How To Attack And Defend The Knee Bar For BJJ

Learn The Secrets To One Of The Best Lower Body Submissions For Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - The Knee Bar!

If you are new to leg locks you may not be familiar with the knee bar, but it should come as no surprise to you that it is a very powerful lower body submission. In many respects, the knee bar in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is just like an arm lock. The knee bar relies on a hyper extension of the knee. Many high level competitors such as Gary Tonnon, Tom DeBlass, Dean Lister and Gordon Ryan all consider the knee bar to be an excellent way to submit your opponent. There are so many different avenues you can take to set up a knee bar, but when it comes to mastering this submission, and any other lower body submission, understanding the fundamentals is key.

Gabriel Arges is a master at finishing the knee bar... from everywhere. He has a whole system that he uses to beat the toughest guys with a guarnteed tap out knee bars.

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A lot of schools will not teach leg locks, which gives them a somewhat taboo feeling. But leg locks certainly are not taboo. Leg locks are often used in many high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitions. Depending on your competition’s ruleset, you should at least be familiar with leg locks. With that in mind let’s explore some knee bar fundamentals with Gabriel Arges. Gabriel Arges is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Romulo Barral. He has conquered important titles in the international scene such as IBJJF World Champion in both gi and no gi, European Open Champion, as well as Pan America and American National Champion. Watch the video below of Gabriel explaining how he approaches the knee bar and then we will break down his technique. Check it out now!

Hitting the knee bar from half guard is a fairly common setup. Sometimes when playing half guard you end up with a cross collar grip as your opponent is pressuring down on you. Gabriel emphasizes two important details to start attacking the knee bar. The first thing Gabriel does is push away from his opponent whenever he pressures down on his legs. In a case where his training partner pulls his leg out, Gabriel fights to retain his guard, framing with his hands in order to reset. Gabriel pushes his opponent to get them to start pressuring forward again. He uses this momentum to reach for his training partner’s leg, diving under in order to get his thumb in the back of the knee. While he is doing this, Gabriel maintains a collar grip to prevent his opponent from countering.

With his hand behind his opponent’s knee secured, Gabriel switches his grips to create leverage. He uses 4 fingers inside the gi to get a tight cross collar grip, allowing him to push his opponent’s head away. From here Gabriel takes the hand that was on the collar and feeds it over his training partner’s leg above the heel. He uses his other hand to post up and switch head position so that his opponent’s toes are resting directly on the back of his head. This allows Gabriel to get his hips up as he rotates his body to lock up the knee bar.

As you can probably tell, knee bars can be a tricky submission to deal with. Once your opponent has your leg extended, the tap can come very quick. So how do you prevent a knee bar from happening? Tom DeBlass has the answer. Tom DeBlass is a master of leg lock submissions, having used them in international competition against some of the best competitors out there. Because of this, he also knows all the tips and tricks to escape a knee bar. Escaping a knee bar is not as hard as you might think. Watch the video below and then we will break down the technique.

The first thing Tom emphasizes about escaping the knee bar is that you are looking to clear your knee as fast as possible. If your training partner has already caught your leg, the first thing you want to do is get your free foot behind your training partner’s top knee. Placing your foot behind the knee gives you better leverage than placing it on your opponent’s butt, especially if you are not that flexible. This will allow you to push your opponent’s leg forward, which will make it much harder for him to extend your leg. At the same time you push the leg forward you also want to pull your trapped leg out. Now your opponent will not be able to easily finish the knee bar. From here you can keep working to pull your leg out now that you are safe from the knee bar.

If you understand the mechanics of the arm bar, you can start thinking about how to apply those same fundamental concepts to the knee bar. And much like an arm bar, the knee bar can be found in many different positions. If you are looking for more great knee bar techniques then be sure to check out Gabriel Arges’ amazing instructional series “The Knee Barges Leg Attack System” available exclusively on BJJFanatics.com.

2 x Black Belt World Champion Gabriel Arges – Undefeated As A Black Belt At Worlds In His Weight Gabriel Arges won the finals of the black belt worlds by knee bar. Learn arguably the best Knee Bar in the world today.

Do You Want To Learn The Secrets To Finishing Kneebars Against The Toughest Guys In Your Gym Or In Local Tournaments? (Even If They Are Black Belt World Champions) Now You Can…

This is a complete and easy to use system Gabriel has been able to utilize this lower body attack at the highest levels on numerous occasions

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