Kesa Gatame is the name for a DEADLY position also known as the Scarf Hold or the Head and Arm pin. It's a staple pin in Judo, Sambo and Freestyle Wrestling. All these arts have honed kesa gatame as a pinning position. The only problem is that they don't use or teach very many submissions from here. In those particular sports the submission is redundant - if you pin your opponent for 3 … [Read more...]
Armlocks
A Quickstart Guide to the Omoplata in Jiu-Jitsu
This step-by-step guide is designed for you to quickly incorporate the omoplata into your game and build a solid foundation for more advanced omoplata techniques. The omoplata is an incredibly versatile technique in jiu-jitsu that serves as a submission, a sweep, and a setup for other sweeps and submissions. Fundamentally it uses your legs to force your opponent's arm behind his back into a … [Read more...]
How to Set Up Submissions So Your Opponent Gives You His Neck, Arm, or Leg on a Platter
A reader of my free email newsletter recently had a question about how to become better at setting up his submissions. The thing is, once you get past white belt, submissions don't just happen anymore. Chokes and joint locks need to be set up, which means taking your opponent out of alignment somehow and breaking his base, posture or structure. Once his alignment is broken, it's 100 times … [Read more...]
NEW INSTRUCTIONAL!! 30 Second Fight Finishes
Elliott Bayev is one of the most detail-oriented instructors I've ever met. His first instructional with Grapplearts was The Spider Guard Masterclass, which many people called the best BJJ instructional they've ever seen. Elliott is now back with 30 Second Fight Finishes. In this instructional you'll learn the absolute fastest ways to end your match, regardless of whether you’re on … [Read more...]
A ‘Stupid’ Armlock I Was Pretty Sure Would NEVER Work…
Sometimes you just gotta have faith... In the video below I'll share an armlock with you that I'd been shown multiple times early in my BJJ career. And I always thought it was hogwash; that any good opponent would simply twist out of it and I'd end up in a terrible position. Click here to view the same "Stupid" Armlock video on YouTube! The technique in question was the reverse or … [Read more...]
Near vs Far Side Kimura Armlocks
Most grapplers know how to apply the Kimura armlock on the far side of their opponent's bodies. It's an attack taught at white belt that you see in every grappling competition. But many intermediate grapplers don't know that you can actually use the Kimura technique on BOTH sides of your opponent's body. However, the near side Kimura is an absolutely critical position for controlling your … [Read more...]
3 Huge But Easy-to-Fix Kimura Armlock Mistakes
Here are 3 tweaks that you can implement immediately to make your Kimura armlock MUCH more effective right away! Add these modifications to your Kimura and you'll find that you tap out a LOT more people. The main mistakes and how to fix them are covered in detail in the video below, but here's the overview... Problem: losing control of the arm you are attacking. Solutions: first choke … [Read more...]
The BJJ Crucifix Position and Your Best Submission Options From There
The crucifix is a very important position in BJJ and No Gi grappling. Like the rearmount the crucifix puts you behind your opponent where all your weapons are pointed at him and he's essentially unable to launch any offense against you. Unlike the rearmount, however, the crucifix ties up both of his arms so that defending your choke and armlock attacks becomes even harder for him. So it’s … [Read more...]
The Standing Sakuraba-Style Kimura Armlock
The first time someone showed me the standing Kimura attack I was pretty skeptical... I was like, "yeah, that would never work, not in a million years!" Whoops, was I ever wrong. You see, shortly after I was introduced to that supposedly 'useless' technique, a Japanese fighter named Kazushi Sakuraba started used the standing Kimura to tear a bloody swath through MMA world, besting a … [Read more...]
Wrist Locks – Attacking The Most Under-Attacked Joint
Jiu-jitsu and submission grappling offer techniques to attack almost every major joint in the body including the elbow, shoulder, neck, knees, feet, and ankles. These should be your bread and butter submissions because they have a long, proven track record of effectiveness. I think a bit of variety is a good thing, however, so let’s talk about a not-so-common attack: wrist locks! The … [Read more...]
