Travis Stevens & His Wrist Lock From The Kimura

By Corey Kuropas, January 13, 2017

Wrist locks are definitely the black sheep techniques of the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world. They haven’t caught on in popularity yet, but are undeniably effective. One competitor that has developed an awesome wrist lock game is the one and only Travis Stevens. The Danaher black belt, and Judo Olympian has seen the light. And that light is the devastating wrist lock game. While he can hit them from so many positions, one of the easiest yet most painful locks comes from the kimura. When Travis goes to the north/south position to finish his kimura attack, he runs in to the most common defense, which is for his opponent to grab his own collar. But Travis has a nasty wrist lock from the kimura defense. Let us see what he does to finish the wrist lock from there.

This technique is sought after once you get to north/south. You are in that position and you are attacking your opponent’s left arm with the shoulder lock. But your opponent grabs his own collar. He is trying to stop from being submitted from the kimura. You’re pulling hard and creating strong tension. Instead of wasting more energy on finishing that submission, it will be best to go for the wrist lock.

Take your right hand off of his wrist, while using your left forearm/wrist to control his arm so he cannot simply pull his arm out. With your right hand, grab his fingers/knuckles of the hand that is collar gripping. Re-grab your wrist, as you would for the kimura. Drop the weight off your chest onto his elbow, applying that weight downward and pull up on his fingers. This will create some nasty pain for your opponent and he will tap from it.

Sadly, many people will call this a dirty tactic or a cheap move. But it certainly is not. Wrist locks need more respect is the Jiu Jitsu community. They are strong and fight ending techniques. Hopefully with competitors like Travis promoting these attacks, they will gain popularity and be seen with a higher regard. He has a whole DVD set about how to hit wrist locks from almost any position.

Click here to see Wrist locks From Everywhere by Travis Stevens!