We’ve recently been working on some armbars in class and I wanted to build on that.
Here are three videos that I like showing the nitty gritty of the technique, one with the gi, the other two without. I think they cover most of the pointers we talked about in class:
Head control -> controlling opponents posture.
Grip the triceps -> attempt to get opponents arm into dangerous territory (the wrong “body-hemisphere”)
Angle hips so you are attacking from the side (3 o’clock positioning)
Keep knees tight (thighmaster squeeze) and ankles seperated.
Pull arm towards their hip, bridge up elevating yours.
.
Each video shows a different take on the armbar, but notice what they do that is the same. As a professor might say, compare and contrast them. Anyway, enjoy.
The guys at Fusion academy (where I train) have started to be more active on the internet and put up some videos. In this one Eddie Edmunds shows a Brabo choke that flows from an opponent’s attempt to escape your S-mount. It works no-gi too.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to more videos from them.
I was surfing the net and found a video of Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira that I hadn’t seen before. It’s 30 minutes long, and shows Nog teaching 11 MMA specific techniques. The video was shot back in his Pride fighting days, for a Japanese audience. It’s pretty cool – Antonio speaks in broken English and it’s translated into Japanese.
30 minutes is quite a long time (for web surfers anyway), so I’ve listed the techniques in the video below. The video has nice technique recaps, so it’s easy to navigate to any distinct part of the video.
Open guard ground and pound defense, up-kicking into a triangle.
Closed guard ground and pound defense, transition to a belly down armbar.
Half guard G&P defense, sweep into side control, finish via headlock.
Attacking within the G&P, then defending the calf crusher.
Sprawl counter to a low single-leg take down, finish via a gator roll/anaconda choke.
I’ve seen Big Nog use almost all of these moves in MMA fights. Watch one of his highlight vids and you probably can check off more than half of the above list. (There is even an amusing compelation named after the anaconda choke he uses).
If enjoyed that kind of material, I hear that Big Nog’s book, “Mastering Mixed Marital Arts: The Guard” is excellent. After reading the amazon reviews, I’m saving my extra pennies to buy it.
Brazilian Jujitsu and UFC fighter Demian Maia applying the Mata Leo, or rear naked choke.
It seems like 10-15% of MMA fights end via rear naked choke. At first blush, 15% doesn’t seem like a lot. When looking at the whole picture, however, you realize that there are hundreds of other workable submission techniques, in addition to ending fights with strikes. By comparison, you notice how pervasive the rear naked choke really is.
It’s frequency in MMA is due to it’s utility – it works against strong opponents, when fighters are sweaty and slippery, it works for guys with short arms or long arms, first round and last round. Because it is a difficult submission to escape, once a guy locks in the choke, most fights end.
There are several good video tutorials, but this is by far my favorite one on the internet right now. It runs about 10 minutes and covers a lot of details that will make you sharper in this choke.
Steven Kesting’s Step by Step Rear Naked Choke
.
One point in particular – how to tighten the choke and keep it with the palm to palm grip, has really been useful to me while attempting the submission. It’s rare that your opponents neck is stretched out, ready for you to easily put the choke in place. As soon as you threaten the choke, expect that your opponent will divert attention to defend it. Expect that if you can’t make step by step progress, you’ll probably lose the choke.
Also, learning to get your leg hooks in is a whole lesson in itself. It’s an area that I’m excited to learn more about. In a class down at Fusion BJJ, Dayne Aristizabal showed how improper hooking critically destabilized your position, opening yourself up for unhappy endings.
One last thing. The squeeze. Some guys have killer arm chokes – they latch onto your neck and get tighter and tighter until you tap. I’ve heard that Marcello Garcia is one of those kind of guys, once he gets one arm under you chin its like an anaconda mercilessly sqeezing a guinea pig. No escape.
Anyway, the power squeeze isn’t something your born with. You have to develop a power squeeze in the same way you sharpen you technique – practice and effort.
Some times called the straight ankle lock, or the Achilles hold, this ankle submission is a bugger. A guy can stack you in the guard, pop up and grab a leg as soon as your ankles become uncrossed. When he does, he basically puts a guillotine choke on your ankle and finishes the submission. It can happen really fast.
The real video gem is watching Carlos Machado go into the details of escaping and blocking the submission. The vid below is 8 minutes and goes into a lot of specifics.
