Technique: Ohio Brasa’s “The Vault”: Recovery Arm Bar

October 1, 2015

I recently was invited to demonstrate a technique on an online series put together by Deon Thompson of Ohio Brasa called “The Vault”, check this series out it’s pretty awesome, they’ve had a bunch of really awesome instructors and competitors on it, it was a real honor to be featured. I chose to show a really nifty move that I have had a lot of success with.

When I get stuck in bottom side control in competition, time is generally not on my side. While I can score and come back up on points, I’d prefer to be able to end the match right then and there. Throughout my years of training I’ve found that people are most vulnerable in transitions. That is to say: when I’m recovering guard from bottom side control the other person is less focused on the potential of getting submitted than they are on preventing the recovery.

Hand placement is super important for this move. If both of the other person’s arms are on one side of my body, this move is invalid. If they are postured up and allowing me to move freely, chances are I won’t be able to cinch the arm bar. However, if the other person is applying pressure and the have their arm or arms on the far side of my body, when I recover guard if I acquire the correct grips I can immediately enter an arm bar, skipping the guard recovery altogether.

Timing is crucial. Coordination is crucial. I need to do several things at once for this move to stand a chance and even then it may not get the tap. If they sense something is amiss midstride they can actually stop the armbar fairly easily by posturing up. In the gi this move is a bit easier because I have grips available to me, but it also works no gi.

Perhaps the most important thing to bear in mind when trying this move out is that you can always just use the same movement to recover guard, if you try to fight them for the arm bar there’s a chance you’ll lose the arm bar AND the guard recovery. If they are resisting effectively just close your legs back up around them and work a closed guard.

Work on timing this move, getting each aspect of it down pat. First step is to explode upwards while simultaneously putting a knee in as well as trapping the arm in your armpit. Once the knee is in, either grab the lapel or the shoulder if they are postured up (gi vs no gi) and throw the leg over. If they are trying to bear back down onto you, you don’t need to grab anything you can just throw the leg up.

I’ve included links to the facebook video as well as a youtube upload on the Jiu Jitsu Times channel. I also included a short clip of me hitting this exact armbar in a competition. Check it out!