Butterfly Guard Sweep by Gordon Ryan

The butterfly guard is a favorite for many grapplers. This unique guard is so popular because of the advantages it provides when compared to other guards.

The odd thing about butterfly guard that makes it so interesting to me is that it is the only guard player with both feet on the inside. In fact, it is precisely this attribute that gives the butterfly guard its dominance.

Too many students (especially blue belts) focus on the new fancy techniques, guard sweeps, etc. But don't ignore the old school fundamental jiu jitsu that just works.

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Aside from a wonderful myriad of great sweeps one can execute from butterfly guard, it is most popular among grapplers who partake in the world of leg attacks.

If you understand leg locks, you know that having inside position is absolutely necessary, and what better guard gives the attacker just that. By knocking an opponent off balance, we can then proceed by enter various leg entanglements like ashi garami or cross ashi.

Butterfly guard also has the benefit in that it is the easiest guard you can use to advance to superior guards like X-guard, which are difficult to attain without having some sort of inside control.

Why would you abandon butterfly guard to go to a different guard? Well, some guards are better than others, for example X-guard, which is a position that is much easier to sweep from.

Regardless of what you want to do with butterfly guard, be it getting into leg locks, just sweeping, or transitioning to X-guard, you first have to learn the simple butterfly sweep.

Its not so simple though because first, most people playing in your guard know that you want to attack it, and second is that it requires intricate use of biomechanics and technique. 

If you haven’t already heard, Gordon Ryan is one of the best, if not the best no-gi grappler today. He was originally known for his excellent leg attacks, which he started many in buttefly guard, but also later become popular for getting to the back and hitting rear naked strangles against anyone and everyone. 

As a student of the legendary John Danaher, Gordon understands not only the actual technical aspects of Jiu Jitsu, but how to teach them as well. In the following video, Gordon Ryan will illustrate how to perform the butterfly sweep in the gi. See below: 

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   You’ll be able to start surprising everyone in your gym with old school brilliance that still works and with Kurt’s unmatched style that can include excellent details and even some well placed shouting and swearing – you’ll remember well what you learned..

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