TXMMA Technique of the Week – Francisco ‘Sinistro’ Iturralde teaches a Spider Guard Sweep

Francisco ‘Sinistro’ Iturralde is an Alliance brown belt that has been tearing the BJJ competition scene up as of late. Sinistro began training 8 years ago in Ecuador, starting at 13 under Fernando Del Piero Soluzo –A Fabio Gurgel black belt. Aside from his Alliance roots the Ecuadorian is also strongly influenced by the games of Marcelo Garcia and Fernando Terere.

Iturralde was in San Antonio this past weekend competing at the UAEJJ World Pro Trials, where he placed second in the lightweight and absolute brown/black belt division, and then visited Houston to teach a seminar at the Alliance Team Gacho academy. Sinistro allowed TXMMA to film some of the techniques he showed at the Houston seminar so that we could share them with the Texas Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community. If you haven’t heard his name before, remember it because you’ll be hearing it for years to come!

In our first technique Sinistro demonstrates how to sweep an opponent from spider guard. The key to getting this sweep to work is generating the initial momentum by simultaneously planting a foot between the opponent’s leg and stretching the opposite gripped arm. The planted foot will create a base that will facilitate making the opponent top-heavy and unbalanced when dragged towards the sweeper’s head.

Once the opponent is launched forward they will have to base out in order to not fall. At this point they will be open for the sweep. To trap the leg and sweep bring the planted foot up and block the calf and knee while securing the position by hooking your foot to the thigh from behind (0:57). The sleeve gripped on that side should then be brought behind your own knee to neutralize the outstretched side of the opponent. Once the knee is isolated the spider grip is not necessary; let go of it and control the opponent’s free leg by grabbing onto the Achilles heel, once both legs are secure the sweep is ready to be executed. Simply buckle the isolated knee by driving pressure forward while pulling the trapped Achilles heel towards you.

Watch the demonstration below and feel free to let the playlist play through for even more great BJJ techniques from Francisco ‘Sinistro’ Iturralde and others.

For more on Francisco ‘Sinistro’ Iturralde, make sure to check him out here.

We’re also always looking forward to sharing more knowledge to the community. If you’re an instructor or experienced practitioner interested in providing your own technique of the week, hit us up on TXMMA Facebook Page.

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