Counter the Leg Weave with Half Guard Master Tom DeBlass
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Destroy The Leg Weave!!
A good leg weave pass can dismantle a solid half guard pretty quickly if you don’t have any contingency plans for it. It’s a super common method to shut down the half guard that lots of high-level guard passers prefer, and there are some very solid versions of it that can make quick work of an inactive half guard. Once your knee shield has been flattened, it can be just a matter of time before your guard is shut down.
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Of course, there are also solid counters we can look to, to help us defend the leg weave, but do you have them in your toolbox? Lucky for us, half guard master Tom DeBlass has just released an entire instructional set focusing on drills to rapidly improve your BJJ game.
In this video DeBlass spends a few minutes with Bernardo Faria discussing some options for countering the leg weave. He gives us some super effective and battle tested ideas here that we can drill to stave off this widely used pass. Have a look!
Option 1 – Deblass secures his partners wrist and sits up to his elbow. Here he discusses the importance of a mobile bottom leg. DeBlass gets his head above his partner’s head, lifts his hips, and removes his bottom leg. Once the bottom leg is free, he can easily recover his guard. How often do we just try to stop our partner from moving forward here? We struggle and fight in an attempt to keep our partner from gaining more ground, but unfortunately gravity is on the top players side. This is a great option to just remove yourself from the situation and reset.
Option 2 – The beginning looks the same, and for the most part it is. But DeBlass spins the finish in a new direction. As he removes his bottom leg and comes up, he continues to control the wrist and keeps moving to position himself next to his partner. He looks away, and completes a simple shoulder roll right into an omoplata. From here he can look to finish or reverse his partner.
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Option 3 – This third option is probably my favorite. The bait is solid, and I feel any one in this particular position would probably have a tough time not pursuing it. DeBlass uses all the same movements from the first two options to once again remove himself and get up to his knees. This time he forfeits the wrist grip and brings his hand above his partners head to reveal his inside leg. His partner will more than likely work to secure the leg for a take down. As this occurs, it puts DeBlass in prime position to lock a kimura on the far side of his partner’s body. DeBlass then puts his left knee down, posts his right leg, and sits under. He can easily take the back from here if chooses, or purse the submission further.
I’ve learned a lot of ways to counter the leg weave. Many of them involving inversion, or sweeps that can be really tough to execute. DeBlass offers a different layer of defense here that makes a lot of sense. Give it a shot!
Professor DeBlass has your drilling and warm up covered!. These are great movement-based exercises that you can use to warm up, flow roll, or do on your own time to stay active and engaged on your own. Check out the DVD "Solo And Partner Grappling Drills For Rapid Improvement". BJJ Fanatics has it here!
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