One of the most common problems you will face playing DLR is the top player stuffing the posting leg inside. As you can see, most of our options from DLR begin with using the post leg to dictate the balance. When we lose this, the hook is no longer very effective. As a result we need quick answers when they strip the post. One answer is to switch to Reverse De La Riva and we will cover that in more detail later, but another is to switch to reverse half guard. A note wording, I learned this first from Pablo Popovitch dvds, and he called it Reverse half. That said, recently I have begun to see another position referred to as reverse half, so if you're googling don’t be surprised to see some discrepancy.
When they push the hook down and step forward, the goal is to place the knee of the right leg directly behind the knee of their right leg and cross our ankles. Shifting our weight to our left hip so the inside leg is also the high side leg we should be able to create enough pressure on their knee to stop them from being able to hit a knee cut to our right. They may backstep to relieve the pressure on the knee, if they do so it is often possible to simply replace the posting leg and go back to DLR.
Unstoppable sweep.
A not uncommon response to this position is to drop the far knee to the mat into combat base. With our opponent in this position, we look to get a left hand grip on their right sleeve and a right hand grip on their lapel. Our right knee should be in the back of their right knee still and our left knee should drop to the mat to control their right ankle. Sitting up chest to chest, we rock back and pull their weight off their legs and onto us. From here we look to roll left toward our stomach. Our hips should extend, driving our knee into their and turning their hips, but at the same time we want to pull out heels to our butt, not extending at the knees. Be careful not to lead with the hand grip or they will post on the mat, instead tuck the arm inside. Click here to see an older post on this sweep without the Gi.
The ‘unstoppable sweep’ from reverse half guard
Stomp up sweep
If once in Reverse half guard, we cannot seem to pull their weight on top of us enough to attempt the above, we can instead take advantage of our opponents weight leaning backward. Dropping our left hand from the sleeve back to the ankle or pants cuff, we use our left foot to stomp inside the knee, turning their hips again and forcing them backward. Keeping our lapel grip we can wrestle up into a well established knee cut pass.
Stomp up sweep from reverse half guard
Technical stand up sweep.
Some will choose to respond to our reverse half guard by stepping forward thinking our back exposed. We can further this impression by taking a right hand grip behind their right knee. This holds the leg firmly in place and makes the back seem like the best path for the top player. When they bring their left leg forward we look to underhook it with our right arm, this puts us into a kind of deep half guard and allows us to attack the same technical stand up sweep we would form X guard.
Technical stand up sweep from reverse half guard
