Side submissions

Submitting your opponent

Whatever submission you are going for, the important thing is to be careful not to give away control when setting it up. The moment when the person on top goes for a submission is very often the moment when the bottom person will make his escape.

Submissions can be roughly divided into armbars, bent armlocks, chokes/collar chokes and leglocks. The possibilities are endless so I’ll leave you with some free videos I found on the net. See if you can figure out how to work them together into flowing combinations!

Americana and Kimura variations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSwja0FKUMU

Gi choke to armbar or kimura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnHqYtMP6mU

Arm compression and Shaolin choke variation from side (Spanish)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6GjICTSDds

Choke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNfNh6avg-k

Triangle and kimura from under diaper check

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giZJ-8CtEXI

Far side armbar 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8rp6Fd4ZGE

Far side armbar 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qinDDaDtOc

Odd armbar entry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVoaEJiY9xE

Kneebar from side control

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6280073366392382222&q=bjj+side

Books I recommend

Although the title of this book is Ultimate Fighting, it is in fact devoted to gi bjj techniques. Royce Gracie explains a myriad of useful techniques for finishing the fight from on top of your opponent in a top quality book filled with clear photos.

Locks from Mount

Locks

Americana


Americana (Off S-mount)


Similar technique


Ryron and Rener armbar (with sweet grip breaking technique)


Armbar (Off a turn to the side)


3 Armbars (Off S-mount)


Knee bar
Move one foot inwards so it rests on the inside of O’s thigh
Spin round to the same side and grab the leg with your arms
Fall off and extend the leg for the kneebar
Apologies for the very basic explanation! I couldn’t find any videos for this One tip I find very useful is, rather than thrusting my crotch forward to get the kneebar tap, I try to extend my whole body, especially my legs.

Neck crank to armbar Notice how Paulson doesn’t fall off to the side – ideally you should never give away top position.



Similar style armbar


Toehold


Toehold from under mount (!)


Books I recommend
No-one should be without this awesome book by BJ Penn. This goes for around £20 in Waterstones so save yourself some money with Amazon.

Chokes from Mount

Chokes from Mount

“Anaconda Vice”


Arm triangle
Closest clip I could find - from side


Brabo
(Off elbow escape) Check out Bjorn's excellent Brabo instructionals


Cross collar choke
Demonstrated by Ninjas… No-one’s going to lay there while you do this unfortunately.You have to be careful with this one as once you put an arm into the collar you cannot use it to post out when O bridges.


Ezekiel (Gi)The mechanics – shown from guard

Ezekiel (No gi)
Thank you Frodo!


Ezekiel (Own lapel)

Guillotine


Gogoplata
There's a less subtle version of this where you simply bring your shin across O's throat and pull up on the back of his head.

Triangle
It’s not a great example I'm afraid.

Wrist locks

Simple wrist locks

Wrist locks are an interesting technique in BJJ. Most people don't seem to use them much possibly because they are seen as cheap or liable to cause injury. Another reason they are overlooked might be that people feel they are not the "fight-ending" technique that, for example, a kimura is.

On the other hand (get it? please yourselves), they are extremely painful, they take away the use of one of your opponent's hands and might be easier to explain in court than an armbar. In addition, wrist locks are worth practicing even if all you learn is how to avoid them.

Spazzing out and wrenching your partner's wrists is a good way to make your partner angry, however, when done smoothly wrist locks can be valid techniques. I suggest you mention to your partner that you want to carefully incorporate wrist locks into your roll beforehand if you do not usually practice them.

Basics
To effect a wrist lock, you will need to immobilise the arm at the elbow before bending the wrist either forwards or backwards by pushing on the hand.
To defend a wrist lock, you will need to nullify one of these control points. In other words, either free your elbow or protect your hand.

The simplest way to defend a wrist lock is to bring the other hand over and grab the hand that is being attacked. Accordingly, we need to be alert and avoid situations where one arm is isolated and vulnerable. Without the support of your other hand you are simply going to have to squirm your elbow or hand out of the lock as fast as possible.

Now lets look at some of the positions where we can apply wrist locks. This is by no means an exclusive list!

Side
Control the elbow with both arms with a hugging grip as you use your chest to bend the far wrist inwards. This one won't always be there but the opportunity sometimes arises for it.

Wrap O's lapel around the outside of his arm, trapping his elbow against his body. Secure the lapel with your head side arm. Grab his wrist with your leg side arm and push it inwards for the tap.

