The Tarikoplata

“Hey, (insert new white belt’s name here) come over here, let me show you this new move I made, it’s called the (insert ridiculous name here, typically including words like crush, death lock, etc.)”.

Unfortunately, I would bet that we have all heard this a time or two, likely the longer you have trained the more times you have heard this.  This phrase coming from a newer student who typically has an ego and rather than study instructionals to get better at Jiu Jitsu, is off “creating” their own new moves.  Here’s the thing, while yes, Jiu Jitsu is constantly evolving and new techniques are being created and old techniques are being overhauled to be more effective, the chances are that most of this is happening at a very high level, brown belt or black belt and above most likely. 

Additionally, the people involved in the creation of these new techniques are often professional athletes or instructors that have thousands of hours on the mats training, so they know what will and will not work. It’s highly unlikely that the death crusher face lock you just witnessed will every make it into a John Danaher Enter the System series.  

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That being said, as I mentioned, Jiu Jitsu is constantly evolving and with the technology available to us and the video instructionals from BJJ Fanatics, we are able to learn from the best in the world right from our home or home academy.  This only increases the evolution of our sport and forces competitors to be at the highest levels ever.

We do see new techniques coming from those that are spending the time on the mats training and have the knowledge to put their own spin on a technique to make it better.  In this particular case I want to take a look at “Understanding the Tarikoplata” – by Tarik Hopstock, the brown belt who created the Tarikoplata. Let’s break it down to understand it fully.

Starting out in bottom half guard Tarik is looking to use his bottom arm to cup around the opponent’s elbow and pull it into his side while using his other hand to push the opponent’s head away and get the knee in front of the opponent’s face. 

As we continue to pull on the arm Tarik is looking to bring his leg over the opponent’s back and over the shoulder of the arm he is pulling on. This allows him to put his foot in the opponent’s hip while also locking up the Kimura grip. 

Once you lock up the Kimura grip the opponent will likely pull their arm in to defend against this Kimura grip.  To combat this, Tarik is looking to go belly down by coming up on this shoulder and head allowing him to pull his bottom leg out and bringing it around to trap the opponent’s wrist against their side, allowing Tarik to release his kimura grip and remove his top leg (left leg) from the opponent’s hip and move it to the back of the opponent’s head.  

From here Tarik is looking to grab the opponent’s Gi pants by their left knee with his right hand and stepping with his right leg that is now over the opponent’s arm.  This stepping motion combined with the lifting of the leg at the knee using the grip on the Gi pants will result in the opponent being forced to roll over. You should expect to land in a position like what is shown below.

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It is important that when you land your foot is next to and not under the opponent.

To finish, you will want to come up to the top.  In order to do that Tarik lets go of the Gi pants and uses that hand as a base as he rotates his hips down and backs up until he is essentially sitting on the opponent.  Once in this position he allows his right foot to slip under the opponent’s left arm and then steps forward with his right foot. From here he simply needs to push the elbow to the ceiling for the finish. 

This clip has a lot of steps to it and a lot of moving parts but is definitely worth watching a few times and drilling to see if it’s something you want to add to your game…

A similar technique you may want to dive into is the Omoplata.  Who better to learn the details of the Omoplata from than a 5 time black belt world champion that uses this technique constantly, often times hitting it up to 30 times in a row when rolling with students at seminars. 

Check out “Omoplata Everyone” – by Bernardo Faria for all the ends and outs of how to execute the Omoplata flawlessly.  Don’t forget to add some Yoga to your training schedule too. Yoga blends extremely well with Jiu Jitsu and has a lot of very similar mind and body benefits.  Regardless of if you have never tried yoga before, or are an expert you need to check out “Grappling with Yoga by Josh YoGi NoGi Stockman”.  This yoga instructional will help you increase your flexibility, feel much better after training and add years to your Jiu Jitsu career with only ten to fifteen minutes a day.  As added benefits you will notice less inflammation, less soreness and a clearer mind. Don’t procrastinate any longer, start supplementing your training with yoga today. 

Bernardo Faria Shows You His Secrets To Get &Finish The Omoplata On Everyone He Rolls With He Often Gets It 30x In A Row At Seminars Against BJJ Players Of All Levels Including Black Belts. Do you wish you had a move that you could always hit? Well you have one, you just don't know it yet
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