Armbar from Kimura
Chain finish · Half Guard
An elbow lock where his straight arm is hyperextended across your hips. It is the follow-up when you have the kimura grip from bottom half guard and he straightens his arm to pull it out of the figure-four. Keep the grip as a handle on the wrist, free your legs from the half guard and turn a little belly down and thread your foot deep under him toward his far armpit, without spinning all the way through. Swing your leg over his head or back so that his arm lies between your thighs, with his elbow past your hips. Turn his thumb up, pinch your knees and lift the hips. Beginners finish with the elbow above their hips, so there is no fulcrum, or they let the head come up. He defends by bending the arm again, which puts you back on the kimura. Lift slowly.
How to do it
- You have the kimura grip from half guard, sitting on your side. When he straightens the arm to pull it out, do not chase the bend: keep your grip on the wrist and let the arm come long.
- Turn the figure-four into a wrist control: your same-side hand stays on his wrist, and your other forearm slides from behind his triceps down to his wrist, so both hands pull the arm to your chest.
- Open the half guard, put a foot on his hip and pivot your hips under his arm turning a little belly down, and thread your foot deep under him toward his far armpit; do not spin all the way through.
- Swing your free leg over his head, or across his back if he is low, and pull your heel down so he cannot posture or lift his head out.
- Pinch your knees on his arm, turn his thumb up so the elbow points at your hips, pull the wrist to your chest and lift the hips slowly until the tap.
Key details
- His elbow must be below your hips, at your crotch: your pubic bone is the fulcrum, so above it the arm only bends.
- Keep a grip on the wrist through the whole switch: the kimura grip is what stops him pulling the arm back out while your hips move.
- Thumb up: the elbow joint then faces your hips and bends the wrong way; thumb sideways only loads the shoulder.
- The leg over the head pins him down; without it he lifts his head and stacks you to free the arm.
- If he holds his hands together too tightly, grab your own thigh from the kimura grip to keep his posture broken, or reach his ankle and pull it up toward his butt: the arm then extends.
Common mistakes
- Fighting to bend the arm back into the kimura. — A straight arm is stronger against the kimura, and you waste the moment he gave you. — As soon as the arm is long, switch your hips for the armbar.
- Staying in half guard while turning. — Your legs are tied to his leg, so the hips cannot get under the arm. — Open the legs first, foot on his hip, then pivot.
- Lifting the hips with the elbow above your crotch. — There is no fulcrum, and he bends the arm and escapes. — Scoot the hips up toward his armpit before you lift.
- Spinning all the way through and rolling onto the far hip for a classic armbar. — His posture is no longer broken, and he sits up and pulls the arm out. — Stay turned in on the near hip, fold your shin over his head and finish there, chest pulling the wrist.
How to drill it
From bottom half guard with the kimura grip, your partner straightens the arm on his own timing; you switch to the armbar and back to the kimura when he bends it. Ten switches each side.
Safety
The elbow hyperextends quickly once the hips rise: lift slowly and release at the tap.
Where it comes from