HIP BUMP SWEEP
Raspagem de Quadril
Also known as: Sit-Up Sweep, Raspagem de Sentar
The hip bump sweep is the simplest reversal in the closed-guard playbook and one of the most consequential, because nearly every other closed-guard sweep and submission is set up against an opponent who has been forced to honor the threat of being bumped over. It is taught in the first week of every reputable BJJ curriculum and is the technique through which beginners first learn that closed guard is an offensive position, not a defensive one.
The mechanics are direct. With the opponent's posture broken and one of their wrists controlled, the bottom player sits up onto the elbow of the controlled-side hand, posts on that elbow, and drives their free arm over the opposite shoulder of the opponent. Continuing the motion, the hip on the post side lifts and rotates over the opponent's controlled arm, dumping them backward onto the mat and arriving in mounted position. The post on the elbow is essential; without it the bottom player cannot generate the rotational force required to reverse a fully postured opponent.
The technique's true value is not the sweep itself but what it forces the opponent to do. To defend the hip bump, the top player must post a hand on the mat behind them — which immediately opens the kimura. If they refuse to post and instead drive their hips forward to neutralize the bump, the bottom player has the opening for the pendulum sweep in the opposite direction, or for a triangle as the arm is now isolated. This three-way threat — bump, kimura, pendulum — is what makes closed guard a position the top player cannot pass passively.
For that reason the hip bump sweep is often called the heart of closed guard rather than just a sweep. Practitioners as senior as Roger Gracie still drill it weekly because the moment a training partner stops respecting the bump, every other closed-guard technique loses its setup. In MMA it has been used by every era of grappler from the original UFCs to the modern champions, often as an answer to a posturing opponent in the bottom guard who has refused to engage with the submission threats.
KEY POINTS
- 01Control one wrist before the sit-up — without that control the opponent simply pushes you back down.
- 02Post hard on the same-side elbow and then transition to the hand, generating rotation through the post.
- 03Drive your free arm over the opponent's far shoulder; the cross-shoulder reach is what creates the over-rotation.
- 04Lift and rotate the post-side hip across the opponent's controlled arm — the bump is hip, not shoulder.
- 05Finish into a stable mount by immediately establishing posture and hand control, not by celebrating the sweep mid-air.
- 06Layer it with the kimura: if the opponent posts to defend, attack the kimura instead.
COMMON MISTAKES
- ✕Forgetting the wrist control and trying to bump against a free-armed opponent — they simply push you back to your back.
- ✕Bumping with the shoulder instead of the hip, which produces no rotation and leaves you sitting up but not reversing.
- ✕Failing to post on the elbow first, which makes the sit-up slow and telegraphed.
- ✕Releasing the closed guard before initiating the bump, giving the opponent the chance to step out before the rotation begins.
- ✕Not transitioning to mount immediately, allowing the opponent to recover guard mid-sweep.
TRAINING DRILLS
- →Wrist control + sit-up drill: 50 reps per side of controlling the wrist, breaking posture, and sitting up onto the elbow without finishing the sweep.
- →Hip-rotation drill: from a partial bump, isolate the hip lift over the controlled arm with no resistance, 30 reps per side.
- →Bump-or-kimura drill: partner alternates posting and not posting; you read the response and either sweep or attack kimura.
- →Live closed-guard sparring: top partner is told to posture aggressively, forcing the bottom partner to make the bump real.
- →Bump-to-mount transition: after sweeping, immediately establish mount and look for a submission within five seconds.
NOTABLE PRACTITIONERS
Roger Gracie · Marcelo Garcia · Royce Gracie