Unorthodox Back Attacks With Black Belt World Champion, Gabriel Arges

Have you heard of Gabriel Arges?  If you haven’t you are missing out, he is one of the top up and coming black belts.  Having already won the adult IBJJF Black Belt World Championships 2x he has the potential to build a legacy.  Under the tutelage of Romulo Barral, multiple time black belt world champion and training with people like Edwin Najmi and Felipe Pena, it is not difficult to see why he has had so much success.  Gabriel is a machine on the mat, he is also one of the most submission oriented fighters there is today.

Gabriel is a back hunting animal, somehow and someway he always manages to find the back and finish the fight.  He has pressure, precision, and a wide arsenal of moves.  BJJ Fanatics recently had the pleasure and honor of filming a DVD with him all about his back attacks.  Today we are going to have a look at two free techniques off of that DVD where Gabriel shows us some unorthodox back attacks that are simple and effective.  Some of us may not have seen these entries before.

Gabriel’s back attack system may seem complex but it is actually easy to incorporate and he is an excellent instructor who can articulate information very well.  Gabriel is young and hungry and if you haven’t had the opportunity to see some of his techniques today is your lucky day, without further ado let’s have a look.  

Clock Choke To Collar Choke by Gabriel Arges

Our first position that we are going to look at is a back choke set up. Although some of us may be familiar with this specific collar choke from the back, the setup is gold.  Gabriel is going to show us this attack from the turtle and ultimately he will end up choking his opponent from the back.  At the highest levels of competition, everybody knows many of the same attacks and submissions, what differentiates the champions are the fact that they have sneaky and complex entries.  For instance, let’s look at someone like Romulo Barral, a multiple time black belt world champion;he is infamous for playing spider guard.  Although his opponents are familiar with spider guard and they know what he wants to do, Romulo has excellent entries and perfect timing so no one is able to stop him.  This is where Gabriel learned to have his complex set ups, let’s take a look at this choke entry.

So as you can see above, the trick to this entry is the fact that Gabriel is initially threatening a clock choke.  The clock choke is a devastating position but Gabriel knows that at the highest level’s he is better off with a choke from the back.  As Gabriel threatens this position he is able to anticipate his opponent’s defense.

Since he is familiar with how his opponent will defend he is able to counter their defense.  This is what segregates a high level attack from a low level move.  Notice that as he threatens the clock choke he is able to roll when they try to defend.  His opponent is doing the right thing to defend.  When Gabriel gets to the back he already has his grips in place to switch the clock choke to the collar choke.

This choke is very similar to a bow and arrow choke but instead of grabbing the leg you use your other hand to grab the other lapel.  It is a devastating submission.  Once Gabriel is on the back he is patient, he knows that he has everything in place to finish his opponent so there is no sense of urgency.

As Gabriel mentioned in the video if you would like to adjust the position once you are on their back you can do so, the final step in finishing the move is to throw your leg over your opponents arm.  Once you get your leg over their arm they have nothing to defend and you will get the submission.

This particular collar choke and the way he finishes it are excellent.  Gabriel could easily set up a triangle for the back if for some reason this does not work, he could switch to a full bow and arrow choke, or he could attack an arm.  His arsenal of attacks is huge and when he gets to this position he can pick his poison.  Although Gabriel does not show us all of these attacks they are on his new DVD. Let’s take a look at a different type of attack as well.

Calf Slicer by Gabriel Arges

Now Gabriel is going to show us an attack that is even more unorthodox.  This is going to be a calf slice.  The way that Gabriel is going to show it to us is going to be from a rolling back take, some people refer to this position as “The Truck” others call it a “Twister Hook” and the more traditional folk just refer to it as a hook from the back.  Essentially that is what Gabriel is showing us.  How to do a calf slicer with a hook from the back in, let’s take a look.

So as you can see above, Gabriel is setting this position up from quarter guard, or side control.  There are several ways to get this hook in and set up the rolling back take.  Although the rolling back take or calf slice entry in this case may seem intimidating it is actually fairly simple.  This position does not require any crazy flexibility, or athleticism, just knowledge. 

When Gabriel gets the hook in he dives for his opponent’s leg to initiate the rolling back take.  As he gets the position where he technically has one hook in, he is able to start attacking the calf slicer.  Many of you may be thinking, could he just take the back?  He probably could but Gabriel is assuming his opponent is doing a good job of defending the second hook.  As his opponent defends Gabriel will hunt the submission.

He will grab the top of his opponent’s ankle and pull down as he creates the angle.  This puts and immense amount of pressure on his opponent’s calf and can actually tear the muscle.  Some people think that slicers are a fluke but a torn muscle can require surgery and is one of the most painful injuries that you can sustain. 

Gabriel continues to amaze us with his performances on every stage.  He competes at IBJJF, Fight to Win, Berkut BJJ and other tournaments and always seems to come out on top.  He was even able to submit his opponent in the finals of the Adult Black Belt World Championship, this is almost unheard of.  We wish Gabriel the best as he continues to establish his legacy.  If you would like to learn more from Gabriel check out his new DVD set (also available as digital download) “Back Attacks For Everyone” below.