The soul crusher position in BJJ is an absolutely vicious setup for the cross body arm bar from mount that will leave your opponent broken and defeated. Part of the goal in BJJ is to do the coolest stuff, and a big part of that is hitting the submission with the coolest name. Sure everyone knows the guillotine and anaconda choke, but while those are intimidating names, they aren’t quite as mean sounding as the soul crusher arm bar.
Part of what makes the soul crusher a cool submission is that it lives up to its name. The soul crusher puts your weight to work on your opponent’s chest, and then their shoulders while you force them into an awkward, uncomfortable position where they beg you to just submit them.
Start: Mount
Step 1: Stretch your opponent into a pressure mount by hooking your heels around their legs and stretching them down and away from your body while arching your legs up and lifting your knees off the ground to drive your hips into your opponent’s body.
Step 2: Get a cross face with your attacking arm and reach all the way through to opponent’s arm pit
Step 3: Drive opponent’s elbow to the ground with your attacking hand
Step 4: Circle non-attacking hand to the mat palm down below your opponent’s elbow
Step 5: Walk attacking hand up to above opponent’s head
Step 6: Grip across opponent’s head with at your non-attacking hand
Step 7: Give up crossface and repeat elbow drive and walk up above opponent’s head with that hand
Step 8: Squeeze both arms together
Step 9: Switch to high mount
Step 10: grip opponent’s elbow with attacking hand
Step 11: Kick non-attacking leg out away from opponent’s body
Step 12: Sit up onto opponent’s waist and post non-attacking hand on the mat for support
Step 13: Lean in and step attacking side foot over opponent’s head
Step 14: Sit back and bridge hips
Finish: Submission via soul crusher arm bar