There are a ton of different options from the Deep Half Guard. My favorite, and the sweep that we are covering this month at 10th Planet Van Nuys, is the Homer Simpson sweep. I’m really digging relearning this sweep. It was one of the first sweeps that I learned from the Deep Half Guard and it’s one of the most common sweeps from Deep Half Guard.

In the video below Jeff Glover, amazing black belt and one of the innovators of the Deep Half Guard, shows the Homer Simpson sweep. The Homer Simpson Sweep got it’s name from that famous episode of the Simpsons where Homer is on his side running in circles. To complete this sweep that is basically what you are doing!

One of the real keys for me in using this sweep is the knee hug. Hugging the knee allows me to dicate which direction my opponent moves in. This is especially crucial for when I roll back towards him. If I have a good knee hug my opponent goes right over. If my knee hug is weak or not tight, my opponent can counter my movement and prevent me from getting the sweep. So hug the knee!

One of the other important parts of this move is to pinch your knees. Without a proper knee pinch, your opponent has a real easy escape route….they pull their leg out. I tend to think of this postion like I’m going for an Arm Bar. The tighter my knee pinch, the tighter my sweep is.

Stop by 10th Planet Van Nuys this month if you want to learn more about this awesome sweep!