Yeah, you may not be too fond of the basic techniques – they are basic, after all. But if we’re being totally honest, you could still use a bit of assistance with them.
This is probably true in the case of your Kimura from Closed Guard setup; as well as in the case of your Hip Bump Sweep. Both are extraordinarily „simple“ techniques, but they still require a lot of attention to detail on your part.
Rubens Charles Maciel, aka “Cobrinha”, shows how to never fail when executing them!
THE KIMURA FROM CLOSED GUARD
In the case of the first mistake for the Kimura from Closed Guard, Cobrinha shows that sometimes BJJ practitioners will keep their Closed Guard locked in place as they go for the opponent’s hand. This is not a good idea; since your opponent will then be able to easily push you back to the mats. The solution to this, as you may have guessed, is to open up your Closed Guard before going for the Kimura setup.
However, just opening your guard isn’t going to cut it; your opponent will still be able to push back into you. Therefore, what you need to do is shrimp out, in order to create distance between yours and the hips of your opponent.
The third mistake Cobrinha points towards is the one of locking your legs in the same manner they’ve been locked before. Don’t do this, don’t close the standard Closed Guard once you’ve gotten that Kimura grip. Instead, when you get the grip, shift yourself to a 90 degree angle as much as you can; with your leg over the opponent’s lower back (on the side you’re gripping their arm at) and with your other leg’s knee near to their hip. This way, you’ll prevent them from escaping the submission by a roll to the opposite shoulder.
And finally, the fourth mistake is fairly easy to rectify: don’t let their elbow move. When you have the Kimura grip, glue their elbow to your chest; it will make the job of submitting them much easier.
THE HIP BUMP SWEEP
In so far as the Hip Bump Sweep is considered, Cobrinha explains that you need to pay attention to, yet again, opening up your Closed Guard. However, the difference here is that you’re not going for the opponent’s arm, so you need to come up on your elbow first. After doing so, you need to scoot back; but as you do this, make sure that you prop yourself up from the elbow to the palm of your hand. Keep this arm straight, as it’ll prevent your opponent’s attempts of driving you into the mats.
From there, make sure to reach over the opponent’s shoulder and grab their elbow; but don’t forget to hook their leg! If you don’t do this, they are going to simply step over your foot and prevent the sweep. Therefore, hook their leg (or put your foot as close as you can to their heel) at the same time you grab the elbow – elevate your hips above theirs and scoop their leg to get to the Mount.
In addition to this, Cobrinha has great tips in regards to using your Hip Bump Sweep to get the Kimura; the most important one being that you shouldn’t fake the sweep to get the Kimura. Go for the Sweep with full commitment; but if you notice that you have some leeway when the opponent posts their arm on the mat, only then should you transition to the Kimura.
Cobrinha troubleshoots these two techniques in great detail on the video below:
Find out why the KIMURA should be the CORNERSTONE of your entire BJJ playbook with Tom DeBlass’ help!
DeBlass leaves no POSITION unexamined. DOMINATE Kimura attacks, sweeps and even use it as a shortcut to LEG ATTACKS.
