I commented (favourably!) on a video by James O’Connor who runs the “Free Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Skills And Drills” Facebook Group. His video was about the Armbar from Guard (I can only use the link, WordPress seemingly won’t allow the embed).
https://www.facebook.com/james.oconnor.9081/videos/3362927973732799/?fref=nf
James asked about the sequence I use to teach the armbar. I made this video.
I like teaching it this way initially, because of the emphasis on keeping strong controls on the opponent all the way through, without relying on speed, or leaving any fleeting gaps through which he could escape.
Main Points
Closed Guard, Secure his Arm
Any time his right hand drifts above my solar plexus, I have the opportunity to grab his arm and start on the armbar.
I like to use a cross grip at the elbow, and avoid relying on the gi. If I am gripping his right elbow with my right hand, I will pinch my right elbow close to my right hip. I encourage students to test their grip here, by asking their training partner to try to pull their arm out. If I give them ten seconds, they may be able to do it, but all I need is to be sure I can control it for a second or two.
Control the Head, Break Posture and Open my Legs
From here, to progress further, I need to open my legs from the closed guard. If I do that from only the grip on his arm. he should find it fairly easy to just move his body backward and pull his arm out of my grip.
I preemptively prevent him from doing this, by grabbing the back of his head with my left hand, and pulling it to my chest, breaking his posture. I could use a cross collar grip to do this if he is wearing a gi, or grab his shoulder/neck/head on the left side of his neck rather than the right as I do in the video. The essential thing here is that I must break his posture, and control his head.
Controlling his arm and head now means I can open my legs and move on. Here, too, I can test my control by opening my legs and asking him to try and pull his arm out – it should be difficult.
I would be wise to keep some leg control on him by keeping my knees fairly tight to his body – not so tight that I can’t move.
Foot on the Hip, Cut the Angle, Leg Over his Upper Back
To move on, I now want to get an angle to him and get a control over his upper back (and thus, shoulders, head, and posture) with my right leg.
To do this, I put my left foot on his hip and use it as a point to push my head around to his left, so our torsos approach a right angle to each other and I am facing his left side.
Getting this angle on him means that I do not have to rely on flexibility to get my legs into the correct position, and ensures that my body alignment allows me to use the larger muscles of my posterior chain, in good alignment, to exert maximum leverage and control over his body.
My right leg clamps down over his back – I want my right knee right up under his left armpit, and right over his left lat muscle. My right leg becomes like another arm holding him down. I should now be able to let go of his head with my left hand and still have excellent control over his upper body with my right leg.
Many beginners fail to appreciate that it is the leg over the back, at least as much as the leg over the head, that makes it work. not getting the crook of the knee far enough over his back, and tight to his armpit, leave him too much wriggle room.
Once I have strong control over his posture with my right leg, I can release his head and move on.
So, secure this position, let go your partner’s head with the left hand and ask them to try again to pull their arm out. It should be difficult. You can now move on.
Other Leg over the Head, and Finish
From here, it should be fairly easy to get the crook of your left knee over the back of his head. You can use your now freed left hand to push his head into a good position to allow that. You should be at close to a right angle to him, so that getting that left leg over his neck will require zero flexibility.
It should start to feel, after a while, like your legs “slot in” to their correct places, like two blocks of lego snapping together. Nic Gregoriades calls this the “lego principle”, and it applies in many places in Jiu Jitsu.
Squeeze your knees together, and pull down with your heels. His right shoulder should be deep in your groin. If you are using your legs correctly, you should be able to let go with both your hands, and still be able to keep his arm in the right place. This armbar are mostly about using the legs for control, the arms are secondary. As before, ask your partner to help test it out.
So, you are now in the final position, ready to apply the submission. Keep your knees squeezed together, and heels pulling down, allowing his right shoulder and arm no room to move. I like to control his right thumb here for the correct orientation of his arm. and to prevent him twisting out, though this is not essential in this position.. Grab his right hand with yours in a “homie handshake”.
So, squeeze your knees, heels pulled down, his hand to your chest with the thumb up, and just extend your hips, lifting them from the mat, driving into your elbow. If everything is tight like it should be, you should not have to lift your hips much at all.
Other Considerations
Preventing the Stack Counter
It’s amazing what you realise you left out minutes after you left the gym.
You need to be careful of his attempts to stack you in defence. If you get the armbar partly or fully on, and he can manage to realign his torso with yours, he can stack you, preventing you being able to extend your body and finish the armbar, and giving him time to extricate his arm using small “stutter” movements.
While there are some effective counters to the stack, prevention is better than cure.
We prevent the stack by employing a concept called “heavylegs”. As soon as I get that first, right, leg over his back, I push him strongly down away from, my upper body with that leg, and keep my hip extended past ninety degrees, so that any attempt he makes to stack will result in him not having to lift just my leg, but also most of my entire body weight.
When I get the left leg over his head, I do the same. I push his head away from mine and down to the mat with my leg. I want to take his neck out of alignment as well as just pushing down. Employing your legs this way makes stacking extremely difficult. James explained this much better in his video.
Everyone appreciates how you can use your bodyweight in top positions, but it takes some experience to realise you can also make yourself heavy, and hard to move, while employing the guard, as well. The “heavylegs” concept proves useful in guard retention, triangles, omoplatas and a host of other techniques from guard.
He Falls Over
If you use heavylegs effectively against a much lighter or less experienced opponent, They may well be unable to stay on their knees or feet and may fall, rolling onto their back.
No biggie.
Just follow them, ending up in a basic armbar from the top.
If their shoulder starts to get away from you as they fall onto their back, dig your heels into the mat on the far side of them, grab the wrist or hand with both of your hands and punch it the the ceiling while pulling you hips in tight to their shoulder again.
Same details apply here. Squeeze your knees together, pull your heels in tight to his body. You should be able to experiment, releasing the grip with your hands ,and still have good control over his arm and shoulder, using only your legs.
Controlling the thumb is particularly important here, on top, to prevent your opponent executing the “hitchhiker escape.”
There are many ways to do armbars. This is only one. For example, Dave Camarillo has a highly effective armbar strategy where the knees are spread rather than squeezed, and the ankles are crossed.