John Marsh: Sweep Single Finishes From the Feet
How John Marsh finishes the sweep single standing: finish from the middle with his leg between your knees, or get outside the leg to the high position, then pick the finish from how he defends, from running the pipe and climbing the rope to the barzigar, crotch lift, and turn away spiral. From his Single Leg Takedown Series, with links to every lesson.
Flow outline
Standing with the leg: get outside it
- Pinch his leg between your knees, arms snaked down, elbows in. Drive with two pushes, never pausing, so your leg matches the angle of his and his foot can't hook yours. Work his leg outside: inside, he can jump guard or a triangle.
- John: “Being outside of his leg is much safer for you and being inside of his leg is safer for him.”
- In his courses
- Moving Leg From Middle To Finishing Position (Single Leg Series)
- How To Get To The High Position (Single Leg Series)
Middle: his leg between your knees
- Where you are when you first come up: his leg pinched between your knees, face to face, inside his leg. Finish quick from here or get the leg outside.
High: outside his leg, leg up
- Push hard with your head as you stand to load his leg, keep him moving, and drive back toward the middle of the mat.
- He calls this his secure position; most of his finishes start from here.
Pull and swing
- Down pressure as you extend him, pull him toward you, and swing the leg up in the moment he goes for his big hop.
- John: “In that moment he's about to hop that's when I swing him up.”
- In his courses
- Pull And Swing From Ankle (Single Leg Series)
Run the pipe: corkscrew
- Snake the leg, arm straight, and keep moving forward. Step with your inside leg to start the spin, crunch down to weigh him down, push with your head, and corkscrew him straight down. Spinning him while standing still doesn't work.
- John: “It's like a corkscrew. I want him to go straight down.”
- In his courses
- Run The Pipe - Snake The Leg (Single Leg Series)
- Run The Pipe (I Shoot I Score)
Ankle and thigh grab
- Inside arm down to the ankle, other hand high on the thigh. Pull his leg down and up while your head pushes down and you circle the other way, then fall with him and slide up fast before he reaches for a reverse triangle.
- John: “I'm making his body do opposite things.”
- In his courses
- Run The Pipe - Ankle And Thigh Grab (Single Leg Series)
Head-outside pipe: stay on your feet
- Get behind both legs, shrug to lock his leg out, and crunch him down. Stay standing, chin tucked, so he slips off your head. Or loosen the grip, reach across, and switch to the double.
- John: “If I fall down with him, which is what you'll see in wrestling, he's going to finish the guillotine position.”
- In his courses
- Run The Pipe - Head Outside (Single Leg Series)
- Running The Pipe With The Head Outside (I Shoot I Score)
- Single Leg To Double Leg Takedown (Single Leg Series)
Climb the rope
- Push into him to load his far leg, then keep switching grips up his body, never letting go of one before you have the next. Knees pinched, head up, pop off your knee, and finish on the side opposite your head.
- John: “I don't let go of one thing before moving on to the next.”
- In his courses
- Climbing The Rope (Single Leg Series)
Knee tap
- Pinch your knees and step forward, weighing down until your shoulder is behind his leg below the butt. Extend both arms over his far knee and foot and drive until your legs go parallel and he can't keep your leg hooked.
- John: “It's like a chess match. It gets me a move ahead.”
- In his courses
- Knee Tap Finish (Single Leg Series)
- Reach Across The Back And Slide (Single Leg Series)
Hook the leg and navy
- Hook his leg with yours and punch your head across his body, shoulder replacing your head. Grab tight at the waist, lift his leg with your back foot, and roll him to his back without sitting parallel on your hip.
- John: “Lifting the leg really stops him from being able to defend.”
- In his courses
- Hook The Leg And Navy Finish (Single Leg Series)
- Leg Hook Navy (I Shoot I Score)
He sits on you: curl and stack
- Shoulder inside his leg, knee behind it. Pressure in so he pushes back, and on that push curl his leg and sit back on your foot to stack it. Or keep circling with your arm punched straight. Let your shoulder slide outside and he limps out.
- John: “The more pressure I put into him, the more he has to push back into me.”
- In his courses
- Your Opponent Is Sitting On You (Single Leg Series)
Reverse lunge pipe
- Step your outside leg out so his leg is stacked on your hip, open your knees, press your shoulder into his hip, and reverse lunge with his leg up. Come down heavy so he can't roll under for a heel hook.
