Secret BJJ move that cannot be defended

(crosspost from BJJ Globetrotter)

It's been a while since I wrote, that if I got 1000 likes on my FaceBook page, I would post a video of a technique that cannot be defended. I reached the 1000 likes a while back, but the video took a while to get online. It is finally here, and you can enjoy a move, that I still haven't found any defense for.

Me and my friend have actually pulled this off in competition a few times. Depends on the mood of the referee, his nationality and your nationality, but sometimes we have gotten away with it. I don't think it states anywhere in the rules that you cannot do this?



(All credit goes to my good friend Chris Haueter, who demonstrated this move on one of the first VHS instructional tapes I ever saw)

The flipover guardpass/mount move

I have made a tutorial on the front flip guardpass by request from Halph in my little commentbox here on the blog (hope you find it usefull :)). It is a pretty simple (yet flashy!) move, that I use very often when I roll. You can see me pull it off several times in the 969 flighthours sparring clip (1:42, 3:13, 5:14, 7:50, 17:00 and 24:36) I posted a few months ago. Even though it doesn't look very basic, it is a very solid move for me and I consider it - and variations of it - a part of my a-game.

I do it most of the times directly from a takedown. The example I show in the video with the takedown sucks a bit, as I really need the opponent to sprawl on me to gain the momentum for the move, but you get the idea.

The most important detail needed to be successful with this move is understanding the correct weight placement. I need to keep my weight on my opponent at all times, both to keep him from moving me but also to make my leg-movement lighter and faster. Check out the small video on weight placement first, if you have not seen it yet.


Next tutorial coming up: Baseball Choke a la Graugardo.

Basic armbar from mount

Just a basic way to take the armbar from mount. There is a thousand ways to do this and this is the way I personally find most easy to do and teach.


I am starting of in the mounted position.


This is the grip I wanna get to set up the armbar. My left hand reach under my opponents left forearm and grab his tricep. I place my right hand on his face to turn his head to his right. Both things is to assure he doesn't turn into me and gets his elbow to the floor.


Now I pull him up on his side and turn my body so I am in a 90 degree angle to him. I sit up with my left heel tight into his armpit and my right knee placed just behind his head. It is very important that I keep this position tight by pulling my heel toward myself and sitting down on my opponent.


Here comes the part many beginners find difficult. To swing the leg over. In the beginning people feel their leg is too heavy to swing fluidly over the head. The key to do this right is to put all my weight on my opponents face with my right hand, that makes my leg light.


In one motion I swing my leg over and sit back. I want my right foot to land just next to my left first time it touches the mat again. It is important that my foot arrives before my butt hits the mat.


When I have swung my leg over, I let go of his head with my right hand (not before!). Then I thighten up my position by pulling by heels towards myself, squeezing my knees together and digging the toes into the mat.


I control his arm by the wrist, making sure that his thumb points away from my chest (towards the ceiling) then SLOWLY raise my hip for the armbar. Using all my hip, leg and back power against his elbow joint makes a perfect submission.

Tshirt choke from mount

This is a really easy choke to do, and probably on of the easiest ways to end a fight if the rules allow it. I learned this from my own coach Matt Thornton who calls it a "rat choke". Not because it has anything to do with a rat but because giving it a name seemed to be the only way people to remembered it :-D


I start out in mount and crossgrab inside my opponents tshirt pretty low down towards the mat.


Now I wanna pull it up as high as possible. It helps if you "shake" it a little.


From here, I reach under his head with my free arm.


And use my right hand to feed the tshirt to my left hand. I have to grip next to my right hand thumb to get this tight.


Now I just sit up and straighten my left arm out to do the choke. I have never seen people not tapping on this unles their tshirt ripped, but if they don't, you got a great position for striking here.

Striking from mount

A striking combination from mount setting up a really good position to finish the fight.


I start out in mount. First thing is to get a good base so he doesn't sweep me. Knees together, toes touching eachother and all my weight is on the floor.


Instead of just starting to strike, I wanna give him something to think about while I'm pounding him. So I get a good tight grip on his throat. Now he has to both defend this and worry about the strikes. Makes it easier for me to pick my shots.


