Tom DeBlass Solves the Puzzle of Being Stacked While Trying to Finish your Arm Lock

Defeat the Stack

Throwing up arm bars from the bottom can be risky business if you don’t have all the proper mechanics in place. It can be made even more difficult if your opponent happens to have a size advantage over you. One of the pitfalls of executing arm bars from the bottom position is the possibility of being stacked. With gravity on their side, the passer doesn’t have to be a world champ to fold you at the waist, and begin dismantling your attack.

Professor Tom DeBlass to the rescue.

In this video DeBlass demonstrates his answer for being stacked while attempting the arm bar. Have a look!

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Something important to consider here is the idea that stacking is a good defense for the arm lock, when it’s done properly. Standing to try and rip the arm free, does work on occasion, but if your partner is doing a good job controlling the arm you will likely be putting yourself in deeper trouble by standing up and allowing your arm to extend.

DeBlass’s approach here is quite innovative. One of my favorite details of the technique is the placing of the leg back to the other side of the head to prevent the arm from coming free. This detail alone will up the percentage of finishing the lock considerably. By placing his hand in the area of the hip where his partners leg meets his body, he creates an anchor in which he uses to reposition. As he pulls himself closer and changes the angle, DeBlass then brings the leg back to the other side of his partners head.

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Here’s where phenomenal detail #2 is revealed. With his hips pinned, DeBlass cannot stay on the original path of the armbar. He’s not able to extend his hips toward his partner to force the traditional finish. Instead, he extends his legs the opposite direction, which releases his body from his partners top pressure and allows him to go belly down to finish the arm lock.

You may be familiar with this situation. A common response here is to use that anchor in the hip to spin under your opponent. As DeBlass explains, this is not wrong, but can at times be difficult for a number of reasons. This is an excellent option to beat the stack when chasing down that armlock! Get to work!

 This video is from Tom DeBlass' forthcoming Closed Guard Domination DVD and On Demand instructional.  While you wait for this to be released, make sure you check out Butterfly Half  Guard his most recent instructional.  This is guaranteed to take your half guard to the next level!  Get it here at BJJ Fanatics!

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