I just watched the Travis Lutter vs Rich Franklin fight again and as we all know Rich escaped an armbar that pretty much looked totally DONE. The arm was fully extended and etc. I have been attempting armbars and working on my mount attacks in general a lot more. We have a 2 guys who are VERY good at this escape at my club. I'm sure we got a lot of guys who love the armbar in here to finish from the mount. So I was wondering if anyone of you guys have any insight on how to counter that escape. Also as a bonus, if you guys have anything to add about armbars in general what you find works best against what and etc please share. Got a no gi class tonight and I wanna see what I can get.
The easiest and surest way to counter this escape is to control one leg to keep the person from being able to walk around out of the armbar. If you don't have control of a leg, you have to make sure that you are controlling the wrist/thumb, and keeping them from turning the thumb down. There are several good re-counters to this escape also, including triangles, kimuras, omoplatas, etc. as well as another straight armbar counter that is kind of hard to describe here.
Hold their wrist so the thumb is to the ceiling, prepare for them to try rotate their wrist by simply keeping their wrist pinned tightly to your chest with a bit of pressure against the back of their hand to counter the attempt and hug their near leg with your free arm. Simple enough. Can't walk in a semi circle if I've got your leg already.
I imagine this escape causes a few injuries, the natural tendency when you see the other guy is about to escape is to start applying pressure fast. Good example of why you should roll at a reasonable pace.
its all about control. like everyone said, control the torso with your leg and control the arm with your hands. if you pinch your knees together it sprawls out your ankles which allows you to cover more ground for control - BUT can create space to irk out if the guy spots it.
I've had some success by grabbing his pants at the knee to keep him from walking out. I tap early if I feel I'm not getting it right away. Just like anything else you know which training partners will give you some slack and who will show no mercy when you try a late escape.
don't pull down on the arm, push it sideways. It leads to the pressure being different on the elbow, and still effective.
Grab his ankle with one hand while you apply the arm bar with the other. BJ Penn shows this on some of his armbar variations. It completely eliminates this escape. However if you have a tight armbar sunk this escape should be near impossible anyway. Its that split second before the armbar is fully sunk where it works(if you dont grab his ankle). Grabbing the ankle is not always optimal though it depends on the particular armbar your applying.
Some key things I find about the armbar is From top always control and dont fall back until you have the grip already broken (unless you do that sideways fall back grip break or are ready to go straight to bicep slice). Common newb mistake is to rush it and just jump back without breaking grip making for an easy stack defense. From bottom make sure you get the angle (like most moves) and really trap him down with your top leg right in his armpit across his back. (see matt serra armbar instructional for good details) Just some tips. Have fun!
I got caught in an armbar last night and my instructor says why didn't i use this escape.... i don't use it much coz if it doesn't work, risk of injury is fairly high... if someone has caught me they have caught me i don't like to take the risk in training... in competition, for sure i would try to escape.