He can basically defend the "choke" in two ways. He can either grab my hand...


...and pull it away from his throat.


If he does that, I immediately switch my grip and grab his throat with my other hand while I start striking again. I can just keep doing this a many times as he pulls my hand off.


The second thing he can do is to push my hand away. This is my clue to improve my position.


As soon as he push my hand away, I wanna catch his arm with my chest while keeping my base with my arms. For training I wanna practice just holding his arm as long as possible while he tries to get it out. For fighting I only need it for a few seconds.


Now I work my left arm under his head and grab his wrist.


I sit up with my right leg and pull my heel into me to hold him thigh between my legs. This position makes it easier for me to keep my balance and also I can pull him up on his side so it's even more difficult for him to reach and defend with his free arm.


For grappling I would normally try and take the back from this position, but for striking I prefer to push down his free arm...


Then use my shin to hold it to the floor. This can be very painful for him and it also prevents him from rolling to his hands and knees. My left foot is placed away from his body for added balance. No chance for him pulling guard in that side. The position I now have is probably one of the best for striking on the ground. Look evil and hit him in the face :)

Triangle from mount

I like to do this move if my opponent keeps his arms close when mounted (which he should). From the idea of "position over submission", this move is kind of a bad idea, but it's fairly high percentage so often I find it worth the risk of loosing the position. For training only, you would never worry about this anyways ofcourse :)


Ok I have mounted my opponent and I control his vrists.


I push one of his hands in behind my legs and hold it thight to his stomach.


I step over it.


I sit on his hand so he for a second can't pull it out, while it let go with my own and use it to pull up his head.


I insert my leg under his head.


I now switch my grip so I control with my left hand behind his elbow and my right hand grabs my shin (without the thumb).


I roll to my left side.


When I am about to have rolled all the way around, I have to make sure I put my right foot on my opponents left hip. This makes it possible for me to adjust my angle for the triangle before I close it in.


When I got the right angle, I close in the triangle and pull down his head for the tapout.


If he don't wanna tap, here is a little help. I pull my hip back just a little to make enough space for me to put my right foot under his left leg.


I sit up using my arms


And stretch him out for submission. Be very careful with this one!


If the guy knows what you are up to, sometimes he resists rolling all the way around with you. This is pretty smart because it prevents you from getting the right angle on the triangle. Here are a few ways to counter this though.


First one I keep my grip and place my right foot behind his back near my left knee.


I close in the reverse triangle and pull his head for an almost certain tapout. If he sits up from here, switch back to the normal triangle right away.


Second move I can do here is like this. First I close my feet and pull into me to thighten up. My left foot goes on top.


I now let go of my shin and then use both arms to control his.


I turn to my side so I now lie on left shoulder.


I put my right knee to the ground and my right foot hooks behind my opponents head.


I look up and push my hip slowly forward for the armbar.

Hydraulic mount escape

Good basic escape from mount position.


Ok this escape requires that your opponent does not have his hooks in when mounted on you. So either you "manually" open his hooks (like on the picture), or you are aware of them opening for a short period of time, e.g. if you're trying to do some other escape. Anyways, when his hooks are not in, secure them for a moment with your ancles like on the picture.


Put your hands on your opponents hips.


Now explosively lift your opponent as high as possible using your HIPS. This is NOT a benchpress, the hips must do all the work.


Now stretch your arms out. If they are just a little bend it will be much more difficult to stabilize. Hold your opponent like this for just a splitsecond before...


...pulling your knees in under his legs.


And you end up with him in your butterfly guard.

Sometimes you only get one knee in and end up in halfguard. Other times your opponent falls to the side and you can get to your knees. Whatever happens, it was an escape :)

Taking mount from cross sides 2

A more sneaky way to get mount from cross sides if the opponent blocks or catches your leg when you try to hook it over.


Ok I am in the position ready to mount my opponent, but I know he is aware of my trying to hook my leg over and he is ready to block or catch my leg into his halfguard.


I touch his legs with me foot just to tease him and make him frustrated that he can't catch anything :)


I now grab my right foot at the ancle with my right hand.


I use my hand to pull the foot thight to myself and slide it across his stomach just above his helt.


Pull my weight over and mount.