Reverse Half Guard Sweep For the Win With Masahiro Iwasaski
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Reverse Half Guard Sweep by Masahiro Iwasaki
If you have been around the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu scene you probably will have heard the name Masahiro Iwasaki before. Masahiro is regarded as one of the top Japanese grapplers of his generation. Masahiro is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under Marco Barbosa, and is a former student of Yasuhiro Miyamoto. Masahrio is also a member of the prestigious Tokyo based academy Carpe Diem. The list of Masahiro accolades is long. Some of his primary accomplishments are: ASJJF All Japan Champion (2016), IBJJF Nagoya Champion (2015), IBJJF European Open 2nd Place (2018), IBJJF Asian Open 2nd Place (2015/2016/2017), IBJJF NY Spring Open 2nd Place (2016) and IBJJF European Open 3rd Place (2017).
In half guard you will find the easiest and most effective sweeps in jiu jitsu that you can use to sweep bigger and stronger opponents everytime.
Today Masahiro is here with 5 time world champion Bernardo Faria to demonstrate his reverse half guard sweep. This is a very useful sweep. Watch the video below and then we will break down Masahiro’s technique. Check it out now!
Masahiro starts off this demonstration from a position similar to where you would be when you have escaped out the back side in deep half guard, also known as reverse half guard. He wraps his arm underneath his training partner’s thigh and secures a collar grip. He is also still cross leg over his opponent’s leg. From here Masahiro hip escapes so he can grab his training partner’s belt. Once in this position Masahiro readjusts his hips so they are under his opponent’s leg. Now all he has to do is pull his opponent, bridge and flip him over. To complete the sweep Masahiro ends up in side control.
This is a very cool technique because it requires very little energy to do. Reverse half guard can be a position that a lot of people struggle with. This makes this sweep a very effective one to have in your arsenal. There are a couple important things to take away from this demonstration. It is very important to make sure you have the collar grip on your opponent. It is also crucial to hip escape in order to grab your opponent’s belt. The same applies if you are training or competing in no gi. In a no gi situation you still want to get your arm all the way across your opponent’s back and hook the other side of his body. You can see that when you set this sweep up correctly your partner will go right over. Notice that Masahiro is not necessarily the biggest guy, yet he is able to sweep Bernardo with ease. Make sure that when you are training this reverse half guard sweep you focus on precision technique so you can get the feeling of how your training partner should roll. This may be a great sweep to consider if you are a smaller guy and have trouble against larger opponents. I hope you find this reverse half guard sweep useful. Thank you Masahiro for sharing this technique with us today!
Without a doubt, Bernardo Fario is the absolute best half guard player in the world. Bernardo likes to pull into half guard – which is very easy to get to against almost any opponent: they are happy to give it to you, they figure they are halfway past your guard! What they don’t realize is that they are also halfway swept. This isn’t an area where most BJJ guys spend a ton of time, so if you practice his system you will have a huge advantage over your opponent who doesn’t – regardless of his athletic ability or rank.
Discover Bernardo Faria's secrets to the half guard with one of the best DVD series ever on the half guard.... BATTLE TESTED HALF GUARD!!! If you train Jiu Jitsu, you need this DVD series.
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