Kesa Gatame Arm Lock
Submission · Side Control
A straight armlock: his elbow is bent backward over your thigh. It comes from kesa gatame when he puts his near arm across your leg to push you off. Keep the head hug tight and sit on your hip close to his side, lay his arm across your thigh palm up with the elbow just above the thigh, and trap the wrist with your hand or your other leg. Press the wrist down toward the mat: the thigh holds the elbow up and the joint bends the wrong way. The palm must face up; turned down, the elbow points away and the arm only bends. If he bends the arm, switch to the kimura. The arm is already straight, so press slowly.
How to do it
- In kesa gatame, hug their head with one arm and trap their near arm with the other. Keep sitting on your hip close to their side so they cannot turn in to you.
- Lay their near arm across your thigh, palm up. The elbow sits just above your thigh, which becomes the fulcrum.
- Trap the wrist with your leg or your hand, so the forearm cannot turn and the palm stays facing up.
- Keep the head hug tight through the whole finish; it stops them turning to you and turning the palm down.
- Push down on the wrist so the elbow bends backward over your thigh. Press slowly; the elbow is straight and locks quickly.
Key details
- Your thigh is the fulcrum under their elbow. The wrist goes down on one side and the elbow is held up by the thigh, which bends the arm backward.
- Keep the head hug so they cannot turn to you. Turning in would take the elbow off your thigh.
- Their palm must face up. With the palm up the elbow points into your thigh and can only bend the wrong way.
- If they straighten the arm to escape a leg americana, the straight armlock is there. Their escape hands you the straight arm this lock needs.
- With the arm between your legs (one leg on the wrist, the other thigh under the elbow), finish by scissoring the legs, one knee down and one up, while you pull his head up toward you with the head hug. The pull on the head is the counter-pressure that keeps his shoulder from following the arm.
Common mistakes
- Their palm faces down. — The elbow bends the natural way over your thigh and nothing locks. — Turn the palm up before you press.
- Losing the head hug. — They turn in and escape the position. — Keep the head hugged the whole time.
- The elbow is not on your thigh. — Without a fulcrum under the elbow there is no lever, and pushing the wrist only moves the whole arm. — Place the elbow just above your thigh before you press.
If they defend
- They bridge into you. → Widen your legs for base and keep the head hug.
How to drill it
Kesa gatame arm lock, 6 each side, slowly.
Safety
The elbow bends backward quickly: press slowly.
What comes next
Where it comes from