Armbars From Side Control, With Troy Manning

 

The Armbar is one of the most basic submissions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  They’re fairly straightforward attacks. They’re also everywhere. The challenge is in recognizing opportunities when they present themselves.

Troy Manning sheds some light on Armbar attacks that are available from side control in the video below.

 

For the first Armbar, Manning begins in Side Control, with his left hand under his opponent’s neck and his right hand blocking his opponent’s hips on Manning’s near side.

Manning then uses his right hand to underhook his training partner’s near arm.  As a distraction, he feigns a choke attempt on his partner. Meanwhile, he kicks his right leg up beside his partner’s back with his foot under the shoulder.

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Manning then steps his left leg over his opponent’s head and pinches the trapped arm by raising his right knee off the mat.  His opponent’s arm is trapped between Manning’s raised knee and his torso, with the hand/wrist locked into Manning’s armpit.

By pinching his knees together, Manning gets the tap.

For the second Armbar, Manning forces his opponent’s near side elbow up and onto his chest—almost as though he was attempting to Gift Wrap him.  Manning holds his teammate’s arm in place by pinning it with his chest. Sometimes, he notes, you can get a tap just by bringing one arm under your teammate’s far arm and your other arm under your teammate’s head, locking your hands in a gable grip, and squeezing.

If that submission doesn’t work, Manning moves on to the Armbar.  He slides his right arm under his training partner’s raised elbow.  His left arm slides out from below his partner’s head and cups the wrist from the top, and then he secures a figure four grip by grasping his left wrist with his right hand.

Manning then slips his right foot up near his teammate’s back.  Once in this position, he swings his left leg over his partner’s head as he brings the trapped arm back to complete the submission.

For Manning’s third Armbar, he shifts his base to move his opponent’s arm out of place and up around his head.  

Manning then shifts his base again, while using his left arm to bring his opponent’s extended arm up and away from his body.  Manning then traps the arm more securely by stepping his left foot over his opponent’s head.

From here, the submission is completed as Manning uses his left arm to hyperextend his opponent’s elbow.

Manning’s fourth Armbar also takes advantage of the opportunity when a teammate’s arm is out of place and up near his head.

This time, Manning places his right hand on his training partner’s far shoulder.  He next drives his left leg up against his partner’s back, this time with his knee near his partner’s head and the shin running down the back.  Manning’s right knee helps to pin his opponent in place as he places it on his opponent’s stomach.

Manning gets the tap by leaning back, hyperextending his opponent’s arm in the process.

In the event that his opponent rolls to escape the submission, Manning rolls along with him and uses his left knee—now above the trapped arm—to press down from above and get the tap anyway.

A fifth Armbar is available, as well.  Unlike the previous four Armbars, this time, Manning attacks his partner’s far arm.  This opportunity presents itself because his teammate’s arm is out of place and extended up and along Manning’s head.  

Manning wraps his right arm under his teammate’s extended arm and reaches back up to hold onto his own collar.  He then crossfaces his teammate, raises himself up on his left hip, and steps his left foot around his opponent.  Keeping his opponent’s arm trapped with his own right arm, Manning uses his left hand to grab his partner’s belt to help him turn himself around his partner.  

Having completed his transition from one side of his opponent to the other, Manning reclines back to, once again, get the tap.

Moving on to a sixth situation, Manning's opponent has his arm up and out of place but on the other side of Manning's head.  Manning uses his left arm to trap his partner's wayward arm and then reaches back around to grip his own collar.

Manning plants his right hand on the mat against his opponent's near-side hip and pushes off of that hand to scoot around his teammate's head, pulls him off of his back and onto his side, and then drops all of his weight onto his opponent's trapped arm.

From here, Manning frog-hops to a position straddling his opponent's head and shoulder.  He then falls back with one leg stretching over his partner's neck and the other leg bent at the knee next to his partner's back.  As he extends the trapped arm, he gets the tap once again.

Again starting with his opponent's arm up and out of place across his right shoulder, Manning's seventh armbar is a variation on his fifth.

As before, he traps the wayward arm with his right arm and secures it in place by grabbing his own collar.

He then crossfaces his opponent and leans his body down toward his opponent's far hip.  As he's doing so, he allows his arm to slide down to the pressure point at the trapped arm's elbow.  He then gable grips his hands to hold the trapped arm and pushes on the trapped wrist with his shoulder to get the submission.

Another variation on this attack moves from trapping the wayward arm to a frog-hop where one knee ends up on his opponent's neck and the other on his belly.  From here, Manning traps the arm between his gable gripped hands and his shoulder.  By squeezing his gripped hands together, he forces his partner to tap.

Finally, Manning offers a last variation on this attack.  Again, it begins with his opponent's arm up and out of place.  And, again, this time, Manning employs a knee on belly.  However, Manning swings his left leg over his opponent's head this time.  As he leans back, he pulls the trapped arm over with him, forcing his partner to roll to his side as he squeezes his arms together to force the submission. Learn even more about lock up armbars in Top Game Tool Box: Tilts &Bars by Max Askren.

All told, Manning offers us a dizzying variety of Armbar attacks.  Be sure to watch his entire demonstration below.  You'll definitely find something new to try during your next roll.

No Gi Jiu Jitsu Back Attacks and Escaping System by Troy Manning gives you over 50 top tier techniques that are SURE to sharpen your No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu. No gi grips? No Problem. Learn the Back Attacks with Troy Manning.

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