Spider web position (sitting out for a juji-gatame/armbar)
O is folding his arm towards his body to escape the armlock, grab his wrist with both hands and pull it in towards you.

Guard
Praying Mantis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wfIT6rz8KQ

A sneaky wristlock can be employed when O stiffarms you back onto the ground. Grab behind his elbow with both hands and sit up, curling inwards and away from his other hand as much as possible. his wrist will be bent back against your chest and he will be forced to tap.

When O has your back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPxltLz0ueU


Omoplata
A wrist lock is an easy way to finish an opponent from the omoplata position. The arm is isolated and held in position by your legs. Simply bend the wrist.

Triangle
You can't really see what's happening here but the wrist lock can be performed on the trapped arm by bending it inwards (the elbow is locked in place by your legs). If he tries to defend with his other arm try switching to a kimura on that arm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXsAGM9Iyak


Switch between the armbar, wrist lock and kimura from the triangle until you get the tap.

Mount
Here's an odd one that shows what you can do if you're creative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUvvOI7bXuM



Random
It's difficult to see clearly but this vid might give you some ideas. The uke screams horribly throughout which is annoying but there are some legit techniques in there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UoghCk_8FE


Standing
Here's a simple standing lock flow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lpKuPDhPh0

An explanation of simple standing wristlocks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVX0UtThpN8

Another flow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vSokq5xoZE


This kali vid has some nice lock flows from about 5.36 onwards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWSi_X0Gpm4


Hope this has helped!

13 Triangle setups from guard

Triangle setups from the guard can be broadly divided into ones where the leg passes on the outside of O's arm (over the arm) and ones where the leg passes on the inside of O's arm (under the arm).

Leg passes on the outside with O's arm on the inside.

1. Push the hand inside.
Demonstrated by Luiz Tannuri.


Slightly different style using the shrimp.
See 00.47 of this video.


The Wicked Triangle!

2. Grind the knee over
Set this one up by using a scissor sweep motion, only you come over the arm and make sure to keep it trapped against O’s body.
Once your shin has trapped his arm you change direction, raise your hips and lock your legs for the triangle.

3. Lapel wrap

• Break O’s posture so he is leaning forward.
• Use O’s left lapel to trap O’s left arm against his body by wrapping the lapel over the arm and passing it to your left hand behind his back.
• Raise your hips and lock your legs for the triangle.

This can obviously be done on the right as well!

4. Grab the hand behind the back
This one is similar to number 3 only you trap his arm by grabbing his sleeve behind his back.

5. Rubber guard to Triangle
These girls don't have the greatest technique...


Leg passes on the inside with O's arm on the outside.

6. Spider guard
Demonstrated by Gustavo Dantas on a standing opponent, the technique is also applicable to a kneeling opponent.


See also the start of this clip


7. Omoplata to triangle
Set up the triangle with an omoplata.

8. Push the hand outside
See 00.33 of this video.



9. Overhook armbar to triangle
Demonstrated by Sergio Silva at 01.23 or so.


10. Inverted guard to triangle
The kindly Aesopian provides us with a demonstration of this one.

11. Kick the arm out of the way
See it here.

12. Failed armbar to triangle
See it here.

Extra links
Dean Lister on the triangle

Books I recommend

14/03/07 10 Armbars from the Guard

Here are 10 armbars I practice on a regular basis as uchikomi from the guard.

1. Traditional
*Monkey grip (thumb down) behind the opposite elbow,
*Bring the same side foot to the hip and block the arm from retracting,
*Grab the opposite collar with your other hand,
*Spin your body round in the direction that the arm you want to armbar is pointing,
*At the same time bring your opposite leg up your opponent's back under his armpit and "bite down" with it so he can't escape,
*Push the head back with the arm that was grabbing the shoulder and bring your same side leg round and over your opponent's head,
*Grip O's hand with the hand you just used to push his head back and align his arm,
*Raise your hips to apply the armbar.

You can see the no-gi version of the technique here - it's basically the same except he doesn't grab the shoulder before spinning.


2. Knee-hook armbar
The knee hook can help you sweep your opponent over, allowing you to finish the armbar from the side.

See it here - there's some nice detail about pushing the head back to create space.
See also here - can't argue with this guy!


3. Lower lapel wrap and armbar
This is done like 1. only you secure the arm by wrapping his lower lapel around the outside of his elbow and gripping it instead of using a monkey grip. If you want his left arm, use his left side lapel.

