Tag: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

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How To Do the Half Guard Lockdown in BJJ

Half guard is a powerful position in BJJ. Because your legs are intertwined with your opponent’s, half guard opens up a lot of options for sweeps and submissions. On the other hand, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu half guard doesn’t provide the same ability to control your opponent’s hips as the full guard or mount does, so it can be a tougher position to work from than those and is easier for your opponent to escape from.

The half guard lockdown in BJJ offers an option to stop your opponent from moving their trapped leg while in your half guard, stopping them from escaping. The lockdown wraps both of your feet around your opponent’s leg, preventing them from moving anywhere without dragging you with them in exactly the same position (and just tiring themselves out in the process).

Start: Half guard

Step 1: Step outside foot over opponent’s leg to inside their legs

Step 2: Lace outside foot under inside calf

Step 3: Weave inside foot under opponent’s shin

Step 4: Extend outside leg to inside ankle and press into opponent’s shin

Finish: Half guard lockdown

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How To Do An Omoplata From Mount

The omoplata is a fantastic BJJ submission. It pits the strength of your hips against your opponent’s shoulder, which is super effective. The omoplata also involves twisting around so that you’re attacking your opponent from behind and from the side, reducing their options for defenses. 

While the omoplata submission is most often attempted from the closed guard in BJJ where that is an advantageous position, in MMA or a street fight the guard can be a dangerous place to be. The omoplata from mount is a BJJ technique that you can use even when strikes are an option but you still want to end the fight using jiu-jitsu. 

Start: Mount

Step 1: Trap one of opponent’s arms over your hip, this will be the arm you attack

Step 1: Kick your attacking leg forward underneath opponent’s arm

Step 3: Bend opponent’s arm down over your attacking leg

Step 4: Pivot towards your attacking leg, dropping to that knee

Step 5: Drop attacking side shoulder to the mat and step free leg over opponent’s head to attacking side

Step 6: Roll over attacking shoulder

Step 7: Scoot away from opponent’s body

Step 8: Pendulum your attacking leg and drive opponent towards the mat

Step 9: Lean into opponent and push his hand forward

Finish: Submission via omoplata from mount

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How To Do An Omoplata From Side Control

The omoplata is a simple Jiu-Jitsu submission that uses your hips to twist your opponent’s shoulder. Once the omoplata position has been reached it is very quick and easy to complete the submission. Using a strong part of your body against a relatively weak body part, you are able to create a very painful amount of force with relatively little effort with the BJJ omoplata. 

The other reason the omoplata is a great submission is that it looks very cool. The typical omoplata from guard looks pretty cool, but setting up the omoplata from side control involves spinning around on top of your opponent so that you are facing the same way as them and the finish involves sitting over the other person while they are smashed face first into the ground. 

The omoplata from side control is one of those great BJJ submissions that makes you feel like a ninja. 

Start: Side Control

Step 1: Switch to reverse kesa gatame position facing opponent’s feet

Step 2: Hop your butt back and sit on opponent’s shoulder

Step 3: Step your outside leg back, spreading your legs so that you can grab opponent’s arm and trap it between your legs

Step 4: Drive into opponent and drag their arm with you so that you can slide your inside foot below their shoulder

Step 5: Post inside hand on mat next to opponent’s hip and grab your inside shin with your outside hand

Step 6: Continue spinning in that direction around opponent’s head, dragging them onto their stomach with their arm trapped in the omoplata

Finish: Submission via omoplata from side control

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How To Do An Americana From Guard

The americana is a very popular submission in BJJ. The americana armlock in BJJ is a simple submission that involves bending someone’s arm backwards in a way that puts an immense amount of pressure on their elbow and shoulder, and can cause serious damage if they don’t tap. That simplicity along with the pain and damage the americana armlock can cause makes it a very popular submission in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, and in a real street fight. 

The americana is a popular submission from mount, side control, and half guard, but can also work from the full guard position. The americana from guard doesn’t look exactly like the typical americana submissions, but it does put the same stress on the arm joints and is a useful addition to your guard game.

This is also a great addition to your usual transition between arm bar and triangle and offer another option to get the submission that your opponent may not be looking to defend automatically. It can even be added to your arm bar triangle omoplata drill to keep it in your mind while rolling.

Start: Guard

Step 1: Bring one leg up to just under opponent’s armpit and turn it 90 degrees across their body, dragging their shoulder down the same as an armbar from guard setup

Step 2: Bring other up onto opponent’s shoulder and cross feet to secure position

Step 3: When opponent fights arm bar by pivoting towards your lower leg, grip their wrist on the higher leg side pushing out and into your higher leg, keeping their thumb up

Step 4: bridge your hips into your opponent

Finish: Submission via americana from guard

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How To Do A Crucifix Choke From Turtle In BJJ

The turtle position can be one of the most frustrating defensive positions in BJJ. A good Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter can sit in turtle for what seems like forever, wasting your time and making you feel like your advantageous position is a complete waste. Just like a turtle in its shell.

When you’re frustrated by someone who is good at turtling, all you want to do is obliterate them and use their defensive position as a jumping off point for your attacks. One of the greatest attacks for absolutely destroying your opponent from turtle and leaving them completely exposed and vulnerable like a turtle on its back is the crucifix choke which splays your opponent out, arms spread like Jesus on the cross.

