When I decided to pay more attention to my no-gi game, the biggest challenge came in adapting the guard for my style.
I love to play the collar and sleeve grip, and without the threat of a cross collar choke, my guard needed a new primary attack.
With my unfortunate Hobbit-like legs, I was not destined for triangle greatness. Fortunately, one of my black belt friends pointed out that most of the setups for triangles also work for the omoplata!
The omoplata is a submission, but in rolling against experienced opponents, it actually ends up being used more as a sweep. In fact, there is only one omoplata submission recorded in UFC history!
I find it effective in using my legs and hips to dominate the shoulder of a heavier, strong opponent and controlling him from the guard.
Here are four omoplata videos to give you some ideas on this unique and effective move.
Let’s begin by attacking it from the closed guard with world champion Bernardo Faria.
The lasso guard is a powerful control and sweeping position. Check out Andre Galvao combining both sweep and omoplata attacks!
For those 10th Planet rubber guard fans, the omoplata might be the strongest attack from the rubber guard.
Let’s dig deeper into the omoplata and see what Grapplearts’ Stephan Kesting shares in an advanced omoplata tutorial.
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