Octopus Butterfly Sweep

What This Is

The octopus butterfly sweep combines the structural controls of octopus guard — an arm-around-the-back body lock and an underhook on the same side — with a butterfly hook inserted under the passer’s near thigh. The butterfly hook provides the lift; the body lock provides the directional control and removes the passer’s ability to post with the near arm.

In a standard butterfly hook sweep, the passer can often post out with the free arm to arrest the fall. The octopus body lock removes that option: the arm-around-the-back pulls the near shoulder across and upward, which displaces the posting hand before the hook lift even begins. Without a posting hand available, the sweep becomes a three-point attack — body lock arm, underhook, hook lift — that the passer has very little structural capacity to resist.

The sweep exits forward: as the passer tips, the bottom player sits up and follows into top position. The body lock arm can stay connected through the finish, often landing in a front headlock or near-side armlock threat depending on the angle of the fall.

The Invariable in Action

The underhook in octopus guard is a direct connection to the inside of the passer’s near elbow — the underhook arm threads under the near arm and reaches to the elbow or beyond. This connection controls the passer’s near shoulder: when the underhook drives upward, the near shoulder rises and the passer’s near-side weight distribution is disrupted. For the butterfly sweep, this elbow connection is critical because it determines which way the passer’s body will tip — the underhook side is always the sweep side.

The body lock arm (the arm wrapped around the passer’s back) functions as a pre-emptive disruption of the passer’s far posting hand. By pulling the passer’s shoulder across and upward, the body lock arm effectively commits the passer’s upper body to the sweep direction before they have a chance to post. When the hook lift begins, the passer reaches instinctively for a post — the body lock has already removed that option. This is the key advantage of the octopus butterfly over the standard butterfly: the post is disrupted before the lift, not after.

The load for the butterfly hook lift is created by the body lock pull. Pulling the passer’s shoulder forward and down compresses their weight onto the near side — exactly where the hook is inserted. A passer who is being pulled forward has their weight loaded onto the near thigh, which is the thigh the hook is lifting. The hook does not fight against the passer’s weight — it works with the body lock’s load, using the passer’s own forward momentum to assist the elevation. This is why the pull and the hook lift must coordinate: the pull creates the load, the hook converts the load into elevation.

The three connection points of this sweep — body lock arm, underhook, butterfly hook — form an integrated control structure rather than three independent grips. Each connection reinforces the others: the underhook controls the shoulder axis, the body lock arm prevents the posting hand, and the hook provides the elevating force. If any one of the three connections is broken before the sweep completes, the remaining two may not be sufficient to finish. Maintaining all three through the completion of the lift is what makes the sweep reliable rather than situational.

Setup and Entry

Octopus guard establishment

The octopus butterfly sweep requires octopus guard as its foundation: the arm-around-the-back body lock on one side with an underhook on the same side. Octopus guard is typically entered when the passer comes close to the bottom player’s body — often during a pass attempt or when the passer is reaching in to establish their own grips. The bottom player threads one arm around the passer’s back (past the hip, reaching to grip the far side) and the other arm under the passer’s near arm for the underhook.

Confirm the body lock is tight before inserting the butterfly hook. A loose body lock with a gap between the passer’s body and the bottom player’s arm will be extracted before the sweep executes. The octopus arm should grip or pressure the passer’s far hip or lower back; the underhook arm should be in the passer’s armpit with the elbow tight.

Inserting the butterfly hook

With the octopus body lock secured, the bottom player inserts a butterfly hook under the passer’s near thigh. The hook goes on the same side as the underhook — near thigh, not far thigh. The instep of the foot contacts the underside of the passer’s thigh, positioned mid-thigh for maximum lever length. The hook should be inserted from the inside, with the shin roughly vertical when the hook is in position.

The near thigh is the correct target because the underhook controls the near shoulder — the sweep goes toward the underhook side. Inserting the hook under the far thigh would require sweeping away from the underhook, which violates the directional logic and weakens the connection structure. Near thigh and underhook must always be on the same side.

Execution

With three connections established — body lock arm, underhook, butterfly hook — the sweep executes as a coordinated single motion.

The body lock arm pulls across and upward: the arm wrapped around the passer’s back pulls the shoulder forward and toward the sweep side, committing the passer’s upper body weight to the near side and forward. Simultaneously, the underhook drives upward into the passer’s armpit, elevating the near shoulder and adding rotational force.

At the same moment as the upper body pull, the butterfly hook drives upward — instep lifting toward the ceiling through the passer’s inner thigh, elevating the near hip. The lift and the pull happen together: the pull commits the weight forward, the hook uses that committed weight as the mass being elevated. The passer has weight loaded onto the near thigh by the pull; the hook then lifts that loaded thigh.

The bottom player turns into the sweep — the body rotates toward the sweep side, which converts the hook’s vertical elevation into a lateral tip. The body turn is essential: a hook that elevates straight up without a lateral body turn will lift the passer’s thigh but not tip their body. The turn turns the elevation into a directional sweep.

Finish: as the passer tips forward and over, the bottom player sits up and follows them to top position. The body lock arm remains connected through the fall. The typical landing position is the bottom player on top with the passer’s shoulder controlled by the body lock arm — often transitioning directly into a front headlock or shoulder control.

Common Errors — and Why They Fail

Drilling Notes

Ecological approach

Flow roll from octopus guard. The top player’s constraint: no posturing straight up (they must stay at close range). The bottom player hunts the butterfly sweep. This format creates realistic timing against a passer who is working to extract the body lock — the window for the sweep opens and closes as the passer moves, teaching the bottom player to recognise when the hook and pull alignment is available. Switch roles every two minutes.

Systematic approach

Drill in three isolated phases. Phase one: octopus guard establishment only — from a close-range position, get the arm-around-the-back and underhook tight. Ten entries per side, with the partner providing passive resistance to the grip. Phase two: from established octopus guard, insert the butterfly hook and practice the pull-plus-body-turn motion without completing the sweep — hold at the point where the passer’s hip is elevated and their weight is committed. Ten times, focusing on the coordination of pull and turn. Phase three: full sweep from established octopus — pull, hook, turn, sit up to finish. Ten times, slow. Add resistance only when all three phases link cleanly.

Ability Level Guidance

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