I find that playing DLR it is helpful to think of all my attacks existing somewhere along a spectrum defined by its two limits. At one end of the spectrum is taking the back and at the other is taking mount via the Balloon sweep. All of my other techniques exist somewhere between these two things and are usually triggered by my opponents attempts to avoid them. As a result it seems fitting to look at these first.

Taking the back.

Taking the back is the primary objective of DLR. It scores highly on it’s own in sport jiu jitsu and offers a huge competitive advantage in submission only matches. What’s more, it is easy to initiate as the attacker, That doesn’t mean it will always be easy to finish but we can threaten it in relative safety in order to begin a sequence of events we can control.

Assuming we are playing a DLR in which our left foot is the DLR hook and our right foot is the posting foot, we want to have a left hand pant grip and a right hand sleeve grip, our right hand to our opponents right hand. Dropping our left shoulder to the mat, we elevate our hips as high as we can in order to sink our DLR hook as far across our opponents body as possible so that we can hook our shoe laces on their far hip. Next we jackknife our body forward at the waist by pulling on our sleeve grip and attempting to ‘bat hang’ on our DLR hook. This should do one of two things, either slingshot our torso behind our opponent, or bend their leg forcing them to step forward. In either case we should be able to see their back clearly. From here, maintaining our sleeve grip we will circle our right foot out and then behind their right knee as a butterfly hook. At the same time we reach up with our left and win a belt grip. Slipping our second reverse butterfly hook behind their left knee we can now pull and kick to drop them to their butt. Securing our seatbelt or over arm collar grip immediately, we look to sink both back hooks for three seconds and score our 4 points.

If when we sink our DLR hook to the far hip initially our standing opponent decides to sit and put their back on the mat in order to stymie the back take we will transition to the berimbolo instead.

Click here for a detailed look at the Berimbolo.

The Balloon sweep or overhead sweep.

To attack the balloon sweep we begin ideally with both sleeve grips. Controlling both of our opponents hands makes finishing the sweep to mount easiest although there are versions which can be done with different grips. Sitting up in DLR we begin by using our post leg to drive our opponents hips away from us. If they respond to this pressure by blading out, it will feed into arm drags, omoplatas, and many other attacks. Assuming however that they resist our push by squaring their hips and pushing back in, we look to pull both of our knees to our chest and pull their hand high above our head, shifting their weight from their own feet to our posting foot and our hookling leg. We should be able to comfortably hold their weight in the position. If we over extend our legs, especially on the hooking side, this can be hard, but if we are pulling our knees to our chest we will hold more of their weight on our hamstring than our actual DLR hook. To finish the sweep we pull their hand forward over our head shifting their weight even further, then draw our hands out wide in a large arc before they hit the mat. As their weight rolls off of us we perform a back shoulder roll to assume mount. We generally do not want to ‘kick’ them off of us like captain kirk fighting a giant lizard. Doing so will mean they land further away and make it harder to land in mount. That said, if we screw up the hand work and they are able to post on the mat above out head, a little kick will get them to go over.

Balloon sweep or over head sweep from De la riva guard.

De La X variation.

A modified version of the Balloon sweep is possible from the De La X guard against an opponent in combat base with only a single sleeve grip. In this case, beginning in DLR against Combat base, we switch our right leg from posting with the sole of our foot to hooking the far leg with our shoe laces. This combines with the DLR hook to form an X on the far thigh. Our right hand controlling their right sleeve, we switch our left hand from the pant grip to a nearside belt grip, being sure to sit up to do so. Pulling tight to connect their body weight to ours we do a back roll over our left shoulder, taking them up and over us. Because they have a free hand to post on the mat, it is important we roll over the outside shoulder. The X should be taken apart mid roll, once it is no longer holding their weight in order to assume mount.

Balloon or overhead sweep from De la X guard

Forward sweep against combat base.

One of the most common reasons to play DLR is that our opponent has elevated one knee to pass our closed guard. This can arise as the result of a successful ‘knee in the tailbone’ style guard opening, as the first step in a standing guard pass, or many other situations. It is important to recognize when your guard is failing and look to transition to a different guard early in order to prevent the pass. Posting a foot on their far thigh or hip we shrimp out and establish a DLR hook on the elevated leg. Dropping our posting foot as low as posible to the knee, we pull with both sleeve grip and drive their down knee as far away as possible, while at the same time using our DLR hook to elevate. The goal is to drop them on their flank. To assume top position, we use our DLR hook to pin their leg to the mat, stopping them from squaring their hips, find the far side underhook and slide through.

Forward sweep against standing.

If our opponent manages to get to both feet, we can still perform the same sweep as above, they will simply fall further. Be careful not to drop your friends too hard onto their shoulder or AC joint injuries are common. The mistake most often made with both of these sweeps is not controlling the hands strongly enough and allowing them to post a hand on the mat to prevent the sweep. Be careful to avoid it. If while attempting to set up this sweep they press hard back into the post, they will be setting themselves up for the balloon sweep instead.

Forward sweep from de la riva guard against standing opponent

Armdrag

The Arm drag is an almost universal technique from all forms of open guard. DLR, RDLR, Spider, etc. My preferred version from DLR begins with a left sleeve grip. It could begin from a double sleeve as well, but the left cuff is the main thing I look for. Pushing away with the post, if we are able to create space, we will do two things simultaneously; drop both the posting foot and hooking foot into an ‘S’ shape and reach for the upper arm with our right hand. Pulling their arm out in front of their body to direct their weight in that direction we rock forward on our right knee and place our head firmly in their short ribs. Driving in hard we wrestle up to our feet and look to finish the takedown of our choice. It is important to keep pulling their arm out in front of their body for as long as possible to avoid counter grips and guillotine attempts as we wrestle up on the single.

Roll under sweep.

Beginning in DLR with the classic left hand pant, right hand sleeve grip, we again push their weight away with our post leg. Sitting up we look to pass the sleeve grip down between their own legs and hand it off to our left hand. Dropping both hooks, we reach across and underhook their far leg using our momentum to roll them toward the trapped arm where they cannot post. It is important to do this roll with some speed as they may momentarily take knee on belly against us and we need enough momentum to overcome this. Landing on top with the far leg still underhooked and be careful not to let go of the sleeve grip until we get our left shoulder pressed into their right bicep. Once we do so we can let go of the sleeve and win a race to control the head. Once we have the head, we can let go of the far leg underhook.

Far arm trap wrestle up.

If we begin with a grip on the far sleeve and perhaps we are unable to extend them enough for the forward sweep listed above, we can pass the far arm off between their legs in the same manner as the roll under sweep. We could attempt the same roll under sweep here, but with the near hand free to post it is often less successful. Instead, once the far arm is trapped, we can grip the lapel and force them to post their near hand on the mat. Once here they are in a terrible position to defend against us wrestling up. There are many ways to finish as long as you keep their arm trapped.

Trapping the far arm and wrestling up from de la riva guard

Toughness. Effort. Technique. Discipline.