Category: Submission

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BJJ Drill: Armbar, Triangle, Omoplata Drill from Closed Guard

Drilling BJJ is one of the most essential ingredients to getting fast and good at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. While it’s obvious that drilling is essential to improving your BJJ game, how you should drill is not as obvious. Shrimping across the mat at the start of class will help train that movement, and repeating techniques until you have the movements memorized is an excellent way to make muscle memory, but there are other drills that may prove to be equally useful to your BJJ game.

This BJJ flow drill from MMA Leach is a great example of a drill that will help your BJJ game rise to the next level. This drill for the closed guard uses three essential BJJ closed guard techniques: the armbar from closed guard, the triangle from closed guard, and the omoplata from closed guard. This drill will help you to quickly react when your opponent defends your closed guard attack and chain together submissions to develop a comfortable, dangerous closed guard game.

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How To Do an Armbar From Closed Guard

The armbar from closed guard is one of the basic and most essential submissions in Brazilian jiu jitsu. The arm bar from guard is popular because even at the highest levels of grappling, it is effective because of how simple and quick it is. No matter how many tricks are up your opponent’s sleeve, you are still applying the immense force of your hips to the relatively weak power of their elbow. Even a very tough opponent will have a hard time bicep curling your entire body.

This attack particularly lends itself to street fighting and MMA since it is when, to an untrained eye or with an untrained person on bottom, the fighter on the ground is in the most danger. The reason the armbar has become an essential BJJ submission is that it allows a smaller fighter or one in a bad position to turn the tide of the fight and go from being on bottom and getting punched to breaking the other person’s arm. This submission is so essential to BJJ that it is part of the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt Test.

Start: Closed guard

Step 1: Get a two-on-one grip on opponent’s arm

Step 2: Get wrist grip with same-side arm and reach over to get cross grip behind opponent’s tricep

Step 3: On side of opponent’s trapped foot, step your foot onto their hip and squeeze knee into opponent’s shoulder, giving up tricep grip

Step 4: Reach free hand across to opponent’s opposite shoulder

Step 5: Lift free leg up towards opponent’s head and pivot your hips and head to that side

Step 6: Drop free leg down to break down opponent’s posture 

Step 7: Pass bottom-side leg over opponent’s head

Step 8: Ensure that opponent’s thumb is pointed up towards sky and pinkie is pointed down to your body and bridge your hips up toward sky

End: Submission via armbar

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How To Do an Omoplata From Closed Guard

The omoplata is one of the coolest moves in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. With this submission you use your hips to attack your opponent’s shoulder, using one of the most powerful areas of your  body against a much weaker part of theirs. When executed perfectly, the Omoplata uses pure body mechanics and does not require you to be stronger than your opponent, which is one of the fundamentals of BJJ.

The omoplata from guard is also very fun because you spin around and look like a ninja.

Start: Closed guard

Step 1: Get an overhook with one arm over one of opponent’s arms

Step 2: Move onto opposite hip and step that foot onto opponent’s hip so that arm with overhook is higher

Step 3: Reach top-side leg up and grab it with free hand

Step 4: Slide top-side leg over and in front of opponent’s head

Step 5: Figure-four legs to trap shoulder and grab opponent’s belt to prevent them rolling out of the submission

Step 6: Use grip on belt to sit up and hug across opponent’s back/hips

Step 7: Stretch legs out to flatten opponent down to mat

Step 8:  Post outside free leg and push hips towards opponent

End: Submission via omoplata

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How To Do a High Elbow Guillotine in BJJ

The guillotine choke is an incredibly powerful choke that is both easy to do and hard to escape, making it one of the most popular choke submissions in BJJ, MMA, and real world street fighting. The high elbow guillotine is one of the many different guillotine variations for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that is available when you have access to your opponent’s head and neck but have not secured control of their arm. For variations with the arm secured, see the arm in guillotine or D’Arce choke.

This great video by John Danaher has a lot of details for getting the guillotine from half guard, but the high elbow guillotine can be reached from several positions.

