nearside thigh will simply take Bernardo over to the side where he cannot base and set up a great side control for Adam.

As Adam Wardzinski describes this sweep, he says it's not a "highlight sweep" with a dramatic over the head sweeping aspect to it, but at the end of the day the best sweeps are those that reverse our opponents and put us in the best possible position to begin executing our offense and this one does that quite well putting him in the a powerful side control position.  One's opponent goes from attempting to pass the guard to being reversed and stuck in side control.  That sounds like a highlight sweep to us!

If you haven't gotten your copy already, check out Bernardo Faria's latest offering from BJJ Fanatics.  This is his most extensive (over 5 hours) and complete instructional.  "Fundamentals of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu" will give you details you may have forgotten or may have never learned to the techniques that Bernardo Faria, five time world champion, thinks are most important.  Get your copy today!

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