Easy Half Guard Sweep by Lucas Leite

By Ismail Safi, March 26, 2019

Lucas Leite is on the list of some of the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners of all time. This Brazilian grappler started training at the age of 12 and then received his black belt by Leo Viera, one of the most sought-after instructors, in 2006.

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Lucas is most known for his unique half guard game that inspired many great Jiu Jitsu practitioners to follow such as Bernardo Faria. Lucas claims that he prefers the half guard due to its efficacy in both gi and no-gi competition.

In 2007, Lucas moved from Brazil to the United States to open up his Checkmat-affiliated academy. In 2015, Lucas won the IBJJF Pan Ams, one of the toughest annual competitions in the sport.

Because of Lucas’s superior half guard, I want to share a video of him showing one of the easiest yet effective sweeps you can use from the position. Although most grapplers learn this basic sweep early on, everyone can pick up some extra details they can apply from Lucas.

This sweep, often called the basic half guard sweep, is the first sweep from half guard white belts learn. This doesn’t mean that the sweep can’t be utilized at higher levels, and in fact, many high level guys like Bernardo Faria used it extensively to beat some of the top guys in the world.

From this sweep, a new student can learn a lot of important concepts they can apply to their entire Jiu Jitsu game. The most important one is posture. Another important concept that even blue belts and purple belts don’t apply is using every limb for one thing; each hand should be gripping something and each leg should has a job.

When doing the half guard sweep, it’s important to keep the head placed on the top player’s chest. This is necessary for three main reasons. The first is that it stops the cross face; if you get cross faced in this position, the top player can easily flatten you.

Proper positioning of the head also prevents guillotines, which make it easier for the top player to pass your guard. Finally, it gives you greater power to control and sweep the top player, which is absolutely vital here.

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