Fine Tune Your Half Guard With This Sweep By Lachlan Giles

The most important half guard sweep (Lachlan Giles)

Who is Lachlan Giles?  He is a Jiu Jitsu black belt under John Simon and arguable one of the top Australian grapplers of his generation.  Giles earned his distinguished reputation in prestigious tournaments such as IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, Pan Pacific Championship, Boa Super 8 and Eddie Bravo Invitational.

Giles hails from Melbourne, Australia. At a young age he was influenced by martial arts movies. He was introduced to Jiu Jitsu at the age of 15 when he saw Royce Gracie’s legendary performance at UFC 1. Lachlan began his training in Jiu Jitsu under Tyrone Crosse. It was under Tyrone’s tutelage that he progressed to purple belt. His club changed coaches and Lachlan progressed to black belt under John Simon. It is worth noting that Giles was also heavily influenced by Thiago Stefanutti.  Thiago also awarded Giles the first degree on his black belt.

Lachlan Giles is an ADCC Veteran, Pan Pacific Champion and coach to one of the fastest rising starts, Craig Jones!

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Lachlan has many exceptional achievements as a grappler. He is the ADCC Asia &Oceania Trials Champion in 2015 and 2017. He is the IBJJF Pan Pacific Champion and Pan Pacific No-GI Champion in 2016 and 2017.  He won the UAEJJF Continental Pro Champion in 2018. Giles also took second place at the Boa Super 8 1st Edition and 2^nd Edition in 2015. Lachlan took 3^rd place at Eddie Bravo Invitational 5.  He claimed second place at the 2018 UAEJJF Grand Slam Abu Dhabi and 3^rd place at the IBJJF World No-Gi Championship in 2017.

 

 

In this video Lachlan Giles explores an important half guard sweep. He starts the video with some key principles of the half guard. Giles states that one leg should always be controlling distance and the other leg should be trapping our opponent.  He also explains that it is important to be able to keep the bottom leg free. When our opponent is able to control our bottom leg it creates a danger for us. Giles starts the sequence by kicking out the top leg and then reaching his training partner around to get an under hook. He spends some time detailing that it is important to turn the corner. If we remain in front of our opponent then we can easily be flattened out.  Giles also states that we should keep the under hook tight and create pressure. Next Giles attacks his opponent’s near side leg and uses it as a lever to advance his position. To do this Giles uses his near side foot to lift his opponent’s leg off the ground. Notice how his far side foot then windshield wipers and pulls his opponents leg away. To finish the sweep he grabs his opponent’s far side leg. He pulls the leg back while driving his weight forward. Giles states that our opponents can counter the sweep by posting and driving their weight into us. Did you see what Giles does to counter this? He uses his opponent’s momentum to sweep them in the direction that they are pushing. Lachlan states that it is important to keep pressure on your training partner’s leg during this sweep.

This video is a wonderful example of Lachlan Giles’s ability to communicate technique to even novice grapplers.  Like all of Giles’ instructional videos, there is a lot of detail. I know that I often gain new insights every time I re-watch one of his videos. Certainly, they have a powerful impact on anyone who makes a careful study of them. Giles’ education, the success of his students and the popularity that he has achieved are testaments to his exceptional abilities as an instructor. Certainly the Jiu Jitsu community is lucky to have him.

Come and learn one of the world’s most important guards from one of the world’s best instructors, Lachlan Giles. The head coach of Australia’s Absolute MMA, is back to show one of his best positions, the offensive half guard. He explores the techniques that he uses to win tons of tournaments at the world black belt level. Get it now from BJJ Fanatics!

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