I’ve been watching Josh Barnett’s Attacking the guard, and coupled with something I read from SBGi’s Matt Thornton, I’ve been made a big believer in the department of submission prevention. Its the difference between having a fence on the cliff or an ambulance in the valley.  Practice shutting down submission techniques the moment the arise – it’s a good habit.  Waiting till the submission is set in is the equivalent of the college all-night cram session. Yes, you need to do it sometimes, but why not study attack the problem earlier? It’s a healthier, and more successful.

In this vein, I was thinking about the kimura and how to not let it happen.  Below are a few vids that touch on the “shut down as early as possible” theme.

Also check out Gene Simco’s technique (embedding was not allowed)  here.

Of course the real way to stop the kimura is to nerf the basing structure of your opponent and always maintain dominant grips – which is to say, stay in control.

I’d like to know your thoughts – how do *you* like to avoid the kimura and escape it if you get caught?

In that spirit, we spend last night’s class on only one submission, the KIMURA.  While we used the kimura in several different circumstances (breaking the grip of a back-to-belly hold, from the guard, etc) we spend a good deal of time with the half guard kimura.  Not only do I love the half guard kimura, but so does Krzysztof Soszynski.

Thankfully, the submission is much easier than spelling his name.

First, we over the basic points of the kimura, nicely summarized by Steven Kesting, of grapple arts renown.

To add to this, we discussed some variations.  If your opponent tries to pass to you back underneath your leg, you can use it to sweep or transition to an armbar.  Or if you’re wily enough,  sometimes get your outside leg rapped around the back and into the arm space your attacking, without them trying to pass underneath it.  Kinda like rubber guard … ish.  I love to try it because it baits people to pass under it, which leads to the aforementioned armbar.  Below, a video that explains that pretty darn well (check the last half, it’s 8 minute vid).

So to recap, here are the basic pointers of finishing the half guard kimura.

Keep tight on his arm, otherwise they’ll worm out of it.

After you slap on the kimura, get the wrist beyond (behind) their ribcage fast. Don’t slow down until they can’t grab onto something.  Being slow on the upward motion begs a block.

Keep the hand away from his thighs – even beginning grapplers will block you with the “scratch the groin” defense.  Prevent this in the first place.

After you get the arm on its way behind the back, to painville, get out from underneath the guy and get to the side.  Seeing the videos will make this clear.

Anyway, while rolling with one of the guys post instruction, I get caught in a solid kimura from half guard and was pleased to remember how much it hurts. However, with Christmas right around the corner, remember that it is far more blessed to give, than receive.

Masahiko Kimura is one of best judo practicioners in history, so it reasons that a high class submission would be named after him. The story goes that Masahiko fought jujitsu legend Helio Gracie and broke his arm with this move, and BJJ guys have been calling it the kimura ever since.

Just look at the dude. (above) I’d name my firstborn after him, even if he wasn’t a hardcore judoka.

Now days, because every mixed martial artist with even a passable knowledge in jujitsu knows the the kimura, it can be a bit tricky to submit a guy with it. A lot of fighters know the specific counters or blocks, or just how to posture and prevent kimura opportunities. Which is, of course, why we need to take our game to the next level.

In the video below, Ari shows how to use your legs to help sneak in the kimura.

One of the most important things about getting the kimura to work is to escape your hips on the side on which you are working the arm. Getting your hips out will help you flatten out your opponent. It is important to keep the leg on top squeezing down, so the kimura’d person doesn’t try to roll out of the lock.

Another tip to getting the kimura is to keep your opponent’s hand well away from his/her body so they don’t block the kimura by grabbing their gi pants or wrestling shorts. If they do grab some clothing – keeping their arm from going backward – you can try to overpower them or do something trickier. That’s where the kimura sweep comes into play.

After you sweep them and take the mount, it’s candyland. You can either abandon the kimura and work something else, or you can finish the kimura from the mount. If you follow that link, I think you’ll enjoy their clever way to sweep from the guard and finish the lock.

One more thing – so people have trouble finishing their opponent.(Some guys just have really flexible shoulders!). Three things to keep in mind.

1. Keep a 90 degree angle in the elbow joint. If the opponent’s hand gets too close to their armpit, the kimura becomes a hammerlock – which many people are more immune to – or they can try to grab clothing and block.

2. Move the elbow up toward the head. If you have fully escaped your hips, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

3. Roll the wrist towards the back of their head.

Happy submission hunting!

[Bill and Ted meet themselves]
Ted: OK wait. If you guys are really us, what number are we thinking of?
Bill, Ted: 69, dudes.
Bill, Ted: Whoa.
[quadruple air guitar solo]

- Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

The north south position is a very dominant ground position, and in my opinion, is both very dangerous (for the bottom) and wildly under-utilized. Part of it comes from ignorance and part of it comes from people’s natural discomfort.  The whole face-into-crotch thing makes for a weird experience when you’re grappling. However, you just got to get over it.

