Usually, one of the first moves taught in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the scissor sweep. This is a move that uses the opponent’s base and posture against them and can result in gaining mount or the half guard position if done correctly. The name scissor sweep is given as when doing it, your legs effectively cut your opponent from either side, like a pair of scissors.
Often, it is taught early on due to its simplicity which means it’s great for beginners. However, this move can still be used at black belt – especially when it’s chained together with other offensive moves. As a result, it’s considered a pretty versatile, universal technique. One thing worth noting though is that this move is primarily used in the gi due to the sleeve grip.
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How to use the BJJ Scissor Sweep
The scissor sweep often begins with getting a sleeve grip. Usually, this means grabbing the opponent’s sleeve with your four fingers. This is the side that you’ll want to sweep them to. Basically, you want to remove their post so when you sweep them, they can’t use that hand to get back up.
After grabbing the sleeve with your same side arm, you’ll then want to pull their arm up towards your head. This will compromise their base and make it easier to sweep them. In short, dragging their arm forward will make it less easy for them to balance.
At the same time, you’ll want to use your other hand and place it in their collar, as if trying to get a cross collar choking grip. Make sure this is a deep grip to pull the opponent’s head down and break their posture. After this, bring your opposite leg forward and bend it over their sternum.
With your free leg, you can now hack at their foot on the same side as the sleeve grip which will completely remove any base. Whilst doing this, pull their sleeve up, pull their collar down, and tilt your curled knee to the side of the sweep. If this works correctly, then you should land in mount.
Generally speaking, the idea of this sweep is to remove any posts for the opponent to base and defend on (their hands and feet on the same side), then you should load the opponent onto your leg and use this as leverage to sweep them. Remember, it’s important to drag them forward as this will make their body lighter.
If they’re too balled up then their body may be too heavy to sweep. If you really want to use this in no gi, you could swap the sleeve grip for a wrist grip, and the collar grip with a collar tie. Usually, this would make the sweep much harder to do though as keeping these grips is much harder compared to sleeve grips.
What guards can you use the Scissor Sweep from?
The scissor sweep is often done from Closed guard which is its most common position. This is because it’s easier to set up your sleeve and collar grip whilst trapping the opponent in the guard. Also, you can easily hack away at the foot with your leg simply by lowering it to the floor.
There are two other scissor sweep positions that are relatively common too. The first is from Spider guard which has similar mechanics. The difference is that with your far leg, you don’t crunch it into the opponent’s stomach.
Instead, you maintain a spider grip and use this to extend their arm upward. With the other side of your body doing the same grips as before, you can finish this sweep in a similar way, and possibly end up in a mounted triangle choke too.
Another sweeping position can be done from Half guard. Often, BJJ players will use a knee shield anyway (also known as Z-guard). Here, you just need to get a sleeve grip on the far arm, take your bottom leg out and chop and you can do the sweep. Remember, the position may be different but the mechanics are the same.
Scissor Sweep combinations
The scissor sweep has lots of combinations that can make it difficult to defend against. For example, instead of chopping at the foot, you can instead use the same foot to kick the opponent’s knee backward. This helps to sweep heavier opponents by killing their base.
It’s also useful to set up triangle chokes. The reason for this is by kicking the knee back, this will often result in the opponent lowering their base and head position. From here, you can bring the curled leg over the shoulders and enter a triangle.
Another option is the collar drag which can result in a sweep or back take. Sometimes, the opponent will defend by leaning back too far. This means the scissor sweep may not be on, but instead if you keep your sleeve and collar grip and do a technical stand up with your legs whilst dragging them forward. From here, if you’re quick enough, you can access the back which is obviously a dominant position.
How to defend the Scissor Sweep
The scissor sweep isn’t perfect and like all techniques, it can be defeated. Perhaps the best method of doing so is freeing your bottom foot which is the one that gets kicked at. This relies on timing and feel, and if you’re too slow then you can still easily get swept.
Basically, as the opponent goes to chop your foot, you will have a small window to jump your leg over their foot. With this done, you’ll now have a base which means the sweep won’t work. At this point, you can try and pass or gain better grips to neutralize the position.
The point is to free your leg which will mean you won’t run out of space to post. Remember, this will work against conventional scissor sweeps but the Spider variation will still work from here. This is because the Spider grip on your far arm may be too strong even with a recovered base.
Summary
Overall, the scissor sweep is a very solid, fundamentally sound technique. It is mostly used in the gi and can be seen at the elite level. As mentioned, it’s also good to chain attacks from and can also lead to submissions. The negatives are that it’s not perfect and can be countered with the right timing and experience. However, it still remains one of the most popular positions in BJJ which proves it is successful for any body type.
