Kneebar Attack From The Turtle

By Corey Kuropas, March 02, 2017

The turtle position…I talk a lot about how to attack someone who is using the position, but I do not get a chance to talk about the attacks you have from there. While there aren’t as many ways of attacking from the turtle, the attacks you can use to defend from it can be pretty solid. One of those attacks is the kneebar. The kneebar is always an awesome option you can use to defeat someone who is going after you while you are in the turtle. Let’s see how you can use it to get a quick submission…

So, perhaps you were in a scramble, and you were able to prevent yourself from getting your back taken. But instead what happened was that you ended up in turtle. While there, your opponent decided to hold the position. Now you can start to go after your kneebar attack. First, you will have to get your leg into the correct position. You need to move your right leg over your opponent’s left leg. All you have to do is cross it over. Your shin and instep should be over his leg. This is where you will see how quick this goes.

You have to tuck your head to the outside. Otherwise you will just flop down and gets squished. So after you tuck your head to the outside, you will need to put your right shoulder to the mat. When you do that, you can also use your right arm to grab his thigh. With your outside hand, feel free to grab his tricep on his outside arm. Now you need to kick through and roll. When you roll, your opponent should end up stomach down. But kneebars are not easy to finish flat so don’t try to finish it flat on your back. Tuck his foot on the left side of your head and go to your left hip. Extend your hips and finish the leg attack.

This is my favorite way of defending then attacking from the turtle. It works really well. Even by worst case scenario, if you don’t finish it, or your opponent rolls out, you will no longer be vulnerable to topside turtle attacks. Trust me when I say that this does work. If you are looking to expand your knowledge on attacking the turtle and defending it, check out…

Attacking & Defending The Turtle by Travis Stevens. Click here!