Start: Turtle

Step 1: Drive your knee between opponent’s elbow and knee

Step 2: With free leg, hook your foot over opponent’s arm

Step 3: Reach over opponent’s body and secure their free arm by snaking your bottom-side hand underneath their armpit and grabbing their hand

Step 4: Look towards top of opponent’s body and roll over your trapping shoulder, landing on your back with opponent in crucifix position

Step 5: Reach free arm across opponent’s neck and get cross-collar grip and bridge into choke

Finish: Submission via crucifix choke

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How To Do A Ten Finger Guillotine In BJJ

The guillotine is one of the safest submission to attempt in all of BJJ. Going to a guillotine submission in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu doesn’t sacrifice your position or run the risk of leaving you in a weak position if your opponent is able to escape like the triangle from guard or other common submissions. Instead, a missed guillotine leaves you face to face with your opponent, almost exactly the same position you were in when you started. For that reason, the guillotine can be an easy submission to attempt even if you’re unsure of your ability with it.

The ten finger guillotine is one of the variations of the guillotine choke. The ten finger guillotine has the advantage of not requiring one of your opponent’s arms to be trapped, which also means that your opponent can’t use the trapped arm to escape if they’re strong or crafty.

Start: Front headlock position 

Step 1: Grip under opponent’s chin and secure your chest over their head

Step 2: Grip free hand underneath choking hand like a cup and saucer (props to Still Rolling for that delightfully southern way of describing it)

Step 3: Rotate both hands towards your body and into opponent’s neck so that the base of your choking hand thumb pushes up and towards opponent’s chin, keeping your chest and shoulder over opponent’s head

Finish: Submission via ten finger guillotine

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How To Do An Anaconda Choke in BJJ

The anaconda choke submission in BJJ might just be the best named submission in the whole sport (though guillotine choke and crucifix choke are pretty good names too, comment below with your favorite submission name from BJJ). The anaconda choke or gator roll is a choke that usually comes from defending a takedown or while attacking the turtle.

The anaconda choke is similar to the D’Arce choke submission but the essential difference is that in an anaconda choke, your choking arm starts at the neck and snakes (lol) through to the armpit, while with the D’Arce choke, your choking arm starts at the armpit and feeds through to the neck.

Both are great chokes that belong in every Brazilian jiu-jitsu player’s arsenal, but if you have to pick one, anaconda has the better name.

Start: Turtle

Step 1: Snake attacking arm under opponent’s chin and through underneath their elbow and grip shoulder

Step 2: Gripping your hands together, use your supporting arm’s elbow to crank opponent’s trapped arm in towards their neck

Step 3: Figure four your supporting arm onto your attacking arm 

Step 4: Switch your head position to trap opponent’s shoulder with your head

Step 5: Roll over your supporting shoulder onto your back

Step 6: Rotating your body towards the choke, catch your opponent on your stomach and walk your hips around perpendicular to their body, bridging into them to add extra strength to the choke

Finish: Submission via anaconda choke

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How To Do A Twister in BJJ

The BJJ twister is an absolutely brutal submission. The twister in BJJ involves twisting your opponent’s shoulders and hips in opposite directions, wringing their body out like a wet towel. Add in a crank to their neck to finish the submission and the pain is quickly too much. 

The twister BJJ submission is not allowed under IBJJF rules, but it is a legitimate submission in MMA, many no-gi grappling tournaments, and of course in a street fight (and what better way to win a street fight than a cool looking, utterly devastating and demoralizing BJJ submission like the twister?)

Start: Back

Step 1: Get one leg hook in

Step 2: Without a hook, figure-four the other leg over you hook-side leg’s ankle and hook that ankle under opponent’s trapped ankle

Step 3: Hook under opponent’s non-trapped side arm with your same-side arm (similar to the bottom of a seatbelt position)

Step 4: Weave your opposite-side arm underneath opponent’s hooker armpit

Step 5: Swim arm around top of opponent’s head and chain-grip hands together

Step 6: Pull opponent’s head in

Finish: Submission via twister

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How To Do A Kimura From Side Control in BJJ

The kimura is a legendary submission in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Made famous by Masahiko Kimura when he sunk in the shoulder lock on Helio Gracie during their super fight, the kimura is such a strong submission that Helio’s arm broke when he refused to tap. The Brazilian was so stubborn that his brother Carlos Gracie had to throw in the towel and charge onto the mat to stop the fight.

The kimura from side control that broke Helio Gracie’s arm is not a complicated, hard to master trick submission that comes from left field and surprises people, it is a simple, basic BJJ submission that is still effective at any level.

This video by Bernardo Faria and John Donaher has the basic instructions for the kimura from side control along with a lot of details and explanations that are important to understand in order to actually land the kimura from side control in a BJJ roll.

Start: Side control top

Step 1: Grab opponent’s far-side wrist with your top-side hand by snaking the hand under opponent’s bicep

Step 2: Walk your hips up towards opponent’s head, putting your body at the eleven o’clock position relative to opponent’s body

Step 3: Grip your top-side wrist with your bottom-side hand

Step 4: Pull opponent’s wrist up along the mat towards their head

Finish: Submission via kimura

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How To Do A BJJ Granby Roll From Turtle

The turtle position is a common one in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. On your knees with your head and arms bunched together protecting all of your vulnerable areas, turtle is a natural, instinctive defensive position. 

But while the BJJ turtle can be a strong defensive position, it can also be a frustrating one. With your back exposed and no means of attack, it is easy to get stuck in turtle and end up with your back taken. 

To prevent the BJJ turtle position from being just a stopover to delay your opponent taking your back (or spinning around and attacking you with the turtle arm bar, guillotine choke, d’arce choke, or anaconda choke), being able to perform an effective turtle escape with the granby roll is essential. 

Start: Turtle on bottom

Step 1: Shoot inside hand between your legs and drop inside shoulder to the mat 

Step 2: Tuck head underneath your body and spin onto your inside shoulder, kicking and rotating your legs away from opponent and over your body

Finish: Scramble with opponent potentially in turtle position, potentially in your guard

Turtk