How many sweeps are there in BJJ? The Ultimate list of all the sweeps used in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

BjjTribesJanuary 13, 2023January 13, 2023

One of the most beautiful parts about training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the sheer number of available techniques. Over the years, some black belts have even compared this to a ‘buffet’, where you can pick and choose over thousands of techniques and moves.

In this article, we shall be going through every sweep that is possible when training BJJ. Obviously, you don’t need to learn all these sweeps as doing so in-depth would take too long. As a result, it’s probably best to train only a handful of sweeps to get comfortable with them first.

After this, you can start branching out and building your own game. Nonetheless, it’s still nice to learn the names of everything, and even if you have no interest in using specific sweeps, it’s still good to learn them when thinking about passing the guard (and how to avoid getting swept) at the same time.

In other words, it’s good to familiarise yourself with the sheer number of sweeps that are available on offer. The good news is that there’s also a lot of crossover between guards. For instance, if you can do an arm drag sweep from half guard, then you’re more likely to be able to hit the same move from the closed guard as well.

As well, you will also learn what guard has the most sweeping options. On a final note, just because a guard has a lot of sweeps on offer compared to others, it doesn’t mean it’s particularly better than other guards. For example, although the butterfly guard doesn’t have too many sweeps available, it’s still one of the best guards around due to its simplicity and effectiveness. If it’s good enough for Gordon Ryan and Marcelo Garcia, it’s good enough for everyone else!