How To Do A Rolling Omoplata VS Half Guard Pass With Tom DeBlass

By Fanatics Authors, January 12, 2019

Lasso To Rolling Omoplata by Tom DeBlass

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the omoplata is an often taught submission technique. The omoplata is built off of some of the most fundamental concepts of grappling. In Judo, the omoplata is known as the ashi sankaku garami. Omoplata means scapula, or blade bone in portuguese, this because of the mechanics involved in the movement. In judo, the ashi sankaku garami means leg triangle entanglement. Essentially the omoplata is a shoulder joint lock technique. This technique utilizes the legs and hips of your training partner to manipulate the shoulder joint. In doing so, you push the shoulder joint to an extent that the joint reaches its maximal degree of motion. This can lead to a submission or force a reversal sweep. It was popularized in the mid 1990’s thanks to a high level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player named Nino Schembri, a jiu jitsu black belt under Carlos Gracie Junior. Schembri quickly made a name for himself as the king of the omoplata, a game he developed making better use of his highly flexible and offensive guard game.

Today we are here with Tom DeBlass at 5 time World Champion Bernardo Faria’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in New Bedford, MA. Tom is going to demonstrate one of his favorite techniques: the lasso to rolling omoplata. Tom DeBlass is a well respected grappling figure having earned his Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt under Ricardo Almeida. Tom DeBlass is a competitor in both Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts (MMA). At his school in Ocean County, Tom has coached several high level athletes such as ADCC veteran Garry Tonon and World Masters champion Jen Allen Russell. Some of Tom’s more notable achievements are: No Gi World Champion, World Championship 3rd place, Pan American Champion, No Gi Pan American Champion, Grapplers Quest National Champion, Grapplers Quest Worlds Expert Division Champion, ADCC American National Absolute Champion, Professional Grappling League Super Fight Winner, ADCC NY super fight Champion, ADCC American Trials Champion, and No Gi World Championship 3rd place.

Tom is a master of the omoplata, and a great instructor and person to learn from. The rolling omoplata is a bit different than your traditional omoplata, which you will see. Watch the video below of Tom DeBlass demonstrating is lasso to rolling omoplata and then we will break down his technique. Check it out now!

Sometimes when you are playing half guard your training partner will use their arm to create a leg weave to set up a guard pass. Your opponent will know to keep their hips back to create space and use a tripod stance to drive into you. This makes it almost impossible to stop your training partner from passing. But in this case, you can manipulate their pass attempt by controlling the gi sleeve and ending up in an omoplata. When your training partner gets to his standing tripod position it can be a very tough situation for you to be in. If you can’t pull your leg in front to recover you are going to get passed. However, pay attention to how the way Tom DeBlass keeps his grip on the arm. You have to understand where you are at. You can’t hook your opponent’s legs, which lets him walk around and pass. When your training partner passes you want to exploit the arm you still have control over. To do this come up to your shoulder as your partner continues to walk around you. As he does this you want to turn, going across your shoulders as you land in the omoplata position.

The key detail here is that you need to come to your shoulder. Often times people spin like a turtle, which will not work. You can also recover guard from here. As your partner walks around you, you can simply go up to your shoulder and switch your leg to come back outside into the lasso. If you stay flat you will not be able to do anything, especially if your training partner gets a hold of your head. Once your opponent gets up into the tripod you need to anticipate his walk, and as he is walking you want to get to your shoulder. Pull your opponent’s arm towards you and spin all the way through. If all is done well you can come right up into the omoplata.

As you can tell, this is a fantastic rolling omoplata. If you are a lover of half guard you should really add this technique into your arsenal if you want to be a well rounded Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player. The tripod stance is a very common way to pass the half guard. However, it is not often considered that you can exploit this and counter with an easy omoplata. There is no way your opponent will see this coming in a competition, so why not give it a try? Tom DeBlass is a master when it comes to playing half guard, and it is because he has many different tricks for flowing with his opponent, especially knowing how to counter extreme circumstances where you are in a very bad and possibly dangerous situation. So thank you Tom DeBlass for sharing this with us today. I know I will use this, and I hope you do too.