Drill For Skill Armdrags From Guard by Placido Santos

What Will You Learn?

The arm drag is one of the most reliable ways to get from guard to the back in all of grappling, and few people have built a complete game around it like Placido Santos.

Santos won the IBJJF No-Gi World Championship at brown belt in the heavyweight division, and he has spent years training under John Danaher. Now he's sharing the arm drag system he uses from guard, organized the same way he teaches it: simple technique first, then the problems your opponent creates, then the attacks and the drills that make it work.

In Drill For Skill Armdrags From Guard, Santos starts with why the arm drag works, grip advancement and how to make your offense unmistakable. Then he goes through the central problems you will face, the telegraph problem, the sealing problem, the step up problem and the weight shift problem, and gives you the answer to each one, from the 2 on 1 leg post and the indirect drag to the reverse X roll, the overback, sumi gaeshi and the elevator back take. This isn't just an arm drag technique course, it's a complete guard system built around one attack, with skill sessions that turn it into live, instinctive offense.

Whether you're playing seated guard against a standing opponent or fighting from half guard, the arm drag serves as the entry to everything else. You'll learn back takes from legs out, the straddle position and the leg inside single, sweeps and redrags with sumi gaeshi, entries to far side and near side cross ashi, straight ashi garami and X guard, and finishes with triangles and near side and far side armbars.

This works because the arm drag puts you behind your opponent's elbow, where every reaction they make opens the next attack. Santos also covers the set ups that get you there, shoulder posts, ankle posts, two on one elbow, the figure 4 Russian and underhooks, plus arm drags from half guard and with other grips like the whizzer and the pinch head, so you can start the attack from almost any grip fight.

If you've ever wondered why some grapplers seem to hit the same move on everyone, the answer is how they train it. The four skill sessions show you the creativity drills, situational sparring and positional rounds Santos uses with his own students, so the technique becomes something you can actually use under pressure.

Learn how to build a complete guard game around the arm drag and turn it into back takes, sweeps, leg entanglements and submissions.

What Exactly Do You Get?

Part 1: Prologue: Why Arm Drags?

• How to Use This Instructional
• Simple Technique
• Unmistakable Offense
• Grip Advancement
• Variety in Use

Part 2: Central Problems

• Telegraph Problem
• 2 on 1 Leg Post
• Indirect Drag
• Shoulder Post/Wrist Snap
• Bicep Tie
• The Ideal
• Far Leg Stand Up
• Turn and Face
• Elbow Cut Back
• Reverse X Roll
• Cross Ashi
• Overback
• Sumi Gaeshi
• Elevator Back Take
• Pendulum

Part 3: Attacking With the Arm Drag

• Legs Out
• Straddle Position
• Leg Inside Single
• Elevations
• Knee to Knee
• Arm Drag Sasae
• Sumi Gaeshi Dilemma
• Sumi to Half Guard
• Sumi Redrag
• Sumi Weight Shift
• Far Side Cross Ashi
• Far Side Cross Ashi Standing
• Straight Ashi Garami
• Near Side Cross Ashi
• X Guard
• Arm Drags and Triangles
• Triangles Against Standing
• Near Side Armbar
• Far Side Armbar
• Far Side Armbar Standing
• Arm Drags and Near Side Underhooks
• Arm Drags and Far Side Underhooks
• Arm Drags and Pinch Head
• Arm Drags and 2 on 1
• Arm Drags and Whizzer

Part 4: Arm Drag Set Ups

• Two Prerequisites
• Shoulder Posts
• Ankle Posts
• Indirect Drags
• Two on One Elbow
• Figure 4 Russian
• Underhooks
• Near Side Drags
• Far Side Drags (1/2 Butterfly)
• Weave & Drag

Part 5: Skill Session 1: Three Main Problems

• Armdrag Footwork
• Two Aggressive Set Ups
• vs Standing Opponent
• Three Problems
• Trap Pull
• Misdirection Snap
• Reverse X Shoulder Roll
• Backside Shift
• Elevate and Drag
• Elevate and Re-Drag
• Sumi Re-Drag 2
• Predictability in Practice
• Creativity Drill Explanation
• Situational Sparring

Part 6: Skill Session 2: Leg Inside & Leg Outside Arm Drags

• Entangle Primary Attack Secondary
• Outside Leg Armdrag
• The Straddle
• Straddle to Single
• Straddle to Double
• Knee Lever Counter
• Arm Dragging From Half Guard
• Creativity Drill
• Specific Sparring

Part 7: Skill Session 3: Arm Drag Submission Offense

• Trap Triangle Set Up
• Diving Deeper Into the Knee Flick
• Trap Triangle Armbar
• Straight Ankle Lock
• Cross Ashi Entry
• Wrist Snap Drags
• 2 on 1 Set Up
• Creativity Drill
• Arm Drag Positional Spar
• Head to Head Guard Sparring

Part 8: Skill Session 4: Speed Based vs Control Based

• Armdrag Sasae
• Armdrag Single
• Far Side Drag
• Handfight Creativity
• Near Side Drag
• Far Side Drag
• Handfight Creativity
• Half Guard Arm Drag Sparring
• Handfighting Live Round
• Seated vs Standing Guard Passing
• Destroy This Temple