My general method for teaching sweeps (Wim Deputter 15m)

During a roll you have to sweep a person who actively resists. Imagine sweeping someone who resists, if you cannot even sweep the person correctly when he or she allows it 🙂

For that reason, the first step when I teach a sweep, is connecting myself to my partner and let my partner roll or fall in the exact same way as what would happen when I sweep him or her. I try to stay connected and follow through as he or she completes the motion. Then gradually I start doing more work as my partner increases the resistance.

Sweeps are often made harder for beginners, cause we start teaching the sweep from centered, neutral posture. From a neutral posture, there is no cue to where the sweep should go. The center is the middle of all possibilities. Starting the technique from there, makes people use more strenght when doing techniques.

To teach people to use the correct muscle engagement with a sweep, I let them start from the position where the sweep is almost completed. The partner has to try to get back up while I use rotation and muscle tension to keep him or her on the ground. The muscles and rotation that I use to keep my partner on the floor, are the same I would use to complete the sweep in the first place.

I prefer doing positional rolling initially from an off centered / out of balance position cause this gives a clear cue to the beginner on what sweep should be used.
By starting with the partner off balance, the technique starts to make sense right away.

In this video I illustrate my method for teaching sweeps with examples from X-guard and the
scissor sweep.

You are always welcome to reach out to me with questions or feedback.

Find me at www.wimdeputter.com