Found a demo of this at MMAlibrary.

4. Sweeping style
*Grip your opponent's right sleeve with your left hand and his right collar with your right hand
*Put your left foot on his right hip to block the arm
*Push off from his right hip and spin your body to your right, pulling your opponent forward
*Bring your right leg up high on his back and "bite down"
*Bring your left leg over his head for the armbar
*You can monkey grip his behind his elbow with your collar hand to give you added control of the arm

This armbar relies on unbalancing your opponent almost as if you were going to sweep him and is a little faster than 1.

See it demonstrated by Pedro Sauer here.


5. Sweeping style with knee hook
Pedro also demonstrates the armbar with a knee hook in the above demonstration.

6. Armdrag to armbar
*Pass your opponent's right hand over to your right side with your left hand
*Armdrag with your right hand, gripping behind the elbow (thumb up)
*Catch his right hand hand under your right armpit
*Grip the collar with your left hand
*Spin your body to the side
*Raise your hips and bring your left leg around your opponent's face

Be careful with this one as the armbar comes on very quickly.

See it demonstrated here.


Here is an interesting crucifix technique from the guard that uses a similar set-up (note to self, stay on topic!).


7. Armdrag to armbar with knee hook
Same as above, only you hook the trapping arm's hand under your opponent's knee as you turn as shown in 2. Be even more careful with this one.

8. Overhook armbar (Wakigatame)
*Overhook your opponent's right arm with your left arm
*Grab hold of his left lapel with your left hand to secure the overhook
*Put your left foot on your opponent's right hip
*Hip out to your left, extending the arm
*Bring your left knee over the top of your opponent's right arm and pinch down with it
*Push up on your opponent's right shoulder with your right hand to effect the tap

There is an excellent instructional on this and related techniques here.


Here is a similar move done without the overhook.


9. Switching armbar
This is used in the event that your opponent pulls his arm out of the armbar before you finish it. You'll obviously have to arrange for your opponent to pull his arm out when drilling.

See it here.

10. Scissor sweep to armbar
This is a beautiful move that makes use of your opponent's energy as he blocks your scissor sweep.

See it here.


Enjoy!

Books I recommend
If you're interested in improving your armbars from the guard, I recommend Essential Guard by Kid Peligro and Rodrigo Medeiros. It contains a wealth of useful information on the guard including nuances of posture and drills to help make your submissions more effective.

8/03/07 Using the Lower Lapels

I had a real epiphany as we went over lower lapel chokes today in my BJJ class. There are so many variations to try.
You have 4 lapels (2 of yours and 2 of his)

• They can be wrapped to the left or right of the face.
• His lapels can be wrapped over or behind his armpit or around his lower arms.
• They can be gripped with your left or right hand.
• The lapels can be used for just about any choke you can think of including straight collar chokes, baseball bat chokes and Ezekiel style chokes etc.
• The lapels can be used to trap O's arms to set up other submissions that do not require lapels e.g. triangle choke, armbar, wristlock.
  
• You can use them from the back, the side, KOTB, guard or even from inside your opponent's guard.

If you're going for a lapel choke, try to pull out the lapel surreptiously or feint another attack so your opponent doesn't realise your intentions until it's too late. Also, be aware that your lapels can be used against you if you take them out of your belt.

When practicing these chokes, it's a very good idea to think about how your opponent is likely to defend and how you can re-counter his defence. For example, if he grabs your arm to stop your collar choke from KOTB, you may be able to pull his arm across his body and trap it to set him up for an armbar.

For beginners, there are plenty of instructionals out there on the internet to give you ideas and start you off. Once you have a few chokes down, try experimenting with each of the positions and see what you can come up with!

The lower lapels can be used in other ways too. You can wrap up your opponent's arm when in guard to secure the arm for an armbar, or you can wrap up an arm to help you pass your opponent's guard. A sneaky one is to wrap O's arm from side control and apply a wristlock.

Some online choke tutorials.
Google
Series from the guard
Youtube
Side control, opponent's near lapel
Guard, opponent's lapel
Back, your lapel
Back, your other lapel
Grapplearts
Andreh Anderson's Ninja choke
Shaolin choke
Lockflow
Basic head and arm control from side
Jacare own lapel choke from side
Aesopian's site
Lapel Ezekiel from mount
MMALibrary
Chicken wing from back
Half guard pass