Amazing Omoplata Escape From Dean Lister

Omoplata Escapes by Dean Lister

If you have been around the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu scene you will probably have heard of the omoplata. The omoplata is a shoulder joint lock. It is a technique in which you utilize your own legs and hips to force the shoulder joint of your opponent to extend past its natural degree of motion. Made popular in the mid 1990’s thanks to the technical advancements of a competitor named Nino Schembri, the omoplata is widely used in competition as it has a high level of efficacy. It is a highly versatile submission that can be hit from a many different positions. The omoplata continues to evolve even to this day.

Because of its wide use, it is important for every Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player to eventually learn how to spot, counter, and escape the omoplata. Nobody understands this better than Dean Lister. Dean Lister is an American mixed martial artist and a former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion. He currently fights in the middleweight division after moving down from light heavyweight. Lister's sparring partner and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Tito Ortiz, invited him to be his assistant grappling coach on the third season of the Spike TV reality show, The Ultimate Fighter.

Learn Dean Lister's style of defending and escaping every submission ever thrown at him. It took a beast like Josh Barnett to crush Dean's soul with a scarlf hold pin to finish Dean's 16 year streak of never being submitting in COUNTLESS of submission tournaments.

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Dean Lister has had and continues to have an illustrious career in a variety of combat genres, from wrestling, to sambo, to jiu jitsu and submission grappling, along with mixed martial arts fighting in some of the most prestigious organizations like Pride and the UFC. As an American submission grappling pioneer his biggest impact has been on the ADCC mats.

It is safe to say that Dean Lister is the guy you want to learn omoplata escapes from. Watch the video below of Dean demonstrating how he escapes the omoplata and then we will break down the technique. Check it out now!

It is important to remember there is no best way to escape the omoplata. You have to find what works best for you. Dean likes to start off simple, countering the omoplata position by grabbing the inside of his knee. Pay attention to where Dean grabs his own leg. If you go to high, things will not be good for you. Be careful about extending your other arm out to far when your opponent is pressuring down on you with his leg. It is common for the guy doing the omoplata to exploit this by controlling your arm to lock up the submission. With your hand on your knee you can sit and hold this position pretty well. It also gives you the opportunity to clear your arm, event against high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu players. Almost nobody sees it coming, and you will be able to pass their guard and get points.

Even with one arm, because you are close to the ground you can hold on in this position a lot longer. Even if your training partner is strong and using his hips to try to put pressure you can counter by turning away from him. You can pass the legs as soon as your opponent tries to pull back on your arm. One thing you need to be careful of however it getting caught in a triangle. Dean Lister understands this concept well, and so should you. It is actually pretty easy for your opponent to lock up a triangle if you do not counter properly. Do not allow your head to go in between your training partner’s legs when you have the opportunity to pass.

As you can tell, this is simple stuff but it really works. Dean is a big guy, but you can pull this off no matter what your body type is. Better still, this is not a very common technique when it comes to escaping omoplatas, so your training partner definitely will not see this coming. Remember, simple escapes are the best ones. Time is of the essence when you find yourself caught in an omoplata, as well as all other submissions. But having simple techniques built on fundamental concepts in your arsenal, you give yourself a high percentage chance of successfully countering and getting into a better position. So give this omoplata escape a try the next time you are on the mats in a live roll or in a competition. These concepts will really good a long way when it comes to having a well rounded Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game. I hope you found this technique useful. Thank you Dean Lister for demonstrating this omoplata escape for us today!

Dean’s philosophy is a different one as far as Jiu Jitsu is concerned.

He drills his best escapes so much that he becomes confident enough to dare people to attack him. Imagine how different you would feel on the mat if you were hoping people would try a Guillotine, an armlock or a leglock on you so you could reverse it and tap them? How would you feel if you were under side control just knowing you were about to take their back? That is how Dean feels and he wants to show you how he does it.

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