Capitalize on Your Opponent's Grips

By Fanatics Authors, June 19, 2017

Establishing strong grips is one of the fundamental principals of BJJ that can often make or break your technique. In both Gi and No Gi jiu jitsu and grappling, it's important to secure the proper grips for control and submission attempts. But what most of us don't think about, especially in the beginning is how our grips can actually work against us. Many times we hold on for dear life, attaching ourselves to our opponent making it easy for them to sweep and reverse us or divert our limbs in directions we don't want, ending in painful submission attacks. We must be ready to release those grips before we end up in a precarious spot with no way of escaping.

Leading with the hands

As a grappler just starting out it's easy to find yourself leading with your hands and trying to fight every part of your opponent's body with your hands. But one must be cautious with where you establish your grips and make sure that you don't find yourself inadvertently caught in a painful, twisting wrist lock submission.

Leg locks and wrist locks

Wrist locks are sometimes looked at as being somewhat "less desirable" techniques and in some schools they are frowned upon and actually referred to as being against the rules or even "dirty." But the reality is, the wrist lock specialist is no less technical than the current crop of leg submission experts out there. Whether it is a heel or foot lock attack or a wrist lock, the principles are very similiar. You are attacking a limb, controlling the movement of your opponent and bending, twisting or torquing the end of those limbs and securing a submission.

In the video below, world champion Keenan Cornelius shows a series of wrist locks from the standing position and from the ground. Each of which can have application in a number of scenarios. While the standing techniques are reminiscent of self-defense style techniques of other martial arts, each can still play a role in a sport jiu jitsu match. The last few techniques are crucial to know to give you options when on the ground.

As you can see, the attack depends upon the grip from the opponent. The opponent thinks they are making progress securing the gi collar and you make quick work of them by isolating the arm and putting pressure into their hand and thereby tapping them with a wrist lock.

In the video below, Olympic Judo Silver medalist, BJJ black belt and wrist lock aficionado Travis Stevens shows several of the wrist locks he uses in his very own game.

If you haven't gotten enough of wrist locks and want to explore this creative and little understood technique in more depth, check out this piece by BJJ Fanatics that will have you seeing and catching wrist locks everywhere!

The fact that wrist locks are not as commonly trained or understood by the general BJJ population should not alarm you. It should excite you! Why not invest some time incorporating these techniques into your arsenal and soon you'll be tapping every belt level and seeing wrist lock opportunities at every turn. We all make mistakes when we are grappling and put our grips in places that are less than ideal. Why not capitalize on this gripping error and gift and become a wrist lock ace?

You can do this by getting the secrets of wrist lock attacks from Olympic Judo Silver Medalist and BJJ Black Belt Travis Stevens with his two DVD set "Wristlocks from Everywhere" here! This information is also available On Demand!