03/12/2014 - Artemis BJJ | Open Mat | Pressing Armbar Follow Ups & Knee Cut Defence

Class #610
Artemis BJJ (Bristol Sports Centre/MyGym), Open Mat, Bristol, UK - 03/12/2014

Moving on from yesterday, I wanted to practice some follow ups if the pressing armbar didn't work. First I had a quick play with what Dave Jacobs taught at his seminar, though I didn't quite remember it properly. The idea is that if they manage to circle their trapped arm off your head, slide the top hand of your gable grip up, ready to catch their wrist before they circle their arm over. Establish a figure-four grip on their arm, then twist that arm away from you. This might get the submission, but more likely is that you steer them over, reversing the position to mount. As you transition, put your elbow by their head and move right into an americana from mount.

You can also finish the pressing armbar from mount too, by sweeping them as you have the grip. Just put in your hook and lift the leg up and over as you normally would with a butterfly sweep. The same principle then applies, sliding your arms up their arm until you get to that point above the elbow, exerting pressure for the tap. Alternatively you can switch to whatever submission you like.

While I had some difficulty doing the americana, as my arms didn't feel like they were in the right place, that idea of using the grip for a sweep into mount worked a few times when we tried it with some resistance. Going for a more standard armbar from guard worked too. That involved quickly bringing my leg over their head if they started to escape from the pressing armbar. You have to be quick, before they get their arm out too far. Bringing your knee up behind their arm helps, as that blocks their ability to pull their arm all the way out.

Yet another option is to attack the other arm if that armbar doesn't work. Swing your opposite leg over that arm, then simply push their wrist is the relevant direction to hyper-extend the elbow. This probably requires some flexibility, plus I'd be a bit concerned if they tried to explosively escape while your leg was in that position. I'm flexible enough to get it there, but it feels vulnerable, like my knee could get awkwardly twisted or something like that.

If all that fails, then the omoplata is right there too. You can either do it on the extended arm if for some reason you can't get the right pressure on their elbow, or you can do it on the other arm. Again, you need to be fairly quick on that, but they often forget about defending that other arm because they're focused on the one you're attacking. Swivel and push the arm around your leg, moving into a standard omoplata.

For the rest of the hour, Chris wanted to practice defending the knee cut pass. That's something I have trouble with myself, so useful for me too. I suggested Kev's 'mawashi grip' option, as well as doing something similar from quarter guard. Mainly you want to stop that earlier, using the open guard approach we practiced last week (so, sit up, get a collar, then go for the series of ankle pick, collar drag and loop choke).

I was getting in position for the loop choke a number of times, but wasn't doing a good job of lifting Chris' chin. I have the same problem with the bow and arrow choke. The thumb twist motion works for that from back control, but I'm not sure it applies in either the bow and arrow or loop choke. Might be something to play with though: I'll work on that next time. Going for the ankle pick, if I can hook behind their leg with one of mine, I get way more leverage.