Start: headlock position with opponent’s neck exposed

Step 1: Grip opponent’s chin with strangle hand (non-high elbow side hand) over their head and neck

Step 2: Slide support hand in between opponent’s shoulder and head alongside their neck and grip your strangle hand with your support hand palm on the back of your strangle hand

Step 3: Push your strangle side shoulder forward into your opponent’s creating space for the guillotine submission

Step 4: Bring your support side elbow back to your body to prevent opponent from securing control over it while shifting your head over toward strangle side

Step 5: Drag both hand up and to support side inside opponent’s clavicle, then turn support side elbow forward and onto opponent’s back

Step 6: Secure opponent’s body and rotate towards strangle side, raising support side elbow towards sky

End: Submission via guillotine

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How To Do An Americana From Side Control in BJJ

The Americana is a very effective submission that every Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter should know. It can be seen used effectively at all levels of BJJ, as well as in other grappling sports, MMA, and is very effective in practical use like street fights. Because it is such a useful technique in BJJ, the Americana has become one of the staples of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and is even a part of the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt test. This is also one of the submissions that works the same way in no go BJJ as it does in go BJJ, like the rear naked choke.

The Americana (sometimes called the keylock, figure-four armlock, or paintbrush) is executed by bending your opponent’s arm at 90 degrees like they are celebrating a touchdown, then bending the wrist backwards to put immense pressure on their shoulder, resulting in a tap. 

This video shows how to attain the americana from side control, a position many BJJ fighters find themselves in often. René A. Dreifuss shows the details of this technique and breaks the submission down to three steps you should focus on: accordion, motorcycle, down.

Start: Side control

Step 1: Separate opponent’s far-side arm from opponent’s body, using your head if they pus against it with that arm

Step 2: Grip opponent’s wrist with your top-side hand, keeping fingers and thumb on the same side of the grip

Step 3: Slide your bottom-side arm underneath opponent’s and grip your own wrist in same monkey grip, keeping your arm parallel with his forearm

Step 4: Pull opponent’s arm in towards you like an accordion

Step 5: Twist your wrists down toward the mat like you’re decelerating on a motorcycle

Step 6: Push opponent’s hand down towards their feet

End: Submission via Americana

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How To Do A Rear Naked Choke (RNC) in BJJ

The rear naked choke or RNC is one of the most simple and effective chokes in BJJ. It’s also a natural, intuitive technique, unlike many in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Despite the intuitive nature and the fact that most people off the street understand the basic mechanics of the technique, there are details to the position that can mean the difference between straining your strength against your opponent’s skeleton and sinking in the RNC and getting the submission quickly.

Bas Rutten is one of the original stars of mixed martial arts and famously brought technique together with real world effectiveness to create a functional but effective style that can translate well to any situation.

Start: Back

Step1: With your hand flat, slide it under opponent’s chin, starting at the back

Step 2: Slide hand through opponent’s neck until it reaches behind opponent’s other trap 

Step 3: With your flat, underside hand, grab your topside bicep, push opponent’s head forward with topside hand

Step 4: squeeze arm together and pull shoulders back

Finish: Submission via RNC 

The rear naked choke is an essential BJJ submission and this technique is featured in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu How To Get a Blue Belt in BJJ guide.

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How To Do a D’Arce Choke in BJJ

The D’Arce choke or inverted arm triangle choke is named after American grappler Joe Darce, who made the choke famous in the early 2000’s thanks to its brutal and efficient effectiveness. 

The D’Arce choke, which like the arm triangle involves a figure four of your arms around your opponent’s neck and one of their arms, is a great submission from a common position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The D’Arce choke is a great addition to any BJJ practitioner’s arsenal since it is simple and effective and is a great answer to a takedown attempt. Even if you are unable to finish the D’Arce choke, the position allows you to stop your opponent’s takedown, allows you to pour your weight onto them and force them to turtle, and threatens them enough that they may hesitate or even decide not to attempt a takedown. 

