3 Kimura Tips For BJJ From Fabio Holanda

The kimura is one of the most used control techniques and submissions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu! You See High Level Grapplers Like Fabio Holanda Using The Kimura To Dominate, So Why Not Learn Some For Yourself?

The kimura is one of the most used control techniques and submissions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as well as all other grappling martial arts. I am sure if you have spent any time on the mats at all you are familiar with the kimura. The concept of the submission is to isolate the shoulder and elbow joints with a double wrist grip. This allows you to apply leverage against both the shoulder and the elbow causing them to submit. Kimura masters like John Danaher emphasize that the kimura is not just a submission, it is a great way to control your opponent, whether or not it causes them to tap. Usually when you have the kimura locked up, you dictate where your opponent can move, and if they do not move or move in the wrong way, you tighten up the kimura and get the tap. So once you have it, do not let go!

The kimura is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful arm control "systems" in Jiu Jitsu. In fact it would be awesome if bad ass Neil Melanson did a whole DVD series on the kimura itself... oh wait.

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Fabio Holanda is a kimura wizard. Holanda is one of the main Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitors with Brazilian Top Team as well as the owner of BTT Montreal in Canada. Fabiao is so well know for the kimura that he has even taught it to a lot of high level MMA competitors, including the likes of world famous George St. Pierre. Needless to say, Fabio Holanda is the right guy to learn the kimura from. So let’s take a look at some of Fabio Holanda’s kimura techniques. Here are 3 kimura tips from Fabio.

#1: How To Do The Perfect The Kimura

This is the perfect way to finish the kimura from side control. To finish the kimura, Fabio first likes to grab his opponent’s arm before he grabs his wrist. Now the guy on bottom will not be able to hide his elbow, as you already have the kimura lock. From here Fabio moves up his opponent’s body, his goal here is to place as much weight as possible on his training partner’s opposite shoulder. This will pin him to the mat and take away his ability to explode and try to push you away. It is very common for your opponent to defend the kimura lock by gripping their own belt or gi. To break the grip you want to straighten your arm and make it stiff. Now that your opponent’s arm is free you can move it into the kimura lock position. To finish the kimura, simply pull your training partner’s shoulder up, cuasing him to tap. It takes very little movement to do this because the kimura lock is so tight!

#2: Crazy Kimura Finish by Fabio Holanda

Fabio Holanda starts this kimura from a standing position and his training partner goes to shoot a double leg take down. The first thing Fabio does is sprawl again his training partner to keep his legs cleared. His hips are pressed against the shoulders and he is using his weight to pressure his opponent, breaking his posture. From here Fabio brings his arm across his training partner’s back to grab an opposite side over hook and establish his kimura lock. Before he sets the kimura lock he first grabs his own thigh with his hand. Then he secures his opponents wrist and locks up the kimura grip. In most cases, your training partner is going to try and counter this by circling to your back. This okay, because you still have the kimura grip, meaning your opponent is limited in where and how he can move. Fabio Holand places his right leg between his training partner’s legs. This allows him to trap his training partner’s leg. Fabio sits to the opposite side that he has the kimura lock on. At the same time his leg goes between opponent’s legs as he turns his back and goes flat on the mat. Now he places his other leg up and over his training partner’s back. This is to prevent him from rolling out of the kimura. Once you have your leg controlling your opponent’s hips you can finish the kimura.

#3: High Leverage Kimura Finish

The high leverage kimura finish is a great technique for bottom half guard. You do not want your opponent to cross face our under hook you, so always protect yourself until you are ready to hit this kimura. When you are ready, come up and wrap your arm around the outside of your opponent’s arm, controlling his wrist, and locking up your grip. Once Fabio has the kimura lock he still has to counter his opponent’s defense and try to finish. Usually your opponent is going to block the kimura by grabbing their own belt. Fabio’s opponent knows not to try and pass his guard in order to stay safe. So what Fabio does is extend his hips and set a butter fly hook with his top leg. Now he uses the hook to sweep while pushing with his other foot. All he wants to do is get into his closed guard. Why? The closed guard is a position that is much harder for your opponent to escape the kimura lock. All you have to do to finish from here is straighten your arm out to break the grip, causing your opponent to tap.

The kimura is so great because it is so versatile. It can be hit from so many positions, and even sometimes while you are transitioning from one position to the next. It can be a very effective way to control the pace of a fight too. Once you have your kimura grip, your opponent’s only interest is either holding you to prevent the submission, or trying to fight his way out of the lock.

Fabio Holanda is a kimura machine, and you can be too if you check out his latest instruction series, “The Kimura Machine,” available exclusively on BJJFanatics.com! It loaded with tons of great advice on how to make your kimura incredibly devastating. You will notice that Fabio is not the most athletic guy. He is 38 years old, has kids, and is not what you might call athletic. But his secret kimura system makes even the stronger younger guys in the gym tap. If you want to be like Fabio and have an amazing kimura then I highly recommend this instructional series to you. I hope you found these three kimura tips useful. If you did then be sure to give them a try the next time you are on the mats!

Neil Melanson is The Man Who Does Everything In Jiu Jitsu A Bit Different – Yet All The Big Stars Worship Him: He Has The Weirdest – Yet Most Effective Grappling Game You’ve Ever Seen. Maybe it is from his integration of Catch Wrestling or his years of coaching some of the best MMA and No Gi Grapplers in the world. The current Blackzillians MMA Coach Neil Melanson’s Kimura Game Is More Efficient and So Much More Advanced Than Any Other Kimura Out There. His DVD / On Demand Series called the Filthy Kimura will completely change how you attack the kimura from every where.

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