Mastering the Twister
Posted by Corey Kuropas on
No submission carries the wow factor quite like the twister. The twister became huge after Eddie Bravo beat Royler Gracie in ADCC as a brown belt. Much of Eddie’s material became popular and part of that material was the twister. Banned in most BJJ tournaments (unless in some cases for advanced/black belt divisions), it is a highly dangerous and effective technique. When done correctly, it is a groin ripper, a spine lock and a neck crank. It is feared and respected at the same time.
While it is a bit more rare to see in Jiu Jitsu competition, it has found a home as a technique in the cage, in MMA bouts. In recent times in was used in the UFC where Korean featherweight star, Chan Sung Jung, better known as Korean Zombie finished Leonard Garcia with it. He sets it up off his opponent’s back. Take a look at Jung hitting the twister!
The way that Jung set up the twister from the back is quite simple. If you have standard back control, you have to abandon one hook and get the lockdown on your opponent’s leg where you still have the hook. From there get your opponent’s near side arm down to the mat, with your body over it and lock up a gable grip over your opponent’s forehead. It is an easy finish from that. Here is Stephen Kesting explaining this particular way of attaining the twister.
Setting it up from the back is a great fundamental way of getting to the twister, but for more advanced students, there are some fun ways of getting the submission. Eddie Bravo has a whole system based off of the twister and what he calls twister side control. Twister side control which is like a reverse scarf hold version of side control sets up the truck transition. The truck leads right into the twister submission. It is actually a very quick transition into the submission. Below, Eddie Bravo, the man himself, shows his twister side control.
When opening your mind to some nontraditional aspects of Jiu Jitsu, you can gain the upper hand. Many people refuse to learn the new school game of Jiu Jitsu, which makes them susceptible to those techniques. The twister is a great technique to get into. Eddie Bravo’s Mastering the Twister is the ultimate text for these techniques.
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