Striking From North South

Depending on the rules, you may or may not be able to knee to the head while on the ground. In BJ Penn’s book, he details two knee attacks from side control which work well in the N/S  position. The first is a quick jabbing knee thrust from kneeling crossbody and the second is a “drop the bomb” style knee smash where you raise the knee up as high as you can before you hammer it down.

You have similar striking options while 69′ing as you do while in the mount.  Little rib hook punches, elbows, hammerfists.  Experiment with a heavy bag lying on the floor to get a sense of the uniqueness of striking in N/S.

Also, don’t be afraid to squeeze your knees together or sit on your opponents face.

Strike To Submit

There are several submissions covered later in the article - with all them remember that you can preface them with some ground and pound to make them easier to lock in. It’s one of my all-time favorite strategies is to soften an opponent up with a few elbows or punches and then transition directly into a submission. Many fighters will try to intercept your fist as it approaches their face – it’s a natural reaction – and when they loosen their arms, extending or moving them away from their torso, their arms become vunerable to joint lock attacks.

Pulling To The Back

It’s just like you’d think it works. You hook under the arms and drag your opponent into your rear guard. Admittably, it works much better in the first round or with a jujitsu gi.

Knee On Belly To N/S … And Back Again

When you get the N/S position, opponents will often try to spin out like a ninja turle on his back and pull guard. If you can’t prevent the spinning, just prop yourself into the knee on belly position and fire off some strikes.

See if you can bang down on the abdomen when they spin out – it’ll help take the smile off their face and wear them down. PLUS – their head will often bob up off the mat when you do this, allowing you A) punch it or B) weave your arm under their neck and drop back into a north south like position and pull off a choke shown below.

You should eventually be able to learn to tranisition from N/S to knee on belly to side control and any combination thereof. Instead of having an opponent escape, transition into a new position and keep the pressure on. Contiunially defending his escapes takes away from your momentum and gameplan. Smart grapplers will stack their escapes in combinations, and these transitions will help keep you dominant.

Submissions From North South

One thing I like about the 69 position is that the attacks seem to be higher percentage – maybe due to their relative lack of awareness among grapplers. I see people get into the north south position but give up submission opportunities and fall back into guard or side control instead. Once you get a handle on N/S, you’ll be looking to transition into it and nail a sub.

The Anaconda / D’arce

These head and arm chokes can be used in a variety of positions and are great in the 69. Basically, trap the head and one arm in the crook of your elbow, lock your wrist in the crook of the other arm and squeeze the dickens out of them.

The videos below will show off both chokes. In particular, watch carefully how they shift weight on their opponents and how they compress the head over their arms. Also see how they go in and out of 69′ish positions.  Fun fact - the D’arce choke had a huge popularity boost due to Kendall Grove’s submission victory … in UFC 69. Coinicedence?

Anyway, if you’re not familar with the specifics of the D’arce or Anaconda chokes, check out the details here.

Here’s an example where you see the interplay of N/S and the D’arce choke.

Here’s the ultra-fabulous Marcello Garcia at ADCC 2007, submitting his opponent with the anaconda choke from N/S.

For a step by step breakdown, Marcello shows the 69 choke over here at Gracie Magizine.

See Jeff Monson finish an opponent using the 69 choke -

Americana / Key lock

You are pinning your opponent down with your chest and he’s hugging you. You do a sit out, bringing your left leg to the right side of his body (now you are really in reverse kesa-gatame aka reverse scarf hold) While you do this, you grip his elbow to your chest and crank back as you get a leg hook to prevent him from rolling over. See pictures here.

Armbar And Kimura

The 69 position has it’s own flavor of armbars and kimuras. Karo Parisyan’s excellent book, Judo For MMA has some good ideas regarding these moves.

I know of two solid variations of the kimura from N/S – the first is shown here. The one I’m most familiar with is shown, more or less in the video below. The first few seconds of the video is only gi-jujitsu relevant, but the last part is great in showing how to squeeze the head and posture up from N/S to get this shoulder lock.

Although I’ll leave out the variations on this theme, the armbar goes somewhat like this. Starting from N/S, get one arm of your opponent to cross his body and pin it down with your chest. Let’s say you pinned the left arm down -continue by grabbing the arm and holding in to your chest. Step up on your right foot, placing it on the right side of your opponents face, leaning forward to control the arm. Drag your knee to the left side of his body as sit down to that left side. Your right leg will be over his face and your left foot should be hooked underneath the armpit of the opponent’s left arm. Sqeeze your knees together and armbar.

Conclusion

Knowing how to use the north south position will  help your ground game. If you know of another particular submission or technique you like from this position, share it!