Spider Sweep

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Spider sweep is a sweep from the spider guard. In it, the bottom grappler holds both of the opponent's sleeves with their hands and rests their feet on the opponent's biceps, right foot on left biceps and left foot on right biceps; besides the biceps, the feet can also control the opponent's hips or thighs. The guard gives them a wide range of hip movement and prevents the opponent from passing the guard or gaining control of the head. Besides sweeps, it also allows setting up joint locks and chokes. Because it requires gripping the sleeves, it belongs to gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu and is not performed in this form without the kimono. The roots of the spider guard are sought in 1940s kosen judo; it was developed in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Vinicius "Draculino" has said he saw Renzo Gracie trying out this position at the Gracie Barra academy as early as 1987. According to Maurício "Tinguinha" Mariano, it probably arose simultaneously at several academies, as smaller practitioners looked for a way to cope with larger opponents. Mariano also stresses that the spider guard cannot be learned as a couple of isolated positions, but only as a whole system. Besides him, its specialists include Romulo Barral, Michael Langhi, Ana Laura Cordeiro, Leandro Lo and JT Torres.