Not just limited to a single position, the D’Arce choke is effective from half-guard top, side control, mount, turtle, or even knee-on-belly. It is a truly utilitarian submission.

Here is great teacher Stephan Kesting’s guide to landing the D’Arce choke submission from half guard top.

Start: Half guard top

Step 1: Get whizzer overhook on far-side arm

Step 2: Reach arm with whizzer overhook through until hand reaches past opponent’s neck

Step 3: Hold behind opponent’s head with both hands and clinch their head forward and in towards you

Step 4: Keeping opponent’s head clinched, figure four arms and reach near-side hand towards far-side shoulder

Step 5: Drive weight forward towards opponent

Finish: Submission by D’Arce Choke

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How To Get a BJJ Blue Belt – The Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt Requirements

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), getting a blue belt is one of the first major milestone accomplishments in your grappling career. It’s a sign that you have really learned BJJ to the point that you’re not a beginner anymore. Of course, your road is still very long, but it is a great accomplishment and one that most white belts are focused on in their grappling training.

A major problem for white belts is a lack of information on what you need to know to get your blue belt. Luckily, Gracie University Jiu Jitsu has published the basic requirements needed to be eligible for a BJJ Blue Belt in their system. This isn’t a checklist that guarantees you a blue belt (if you’re that desperate, you can always just buy a blue belt but that’s not really the point) but it is a list of the basic knowledge expectations for someone looking to get a BJJ blue belt.

Mount Techniques

There are four sections to the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt test: Mount Techniques, Guard Techniques, Side Mount Techniques, and Standing Techniques.

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How To Do A Triangle Choke From Guard

how to do a bjj triangle choke from guard

The triangle choke is an essential and iconic part of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If you’re describing BJJ to someone who has never grappled or watched MMA in their life, it’s the perfect place to start. You’re on your back with your opponent over you, a place where to the untrained eye you look like you’re losing the fight. From that position you can use your legs to choke your attacker unconscious, while still staying on your back! The BJJ triangle choke is a great example of the power of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu especially because a much smaller opponent can use it to incapacitate a stronger or larger one, just watch UFC 4 when Royce Gracie at 180 pounds used the triangle to submit the huge 260 pound Dan Severn.

While the BJJ triangle choke is one of the fundamental staples of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which is why it is a part of the Gracie BJJ Blue Belt Test. It’s a complicated move that can take hours to understand weeks to get comfortable with, months to feel good about, and years to master.

Rener Gracie, Ryron Gracie, and Reylan Gracie all got together to release this video detailing the finer points of the BJJ triangle choke from guard in this extensive video.

The video is awesome and filled with details that are worth watching over and over, but here are the steps:

Start: Closed guard with one of opponent’s arms inside of closed legs

Step 1: Control opponent’s wrist and pull it across your body

Step 2: Pull down on head

Step 3: Put outside foot on opponent’s hip

Step 4: Bite across person’s neck with top-side leg

Step 5: Grab ahold of your top-side shin to keep opponent in place

Step 6: Figure four bottom leg over top-side leg so that your knee is hooker over your ankle or shin

Step 7: Grip being head with both hands and pull opponent’s head down

Step 8: Squeeze thighs together and lift hips up to complete triangle choke

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How To Do A Far Side Armbar From Side Control – By Demian Maia

The armbar is one of the most iconic (and dramatic) Brazilian jiu jitsu techniques, and side control is one of the most common positions in BJJ. Because these two techniques are both so popular, you might be asking ‘how do I finish an armbar from side control?’

UFC legend and world-class BJJ grappler Demian Maia shows his technique for the far side arm bar from side control in this quick video.

Start: Side control top with opponent’s far side arm between your head and his legs

Step 1: Grip his elbow with your low-side hand and pull towards you while rolling his elbow to the sky

Step 2: Stand up on your top side foot and drive your weight towards his far side hip with your shoulder, straightening his arm out and weakening it

Step 3: Step your top-side foot around and under his arm pit with your knee up towards the sky

Step 4: Pivot and sit back, then extend your hips to complete the arm bar

End: Submission via armbar