Get On Board With The Tarikoplata!

 

New techniques come along daily in the BJJ world. Our Instagram’s are packed full of new and innovative ways to submit, reverse, transition and so on. Some are pretty out there, but all of these different ideas just again show us fast BJJ is evolving. WE have to remember that it is after all an art of movement and movement is always open to interpretation. Not every technique that comes across our dashboards sticks, but there are some that dazzle or baffle us enough that we want to attempt them as soon as we get to the academy that evening. One of these great innovative techniques that continues to withstand the test of time is the “Tarikoplata”.

Tarik Hopstock created his signature “Tarikoplata” over the course of several years of focused development. The technique finally made its debut in competition in 2015 and since then it’s become a weapon of choice for some of todays top tier competitors. We see it attempted more regularly and this is for good reason. Its an incredibly solid submission. Learning the inner workings of this technique has now been made easier with the release of Tarik’s instructional from BJJ Fanatics. Hopstock breaks down the technique itself and also provides us with several set ups and entries. 

If you’ve never heard of the Tarikoplata or used it, it might remind you of a kimura/omoplata hybrid that brings elements of attack and body position in from both of these different submissions. It’s incredibly versatile and you might find that there’s a necessity in your game for this kind of technique. If you’ve ever struggled to pull off a kimura but lacked the necessary leverage to finish the technique, you may be very interested in this particular segment of instruction. I know personally I’ve struggled in this scenario. More times than not, I’ve probably succumbed to the defenses of my training partner and had to relinquish my grip on the limb in order to save myself from losing position.

This obviously is not favorable and we’d always like to have ways to continue pursuing the submission rather than letting it go. I find this difficulty to be incredibly common but the Tarikoplata provides answers to several of these issues and gives us some options, so that we can continue to advance. In this video Hopstock gives a detailed breakdown of the technique from start to finish to give us the idea of how the submission works. Have a look at this!

 

For this particular entry, Hopstock begins in half guard. He first looks to under hook his partner’s arm, cupping above the elbow at the triceps. He performs this first movement with his bottom arm as he then uses his free arm to guide the head away and then blocks it out with his knee shield. This begins the separation of the arm from the body and begins a process of isolation of the limb. 

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He then pulls the elbow toward his body and makes a shift in his hips to create some distance so he can begin transitioning his top leg over the head, to the other side of the body, where he plants it in his partners hip. This further separates the arm from the body, essentially putting it on an island. 

Hopstock can now lock up what we will recognize as a traditional kimura figure four grip. But there’s still a problem. His partner is doing a good job of keeping that arm tight to defend any further separation and the threat of the kimura lock. To remedy this situation, Hopstock elevates his hips up above his partners shoulder. This will give him mobility in his leg that’s become trapped underneath his partners body. AS he removes the bottom leg, he uses it to cover his partners wrist, and transitions from the figure four to a grip on his own thigh. This adds a considerable amount of constriction tot eh arm, locking it in that kimura style position. 

Keeping this leg aimed at the head is critical to maintaining the lock on the arm. Hopstock’s other leg remains nice and straight, riding across his partner’s shoulder line. With a grip on his pants to maintain control over his partner’s momentum, Hopstock forces his partner in to a controlled roll. At the completion of the roll, Hopstock makes contact with the bottom of his foot to the mat.

He then uses his free leg to come up to the top and travels to a kneeling position. With his leg that’s controlling the arm, Hopstock slides his shin underneath the lock and then steps up from his previous kneeling posture on the other leg. This final positional change adds tons of torque to the technique. With a very small movement, Hopstock is able to rotate slightly and achieve an incredibly tight submission hold on the shoulder and his partner is forced to tap. 

There are quite a few steps here, but there is zero wasted movement during this incredibly efficient attack. Essentially, Hopstock is using his entire body against his partners shoulder joint. This will always tip the scales in favor of the attacker. This is a great option for when were trying to snag that kimura from half guard and we just simply don’t have the leverage to pull off the technique, which for me is often! 

Techniques like this one are rare gems of the sport. The effectiveness of the Tarikoplata has been proven by Hopstock himself at the highest levels of competition and its legitimacy has been further solidified by other stars of the sport who have adopted the technique in to their arsenals as well. If it’s good enough for the elite, it can certainly add some value to our game as well. I’m looking forward to giving this one a shot when the opportunity presents itself! Good luck in your endeavors with the Tarikoplata as well! 

Tarik has one of the most UNIQUE styles in Jiu-Jitsu. Learn the move that helped Tarik put his name on the map. This versatile attack can make the difference in your game especially if you are smaller than your opponent. Tarkioplata by Tarik Hopstock gives you the ESSENTIAL details to this revolutionary technique!

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