The Evolution of the ‘Logsplitter’ from Fluke to Trusted BJJ Technique

Logsplitter Sweep from Butterfly Guard by Jeff Rockwell (Raptor BJJ)

I’ve nicknamed this sweep “The Logsplitter”, because if done right, it causes intense pain all over your opponent’s trapped leg, making it feel like it is being split apart with an axe in multiple locations. Though I didn’t invent this sweep (thank you Tony Passos, Pedro Sauer brown belt – he came up with this on his own, and though someone else may be doing it, I’ve never seen it demonstrated by anyone else in a class, seminar, video, or competition).

I have become very fond of it, as it solved the problem of the “reverse butterfly guard sweep” for me. I would often try to sweep my opponents to my right from my butterfly guard – if they blocked it by posting their left leg, I would switch to the reverse BF sweep and try to take them to my left. Unfortunately, I did not have much success with this follow up technique. No matter how much I drilled it, no matter how much I tried to get the timing right, anyone I did not outweigh or out-experience by a great deal simply shifted their weight or posted their other leg, blocked the sweep, and proceeded to pass my guard.

This variation of the reverse butterfly guard sweep, however, solved that issue for me, as it traps the opponent’s leg in such a way that it eliminates both their ability to post, and their ability to sprawl their weight down on top of me. Although the aforementioned inventor of this move is able to use this position as a high percentage submission from the bottom as well, I have not had a great deal of success with it in that manner yet – so I am not going to try to demonstrate it as such until I do. I have had a good bit of success in sweeping white through brown belts with it, however, so I feel I’m qualified to speak on that aspect of it.

Jeff Rockwell

1. In this picture, I am setting up a standard hook sweep from the butterfly guard. I have an underhook on my opponent’s right arm, and an overhook on his left – controlling his left arm at the elbow with my hand and trapping the wrist in my armpit. My head is tight against his, and I am sitting to the side so that my right butt cheek/hip is on the ground.

2. I attempt to sweep him by falling 45 degrees to my right, lifting with my left BF hook and driving on the ground with my right foot. My opponent blocks strongly by raising his left foot and posting it on the ground. There are a number of other ways to follow up and successfully sweep him to the right in spite of this post, but they can be less successful against a skillful player.

3. So I dive to my right, underhooking his left leg deeply with my right arm. My left BF hook remains beneath his right thigh. At this point, I can threaten the traditional reverse BF guard sweep by moving his weight to my left – he will generally counter this immediately by posting his right leg (which is what I want). Or I can simply use my underhook and the lifting power of my left leg to pull his weight over top of me, which will encourage him to post his right leg, or at least make it very light, allowing my right leg to pass underneath it in the following movements.

4. My next step is to bend his right leg and capture it between my left shin and my right thigh. This can be cone entirely with legwork, but it sometimes helps to use for left hand (in this example) to guide his leg into place. In the picture below, you’ll see me reaching for his right shin with my left hand, guiding it to my right. At the same time, I straighten my right leg down to the mat, then move it as far to my left as possible. Though this may seem like a lot of fancy footwork at first, it’s really no more daunting than the movements used in the foot drag/lift mount escapes.

NOTE 1: Just as you use a side-to-side abdominal crunch to place your elbows and hands in the proper position for a foot drag mount escape, the same type of side crunch can be very beneficial when trying to use your hand to guide the leg you are going to trap into position. If you crunch your torso to your left as you raise your opponent’s weight above you, it will be much easier to reach his foot and utilize both your hand and your legs.

NOTE 2: What if he just won’t bend his right leg, you ask? No worries! If you have your left shin in the crook of his right knee, but he straightens his leg and you are unable to pass your right leg underneath it, simply grab his ankle with your left hand and extend your hips so that your left shin drives into the bend of his knee and collapses him backwards. Stephan Kesting refers to this as the “Lumberjack Sweep”, and his Dynamic Guard video does a great job of detailing that. If the opponent defends the lumberjack by shifting his weight forward, he comes right back into the Logsplitter, and things are looking good!

5. Once his right foot clears the top of my right thigh, I shift my weight back underneath him, release his foot with my hand, and bring my right thigh upward – trapping his right foot against my right hip. Achieving this position is the key to this sweep. With his leg trapped in this manner, he can’t post with his right foot, as it is securely locked in a bent position. He also cannot base his weight down on the mat to prevent the sweep, as the pain from the resulting calf/knee/hip lock is excruciating.In live rolling, the only way anyone has prevented this sweep (once the leg is locked in) is by standing up, powering their left leg away from my right arm, stepping over my head with it, and running to their right across the mat. And anytime I can get someone to literally run away from my guard, I feel I’m being successful

6. Once his leg is trapped, I am 90% done. I turn my attention back to his left leg, and I crunch my body to my right, making sure I secure his left leg high on my right shoulder, just as I would with an X-guard sweep.

7. From here I simply roll him to his left raising my right underhook and extending slightly with my left shin to sweep him over. With the gi, you can grab his belt or other cloth with your left hand and use that for added pulling power, but it really isn’t necessary. No matter what kind of base he tries to form with his arms, it simply is not enough to compensate for the loss of his right leg, and he will be forced to his back.

8. As I come on top to complete the sweep, I keep his leg tightly trapped, if possible. My body is blocking the view of his right foot in the picture, but it is still trapped against my right hip. Once I land, I will flare my left shin out to the left and drive my right hip in toward his body. At the same time, I lean forward and “give him a hug” with my arms to complete the submission. A high level or wary opponent may be onto this, however, so just be ready to pass his open guard as you complete the sweep. I prefer a cross knee pass to the right if his leg comes free, but that’s just me. There are also a variety of other footlocks/leglocks which you can flow right into if you so choose.

Further Resources