William Martins, on bottom playing half-guard, tries to sweep Nivaldo Oliveira at the Brazilian Nationals 2012. (Photo by Gustavo Aragão/GRACIEMAG)

When you’re a white belt, there’s nothing worse than having an opponent in your half-guard, bearing his weight down on you and not giving you room to breathe.

That’s why today GRACIEMAG.com is showcasing a basic sweep that comes in handy in precisely such situations: to open up room and relieve the pressure.

In the following video, Professor Adino Souza teaches that the first trick to pulling it off is the underhook.

Note how at 23 seconds in the video he sticks his hand under his student’s armpit, sinking an underhook, and consequently opens up space to work with.

So he locks up his sparring partner’s arm, grabs his shoulder and loops his other arm around the outside of the leg.

Then he opens his half-guard and does a seesaw to invert the position, using minimum effort and maximum efficiency.

Did you like that? Comment to let us know if the position worked for your game.

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