The John Wayne sweep is a move from bottom half guard. If done correctly the guard player should land in the top half guard or side control position. Also k
nown as the Tussa sweep, it has been popularised by Polish grappler Adam Wardzinski in recent times but was originally done by Roberto Tussa.
Compared to most half guard sweeps, the John Wayne is a fairly unique move as it sweeps the opponent towards the outside space whereas most half guard attacks usually focus on the inside position.
Table of Contents
How to set up the John Wayne sweep
The setup takes place from the regular Z guard position. The most important part of the sweep is gripping the opponent’s outside hand. This can be done by sleeve control in the Gi or grabbing the wrist in Nogi. The next step is to trap your opponent’s entangled leg with your inside leg. To do this you must hook their foot with your foot and keep active toes pointing towards the floor. After this, you can start attacking the sweep. Using the leg of the knee shield you then flair this leg outwards whilst hipping up and flaring the inside leg outwards simultaneously.
To complete the sweep you should then put the knee shield leg on the floor by the opponent’s knee whilst bridging. This will stop the opponent from posting on the knee for balance and it blocks any recoveries. Remember, your opponent’s wrist should be on the outside of your knee shield leg. That is the area you should be aiming to sweep them towards.
Another key detail of this sweep is also controlling their free arm on the other side. Again, this can be done by gripping their wrist or sleeve with your own free arm. A good opponent may use this arm to base and defend the sweep if it isn’t being controlled which may ruin the sweep. However, sometimes you can still complete the sweep without control. If the opponent does use their far arm to base however, you can bait this to set up Triangle chokes. This is because you have the opponent off-balanced by the sweep whilst controlling one arm. Whenever this happens Triangle chokes can be attempted.
Another key detail of the John Wayne sweep is the initial entry. Sometimes passers will try and grip your outer leg which creates the setup. However, sometimes you will need to be more proactive. With this in mind it’s also fine to grab the opponent’s elbow and attempt the sweep. Also, it can be used to counter the underhook. Often passers will prefer the underhook from top position. This can be countered by a hard overhook or whizzer on the opponent’s arm which also takes away their base. With this in mind there are a few variations of the outside grip.
Finishing the John Wayne sweep
Whilst the grip setup has been mentioned, the use of legs also needs to be highlighted. As said, the sweep works by bringing both legs to the side. Mechanically this works, as it puts great pressure on the opponent’s leg as if being hacked by an axe. Combined with no base, they have no option to fall. To make this more effective it’s equally as important to do a hard bridge and hip upwards whilst tilting the opponent. In BJJ bridging is used to generate extra power from the hips, so this makes the sweep more efficient and effective.
As previously mentioned you will either end up in top half guard or side control. This depends on how clean the sweep is and if the opponent can recover. If the sweep is a complete surprise then you may be able to bring your bottom foot out in time. If so you can achieve side control but if not then you basically reverse the original position. Whilst top half guard is progress, side control is still the aim.
Summary
Overall the John Wayne sweep is a smart move to learn, especially if you enjoy the Z guard position. It is important as a lot of attacks from the position favour the inside space such as roll under sweeps or attacking the Kimura. A lot of half guard stuff also favors attacks from the underhook which is not always an option. Because of this the John Wayne adds versatility to your half guard, it offers something different and a little unorthodox which can catch people out.
