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BJJ Fundamentals

Lesson 40 – Armbar Escapes

Warm Up (10min)

Solo Drills

  • Hip Escapes
  • Backward Rolls

Partner Drills

  • Quick Armbars From Guard

Lesson (30min)

Stack Escape

  1. Start in the guard armbar position
  2. Hide the hand of your trapped arm behind your bicep
    • At the same time, grip uke’s leg (or your own lapel) to reduce the push of their legs
  3. Step with your back leg to widen your base and stack uke to prevent them from bridging their hips into your elbow
    • Perform this step carefully; don’t put sudden pressure on uke’s neck
  4. Use a series of short, quick pulls to wiggle your trapped elbow out of uke’s hips
  5. Quickly pass uke’s legs to either side so that you don’t get trapped in a follow-up submission (e.g. triangle, omoplata)

Armbar Pendulum Sweep

  1. Start in the guard armbar position (uke is now the person trapped in the armbar)
  2. Use a scoop grip under uke’s near side knee
    • This grip will stop uke from standing and will also help get to an angle later
  3. Uke steps their leg up to widen their base
  4. Use your legs to pendulum and sweep uke to the front (where they are unable to base out)
    • Your feet should point forwards, away from uke’s base of support

Hitchhiker Escape

  1. Start in the armbar pin position
  2. Lock your arms in a figure four (RNC) grip to delay uke’s armbar attempt
  3. Walk your feet away from uke’s hips and tilt them onto their side in the resulting space
  4. When uke separates your arms, retract your free arm’s elbow to the mat and use it to push uke’s top leg down to your hips
  5. Point your thumb outwards (“thumbs up”) into uke’s hip and walk your body into a backwards roll
    • The point of the “hitchhiker” motion is to point your elbow away from uke’s hip and not into it
  6. Once you are upright again, pull your arm away to finish the escape

Reverse Hitchhiker Escape

  1. Start in the armbar pin position
  2. Lock your arms in a figure four (RNC) grip to delay uke’s armbar attempt
  3. When uke separates your arms, retract your free arm’s elbow to the mat and use it to push uke’s bottom leg up above your head
  4. Point your thumb inwards (“thumbs down”) into uke’s hip
    • As with the previous move, point your elbow away from uke’s hip and not into it
  5. Use your free arm to grip uke’s knee and pull yourself up to top position
  6. Once you are upright again, pull your arm away to finish the escape