WARNING: More information on the omoplata submission than you can shake a stick at.
As the title infers, I’d like to go over some information about the omoplata submission. It looks complex if you’ve never done it, but in essence it’s a kimura shoulder-lock using your legs to crank. It’s got so many cool variations and uses, I think it should be one of the first eight submissions you learn in no-gi jujitsu ( the others being the mata leo choke, guillotine, kimura, americana / keylock, leg triangle choke – along with the arm triangle variation – and armbar). The omoplata works well as a set-up or a follow-up to four of the eight submissions aforementioned. Anyway, here’s how to pull off the omoplata from the guard – the first place you should start learning it.
More and more guys are coming into the pro-am levels of MMA with strong wrestling backgrounds. A lot of wrestlers have been shooting for double leg take downs, asserting the single collar tie, and cradle-pinning opponents since 10 years old, some even starting even earlier. Possibly the womb.
It’s no mystery why wrestling for MMA is powerful, so I’ll omit going over that. The purpose of this article is to help those who have difficulties in dealing with wrestling based mixed martial artists.
There is so much out there, it’s hard to sort it. I’ve roamed the internet so you don’t have to.
Submissions 101
Just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock, the guys over at submissions101.com are spitting out high class instructional video’s like it was Christmas already. You can’t a find better introduction to Eddie Bravo and the rubber guard than sub101′s site.
Aesopian’s Tottaly Awesome Journal
Aesopian give’s his two cents on Brazilian Jujitsu over here. His commentary on different moves and techniques are unusually insightfull.
GrappleArts: Building A Better Grappler
Blackbelt Stephan Kesting is one good grappling Canadain. The stuff on his site is solid, useful grappling info. Here’s a page full of different moves.
Gracie-Barra Marbella
“Sururu” Edson Jorge, runs two MMA / Submission Grappling gyms in Spain, and this is his website. His dojo’s are a great example of how things run well, as well as the vid’s he post every so often are great too.
One of my current favorites is fighter Uriah Faber. He’s hard working, tough, smart … what’s not to like? Aside from being a very exciting fighter (see his fight with Jens Pulver), you can learn a lot by watching this guy.
He’s got that rare mix of being both a professional athlete and a good instructor. Here’s 4 min’s of teaching about shooting techniques, something Faber does well.
Urijah doesn’t come from a striking background, which makes his current abilities more impressive. He’s got great hand speed – about 40-50% of his fights have been won via knockout – and endurance to keep punching hard for five rounds. Check out him working out in the video below.
Which reminds me – if you want to get good at striking, you’ll need a good coach, accessible partner and plenty of time working out (Faber’s got Master Andy Kay for his Muay Thai and Joe Urias for boxing). Unlike some classes in college, you can’t get a passable grade in the sweet science of striking by cramming during an all-nighter. There’s no shortcut.
If you’re an orphan MMA fan and don’t have any body to train with, call up your nearest gym and see if you can book a personal trainer who can at least hold the pads for you. The heavy bag, while good, isn’t enough. Jean Jacques Machado has a personal trainer (Favio) that he works with that just lets him perform hundreds of reps of his jujitsu submissions. No sparring, no instruction, just drilling the armbar X 1000.
And to finish up, what post would be complete without a montage?
We’re having another workout on Wednesday at 9 AM. If you can make it, try to comment the post just so I have an idea of how many are showing. I’ll be there regardless of how many commit, but it would be nice to know.