- In his courses
- Run The Pipe - Reverse Lunge (Single Leg Series)
- Ankle Grab Reverse Lunge (Single Leg Series)
Barzigar
- Go with it: as his leg goes outside, open, lift, and reach with your head inside. When your arm can't go further, let go of the leg, swim into a deep underhook and run through.
- John: “When they come to the outside, right away lift and reach.”
- In his courses
- The Barzigar (Single Leg Series)
- Knee Pick AKA Barzigar (I Shoot I Score)
Crotch lift
- Uppercut into his groin, step in with your back leg and drive your hips into him, then lift, look away, and turn. Drop on your inside leg with his leg stacked.
- John: “The more you guys hip in, the lighter the opponent is going to be.”
- In his courses
- The Crotch Lift (Single Leg Series)
Double underhook lift
- Push to stand, push again to raise the leg, never a moment without pressure. Underhook, underhook, lock behind your head to trap the leg, then turn in and stand as you walk forward. Get under it; don't muscle it.
- John: “I don't go here and try to muscle that leg up.”
- In his courses
- Double Underhook Lift (Single Leg Series)
Down pressure, then trip
- Down pressure and pull him back so his leg extends, then uppercut the leg toward the ceiling and trip as it chases you. Done smoothly, the lift alone sweeps him.
- John: “On that one, you guys can see that I didn't even kick the leg.”
- In his courses
- The Trip Finish (Single Leg Series)
Hook and penetration step
- Turn your foot out and reach your leg beyond his, like a penetration step, lifting his knee toward his shoulder. If he turns away, stay sideways with shoulder pressure and get perpendicular.
- John: “Not reaching for it, because he's going to move back. I'm reaching beyond it.”
- In his courses
- Hook And Penetration Step (Single Leg Series)
Head pull
- Collar tie: shrug, thumb inside on his elbow and push it off. Shoulder push: chop the arm and catch the wrist. Wrist grab: open your hand and punch through. Then step in, pull his head to his knee, backward lunge, and let the leg go so he can't invert. On top, keep his head turned so he can't bridge.
- John: “So chop if they push, punch if they grab.”
- In his courses
- Head Pull Finishes (Single Leg Series)
- Using The Head Grab To Finish (I Shoot I Score)
- Using The Head Club To Finish (I Shoot I Score)
Foot twist pipe
- Reach until your palm hits his heel, elbow in, forearm in line with his foot. Reverse-curl the foot so his knee points the way you want him to fall, then reverse lunge and slide in.
- John: “The most important thing, keep that elbow in.”
- In his courses
- Run The Pipe - Foot Twist Finish (Single Leg Series)
Bend it, then rotate it
- Thumb up so the bone digs in like a straight ankle lock, chest out, lift and walk into him until his knee bends. Then grab over, hook the tendon, and rotate the leg out. Don't beat on it.
- John: “The biggest mistake that people make is they start beating up the leg by hitting it.”
- In his courses
- Run The Pipe - Leg Outside Finish (Single Leg Series)
- Knee Post When Opponent Defends Run The Pipe (I Shoot I Score)
Turn away spiral
- Lift to bend his leg, hand just above the tendon, and rotate it inward as you keep circling behind him. Chop him to the mat before you cover, or he jumps away or forward rolls.
- John: “Always, always, always chop. Even if you have to do it more than once.”
- In his courses
- Turn Away Spiral Finish (Single Leg Series)
- Finishing When Your Opponent Turns Away (I Shoot I Score)
Duck under to the cradle
- Push and get your body outside his leg, duck under, open your arms and stand right through, then lock a cradle with your head up and sit through. He can't pull half guard.
- John: “The key is that I stand up hard and I open my arms.”
- In his courses
- Duck Under Cradle (Single Leg Series)
- Standing Cradle (I Shoot I Score)
Finish perpendicular, away from your head
- Finish on the side opposite your head and get perpendicular to him, not parallel on your hip, so he can't bridge or hip into you.
- John: “Whenever you finish guys, you always want to get perpendicular.”
- In his courses
- Reach Across The Back And Slide (Single Leg Series)
Branch conditions
- get the leg out and come up
- rare: you're down and only have the ankle
- he hops
- you can't get the circle with down pressure
- head pushed outside
- he doesn't hop
- his knee's out of reach
- stuck on your knees
- he sits on you
- pipe isn't working: step your leg out, stay low
- kicks out, grabs elbows
- kicks the leg straight
- not flexible
- strong legs
- he's good at stopping the timed trip
- grabs your neck or wrist