Pendulum Sweep
The pendulum sweep from closed guard: trapping the arm and driving the leg to rotate the passer.
Adapted from the original page. Grappling.Games did not write this. Sources.
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The pendulum sweep traps one of the passer’s arms against the bottom player’s chest, uses the lower body as a pendulum to generate rotational force, and tips the passer over the trapped arm side. It is the second foundational sweep of closed guard, working in tight combination with the hip bump sweep to create a two-way threat that addresses different passer postures.
The mechanical logic is precise: by trapping the passer’s arm, the bottom player removes that arm as a posting option on the sweep side. The bottom player then opens the guard on the same side as the trapped arm, drops that leg toward the mat, and drives the opposite leg powerfully upward — the pendulum motion. The swinging leg provides the rotational force; the trapped arm ensures the passer cannot post to stop the fall.
In no-gi, the arm trap relies on body-to-body contact rather than collar or sleeve control. The bottom player hugs the passer’s arm against their own chest, with the control coming from the bottom player’s elbow pressing the passer’s arm tight. This distinction matters — no-gi arm trapping is an active physical commitment, not a grip.
The pendulum and hip bump are structurally complementary. The hip bump works when the passer is upright and their weight is forward; the pendulum works when the passer’s posture is broken and they are leaning over the bottom player. Each sweep addresses the defensive posture that counters the other, making them natural combination partners.
Ruleset context This technique is legal in all major competitive formats.
INV-G04Invariant "Destabilising the top player to their hands removes their ability to pass and creates submission opportunities. Forcing a hand post is the transition from defensive guard to offensive guard."
Why it works hereThe arm trap removes the passer's posting hand on the swept side before the rotation begins — when the pendulum fires there is no available post on that side to arrest the fall. The trap is not preparation for the sweep; it is half of the sweep, paired with the leg arc. Without the trapped arm the passer simply posts and the swing produces nothing.