The Figure 4 Straight Armlock: An Easy and Surprising Submission from the Top Position
The straight arm figure 4 was one of the very first armlocks I was ever shown on the ground. But it was super unreliable. In fact, for the next 3 decades, I would only be able to get it to work occasionally and then only against inferior or very tired opponents. Most of the time my sparring partners would simply twist or muscle their way out of it, or - most discouraging of all - just … [Read more...]
BJJ Rear Mount Master Class Q&A
When Rob Biernacki and I released the BJJ Back Attacks Formula instructional some of the readers of my email newsletter grabbed the app right away and asked some great questions related to the rear mount in BJJ. As it turns out, my partner in rear mount crime was coming back through town recently, so it seemed like a good idea to film videos answers to those questions. Here are the questions … [Read more...]
37 Powerful BJJ Submissions for Grapplers
Have you ever wondered what the most popular and powerful BJJ submissions in BJJ are? Here's our list of the top 37 submissions taught in BJJ academies all over the world. WARNING: not all of these techniques are legal in IBJJF competition, or allowed at all schools. But it's still better to be familiar with these illegal techniques just in case someone tries to use them on you. And many of … [Read more...]
The Reverse Armbar from Closed Guard
I was a white belt when I first saw the reverse armbar from closed guard (also known as the 'arm crush', the 'razor lock, and the 'cutting armbar'). At first I was pretty skeptical. I had all kinds of reasons why it probably wouldn't work. And then I started running into more and more people who had been submitted by it... And then I started getting caught in it too... And then I … [Read more...]
Non-Stop de la Riva Guard Instructional App Now Available!
We've just put out a brand new app that could add an entirely new aspect to your guard game! It's the 'Non-Stop de la Riva Guard' instructional app by Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins and myself. And it's available for iOS, Android and Kindle devices. The focus of this app is on giving you a simple and easy-to deploy system for the de la Riva guard. A gameplan that DOESN'T require you to be … [Read more...]
The BJJ Self Defense Experiment
Have you ever wondered if your BJJ would stand up in a self defense situation against an opponent determined to clean your clock with his fists? By the end of this article I'm hoping you'll have a much better idea of what to focus on to sharpen your BJJ skills for self defense purposes... The self defense implications of grappling are important to me (click here to see my other posts on the … [Read more...]
A Better Armbar?
The armbar, as it is usually taught, involves using BOTH of your hands or arms to control ONE of your opponent's arms. This two-on-one control can be used when trying to break through your opponent's defenses, as in the photo below: The two-on-one arm control is usually retained right until your opponent taps out to the finalized armbar, as in the following photo: Now this regular … [Read more...]
How To Use Moves You Already Know to Do Advanced Techniques
We've just launched the latest Grapplearts BJJ instructional mobile app with my friend Brandon 'Wolverine' Mullins. It's called Advanced BJJ Fundamentals. The name of this app isn't accidental, because it's all about using the fundamental building blocks of jiu-jitsu to make learning easier, to amplify the effectiveness and reliability of your techniques, and to build an advanced … [Read more...]
Keenan Cornelius’s Inverted Spinning Armbar Explained…
In the No Gi super fight at the 2013 BJJ Expo between Keenan Cornelius and Lucas Leite there was an absolutely spectacular submission. Keenan hit an inverted spinning armbar from half guard that impressed the hell out of everyone who saw it. First, here's the match itself. The armbar sequence starts at about 8:01. I interviewed Keenan earlier this year and thought he shared a lot of … [Read more...]
Three Keys to Escaping Any Submission
Some people might not be the greatest grapplers but are still notoriously hard to submit. Obviously technique is important, but there's more to slipping out of submission than just knowing the escape techniques. In fact the most important thing is knowing WHEN to apply your techniques. If you use the right technique at the wrong time then it won't work. For example I remember rolling with a … [Read more...]