If You're Not Doing The Kimura This Way, You're Doing It Wrong.

Posted by Fanatics Authors on December 29, 2018

How To Do The Perfect The Kimura by Fabio Holanda

If you have been around the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu scene you will have likely heard of Fabio Holanda. Fabio is one of the main fighters with Brazilian Top Team, and is the owner of BTT Montreal in Canada. Fabio’s favorite finish in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the kimura. He has taught his kimura finish to a lot of high level mixed martial artists, including world renowned George St. Pierre. Fabio has had a great amount of success in his jiu jitsu career and today he is going to show us how he likes to finish the kimura from side control. Side control is a great position for dominating your opponent. With the right amount of pressure and weight distribution, you can pin your opponent to the mat and attack arm locks.

The kimura is a great finish for side control as you are already in the position required to finish the technique. John Danaher offers arguably the best DVD series on how to attack and finish the kimura from everywhere.

LEARN MORE

Watch the video below on how to do the perfect kimura and then we will break down Fabio Holanda’s technique. Check it out now!

To finish the kimura from side control, Fabio likes to grab the arm before he grabs the wrist. This is because often times when you go straight for the wrist your training partner will immediately hide their arm, stopping you from securing the kimura. So, wrap the arm first and then establish your wrist control. Now your training partner will not be able to hide his elbow, as you already have the kimura lock. From here Fabio goes into a modified north south position, his goal here being to place as much weight as possible on his training partner’s opposite shoulder. This will pin him to the mat and take away his ability to explode and try to push you away. It is very common for your opponent to defend the kimura lock by gripping their own belt or gi. To break the grip you want to straighten your arm and make it stiff. Now that your opponent’s arm is free you can move it into the kimura lock position. It is very important to make sure your opponent’s elbow is up as high as possible. The higher up it is the more effective this submission will be. All that is left is to finish the kimura by pulling your training partner’s shoulder up off the mat. Pay attention to how little movement it takes to finish the kimura – Bernardo’s head does not even leave the mat!

What I like the most about this technique is how Fabio goes into that modified north south position to pressure his opponent, and get a good angle to execute the kimura with. Often times, when you see novice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu players try to hit the kimura from side control it is ineffective because they go straight across the body, which does not allow them to pull the elbow up high enough. This is a much more effective way to ensure your kimura is tight, while preventing your training partner from bridging, or rolling out to escape.

Keep this one in mind the next time you are playing top side control! Are you hitting your kimura submissions? If not, this perfect kimura from Fabio Holanda may just be the answer you need!