How To Do A Scissor Sweep BJJ Step By Step

The BJJ scissor sweep is one of the primary sweeps that any Brazilian jiu-jitsu Gi No-Gi practitioner should know from his early days on the BJJ mats. It’s an awesome sweep that could be performed from the closed guard. Otherwise, the scissor sweep is among the basic jujitsu sweeps that stay very effective from the white belt to the black belt and beyond.

That’s awesome! So, what are the scissor sweep basic principles? A successful BJJ scissor sweep demands that you manage the jiu-jitsu opponent’s posture and weight properly. So, to do so you should use your left hand to grip the opponent’s right sleeve. And, your right hand to grip the opponent’s right collar (this if you attack the opponent’s right side, and vice versa if the other side). Moreover, from this point, you can break the opponent’s posture and maneuver his weight.

Source: Chewjitsu

How To Do A Scissor Sweep?

Follow these awesome steps to take a successful scissor sweep in BJJ.

  1. Reach the closed guard position, or if you’re already there you main it.
  2. Choose the desired opponent’s side to attack that you think will have no chance to escape. Then, control the opponent’s sleeve and collar without giving your opponent’s the opportunity to predict your next moves.
  3. Open your guard and move a little to your side where you create the necessary space to properly perform the sweep. Then, slide your shin diagonally on your opponent’s body so that your foot hooks the hip and your knee presses his chest, and the other leg goes to block the other opponent’s side.
  4. Use the sleeve and collar grips that you have created before to pull the opponent forward by engaging your shoulders, hands, and legs. This is necessary to break the posture and destroy the opponent’s weight balance.
  5. Finish the jiu-jitsu scissor sweep by turning your hips together with your legs, once the opponent’s weight isn’t on his heels.

Scissor Sweep Details

how to build a tough bjj half guard game

The scissor sweep is one of the easiest jiu-jitsu sweeps that every practitioner enjoys learning. But a lot of them find trouble in the scissor sweep setups. So,

What are the BJJ scissor sweep details that you need to handle in order to execute this sweep properly? 

A good jiu-jitsu scissor sweep demands that you take care of several parameters while playing it. Therefore, you should install solid grips within your opponent, and you should use your legs correctly, also you need to deal effectively with your opponent’s weight. 

  • Scissor Sweep Grips

Here is a good BJJ video tutorial about how to set up grips while performing the scissor sweep by John Danaher. 

Source: BJJ Fanatics

  • BJJ Scissor Sweep Setup With Complete Details

Source: The Grappling Academy

Scissor Sweep Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi

Find in the next jiu-jitsu tutorial video four ways to set up correctly the grappling scissor sweep in no-gi mode. 

Source: Jordan Hix

Scissor Sweep MMA

The scissor sweep is an awesome move that you can do in MMA (Mixed Martial arts). So, here is how to perform the MMA scissor sweep without getting hurt. 

Source: Sakan Lam

Scissor Sweep BJJ Variations

There are many scissor sweep variations that you can use to develop your BJJ game so far. Let’s learn more about these jiu-jitsu variations. 

  • Scissor Sweep Overhook

Source: The Guide Sites

  • Scissor Sweep Closed Guard

Source: Affinity Academy

Source: Alberto Serrano BJJ

Scissor Sweep Jiu Jitsu Transitions

The scissor sweep BJJ technique has many Brazilian jiu-jitsu transitions. When you’re at the scissor sweep position, you can transit to the mount position. Also, you can get sweet submissions such as the armbar, triangle choke, cross choke, omoplata, kimura, and more. 

Here are some video tutorials that will teach you how to perform some effective jiu-jitsu scissor sweep transitions.

  • Closed Guard Scissor Sweeps To Arm Bar, Omoplata …

Source: Johnny Jitsu

  • Scissor Sweeps to the Cross Choke

Source: BJJ Fanatics

  • Jiu-Jitsu NoGi Scissor Sweep to the Kimura Choke

Source: Danny Fung

  • Scissor Sweep White Belt Triangle Choke Setup

Source: Chewjitsu

Source: Brandon Quick

  • Scissor Sweep To Heel Hook From Standing Position

The scissor sweep could be done effectively from the standing position with an easy transition to the heel hook submission. In the ADCC 2019, Garry Tonon got the fastest submission ever in an ADCC match using the Scissor Sweep Inverted Heel Hook combo. 

Discover how to do the scissor sweep to heel hook combo by Garry Tonon.

Source: Bernardo Faria BJJ Fanatics

How To Defend Scissor Sweep?

Counting the scissor sweep demands that you maintain the correct posture and weight distribution (this applies to all Brazilian jiu-jitsu sweeps). This means that you have no chance to defend the scissor sweep if you have a lack of balance or bad posture, so fix these facts first.  

Moreover, to counter the scissor sweep you have to reduce the opponent’s leg power that gives him the needed rotation. And to do so, you have the option to switch to the opposite direction of the sweep if you’re fast enough, or you can use your head to block the sweep. 

In the next video, you will learn two methods to counter the scissor sweep.

Source: Wim Deputter

Conclusion

The scissor sweep is one of the most basic sweeps in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s often the first or second sweep that you’ll learn when starting the BJJ grappling. Otherwise, It’s an awesome BJJ move with several variations and transitions including many submissions such as the triangle, kimura, chokes ….

We hope that you gather a lot of information about the scissor sweep in Jiu-Jitsu and MMA. So, are you willing to implement the BJJ scissor in your game?