The De La Riva sweep (off-balance) is a classic open-guard sweep using the De La Riva hook to destabilize a standing or kneeling opponent and transition to top position. It is essential for guard players to reverse aggressive passing and establish dominant top control.
Start
De La Riva guard
End
Top
Prerequisites: De La Riva hook placement · Collar-and-sleeve grip · Hip escape · Technical stand-up
Steps
1
Establish De La Riva Guard
Insert your outside leg’s foot as a De La Riva hook around opponent’s far leg, with your knee flared outward and toes gripping behind their thigh. Use your near hand to grip their ankle or pants cuff, and your far hand to grip their sleeve or collar (gi) or wrist (no-gi).
2
Angle Your Hips
Shift your hips out and angle your torso about 30–45° to the outside, creating tension with your De La Riva hook and maintaining a strong pull with your grips.
3
Off-Balance the Opponent
Pull their sleeve/collar forward and to the side while simultaneously extending your De La Riva hook and pushing their far leg away with your foot. Your ankle grip anchors their base.
4
Elevate and Load Their Weight
As they react to the off-balance, use your De La Riva hook to lift their leg while pulling their sleeve/collar across your centerline. Their weight should now be loaded onto your shin and hip.
5
Kick and Chop the Base
Extend your De La Riva hook forcefully while chopping their far leg out from under them with your free foot, aiming to tilt their hips and force their hands to the mat.
6
Follow Through and Come Up
As they fall or post, release your sleeve/collar grip and post on your hand to perform a technical stand-up, keeping their ankle controlled with your other hand.
7
Secure Top Position
Drive your hips forward, step over their leg, and settle into headquarters, knee-cut, or direct knee-on-belly, maintaining strong grips and posture.
Key details most people miss
The De La Riva hook must be active—flex your toes and keep your knee wide to maximize control and leverage.
Angle your hips off-center before initiating the off-balance; being square reduces your ability to generate kuzushi.
Synchronize your pulling and pushing actions—pulling the sleeve/collar as you extend the hook multiplies the off-balancing effect.
Keep your grip on their ankle/pants until you are fully on top to prevent them from re-guarding.
Common mistakes
If you let your De La Riva hook go limp, opponent can easily step out and break your guard.
Failing to angle your hips allows the opponent to drive their knee through and pass.
If you try to sweep before breaking their posture with the off-balance, they will base out and shut down the sweep.
Releasing the ankle grip too early lets the opponent recover guard or scramble away.
Counters & responses
They try: Opponent posts wide with their free leg to prevent being swept.
You do: Switch to a sit-up guard or transition to a single-leg X-guard entry by threading your free leg underneath.
They try: Opponent strips your sleeve/collar grip and postures up.
You do: Re-grip quickly and use your De La Riva hook to off-balance them again, or switch to a collar drag or back-take.
They try: Opponent steps back to disengage the De La Riva hook.
You do: Follow their movement by scooting your hips in and re-establishing the hook, or transition to a shin-shin or lasso guard.
They try: Opponent drops their knee to the mat to kill the De La Riva hook.
You do: Switch to a deep De La Riva hook and attack with a waiter sweep or invert for a back-take.
Drill prescription
Perform 5 rounds × 3 minutes with a partner giving 40% resistance; goal is to hit 5 clean sweeps per round, finishing in a stable top position each time.
How the masters teach it
Ricardo de la Riva
Originator of the guard, emphasizes dynamic hook engagement and angle changes for off-balancing.
bjjweekly
Lucas Lepri
Focuses on precise grip transitions and timing to sweep even against standing, mobile opponents.