Counter the Leg Weave Pass With a Rolling Omoplata

The leg weave pass is a powerful antidote to an opponent's half guard or Z guard.  By weaving your arm underneath their top knee shield leg and down over to either secure a grip on the bottom hook leg or all the way to the floor, you are able to effectively bind their legs with one arm and rest your body weight on top of their thighs making it extremely difficult to regain guard, hip escape backwards or mount any offense.  They are pinned and forced to await your next move.

That move is most typically to tripod your legs, while incorporating elements of pressure passing, maintaining the leg control and begin to mount a pass attempt.  With their legs and hips pinned and your legs forming a tripod away from them, chances are they will be unable to reach your legs with theirs to engage in any type of guard.  The pass seems inevitable at this point, as you begin to circle and look for a grip on their gi near their arm, shoulder or neck which will give you the control necessary to finalize the pass and secure cross side body control.

But what if at the moment when you think you have the pass secured, things go awry.  What you had failed to notice because things were going so well, what that your opponent had countered your control of their thighs by securing a tight lasso grip of their own.  And at the point when you should be coming in for a landing and securing side control, they begin to turn downward onto their shoulder.  What in the world are they trying to do?

It's at this point, that the opponent rolls through and secures the omoplata.  Moments later, you find yourself tapping wondering how you went from passing the guard with a strong leg weave pass to getting caught in a rolling omoplata.  Ah, the beauty of jiu jitsu and why it ain't over till it's over.

In the video, below Tom DeBlass shows a smooth rolling omoplata using a lasso grip against the leg weave pass.  Check it out below.

 The two most important aspects of this technique for DeBlass are the lasso grip that keeps him connected to the opponents body and the bottom hook.  Just as in different half guard sweeps, that bottom hook plays an integral and sometimes overlooked roll.  For Tom, it is the bottom leg that actually drives him onto his shoulder.  

In the moment of truth, Tom DeBlass has put himself in a position where he has multiple options.  He can roll through to the omoplata as long as he drives himself onto his shoulder.  He could also create space between him and the opponent and recover guard at this point.  If the opponent decides to drive into him, he and also use his shins as a table and sweep them to the other side.

All of these techniques are predicated on the use of the lasso grip and the bottom thigh lifting him to his shoulder.  Without those two key pieces, the guard will be passed and the opponent will easily trap you in side control.

For more of the best "High Tech BJJ in the Gi" you will want to check out Tom DeBlass' latest 4 volume instructional where he is showing a wide spectrum of techniques like his favorite passes, sweeps and submissions utilizing the gi.  This will be the perfect companion piece to his best-selling "Half Domination" series that focused on developed a strong defensive and offensive No Gi half guard game.  You can get both at BJJFanatics.com.