Armbar Injury

I have had a tournament coming up that I am was training for, the (Bluegrass BJJ Open), until I jacked my arm up in an armbar the other night.

I have a bad habit of thinking offensively rather than defensively when I am on the bottom stuck in side control. This usually results in me turning to my side and my opponent going for an armbar. So with this in mind and with the Bluegrass BJJ Open coming up I decided to work more on armbar defense. Well...that plan backfired.

I've learned a few different techniques for getting out of the armbar. The one I have the most success with (especially on bigger / stronger guys) is by getting the gable grip, hipping up and turning into him as I come back down, use his momentum of pulling on my arm and roll up on top of him and stack him, grab his collar and drive my forearm into his throat until he lets go of my arm.

The other night I tried the above mentioned technique when rolling with another blue belt (never rolled with this guy before). The blue belt was a lot smaller than I - but he was strong and very quick. Since he was small I figured I should be able to pull off this armbar defense with no problem. I let him get the armbar setup thinking this is a good opportunity to work on my defense. Bad idea!! His speed and execution were good and I missed the defense. He had me laid out in the armbar but I didn't tap right away thinking I could get out of it. Since I didn't tap immediately he cranked on it and it felt like bubble wrap being popped inside my elbow. The popping occurred in the funny bone area and down into my forearm. It was painful for about 15 - 20 seconds and then it went numb. I should have stopped rolling but since I couldn't feel it I just kept going - yes I know, spare me the speech - I just wanted to roll!!

Now I am out of training until it gets better and more than likely out of the tournament. So, to all you guys (like me) who have been told by your coach to tap early and often to prevent injury but you didn't listen because of your pride and underestimation of your opponent - learn from my mistake. Don't let yourself get in a bad position just to work the escape when rolling with a partner that you don't know and don't ever under estimate your opponent's abilities.

Triangle Entry - Follow Up

This is a follow up to my post on 12/3/12 about a particular triangle entry.

After it out a few times it seems that this particular triangle entry is not that easy to pull off from escaping side control. I'd stick to something more fundamental unless you are super agile. However, the spin move into the triangle does work good when coming out of particular scrambles.

Anytime you are up on your shoulders and you have to spin around in order to face your opponent is a good time to deploy the entry. When you are scrambling, and you have to spin around in order to face him, chances are he's going to come into you and he will probably take one arm and try to reach under your leg to pass your guard which sets you up for the triangle.

Triangle Basics - Triangle to Armbar

Yesterday's post about the triangle entry from one of the Roy Dean Academy students lead me to looking at more videos from their academy. This video covers the basic points you'll need to keep in mind in order to execute the triangle choke. Towards the end of the video the instructor touches base on the relationship between the triangle choke and the armbar from guard.

I've recently started exploring more on the relationship between the triangle choke and the ambar from guard and how to transition from one to the other fluidly. Now when I roll/spar I keep in my head that if I am going for a triangle there is also an armbar there and vise versa. So basically I think, "he's defending the triangle - go for the armbar, he's defending the armbar - go for the triangle".

Roy Dean Academy Triangle Entry

A training partner of mine shared a video on facebook from the Roy Dean Academy on one of the students testing for Brown Belt that I thought is worth sharing. The first half of the video shows a lot of good technique then they go into rolling. The part that caught my attention the most was at 1:00 minute into the video the student goes from a side control escape to a reverse spin into the triangle choke.

This is the first time I've seen this move. Although flashy, it looks like it could be a high percentage move, when timed right, since your opponent is expecting you to come in towards him with the knee across the belly to regain guard. However, this triangle entry will take some practice and appears will only work if he doesn't have any of his weight on you and is giving you some space (or you've created the space needed). Creating that much space will be difficult when rolling with an upper level Jiu Jitsu player. It looks like your best bet is to try this later on in the match when he is tired and not as focused.

I am looking forward to trying this triangle entry. The triangle choke was always my favorite BJJ move but I haven't given it as much attention as I should have during my training. Since the BJJ workshop by Chris Griffin on triangle entries I've been going for them more. And now, seeing this triangle entry makes me want to explore other entry options.