Kesa Gatame is the name for a DEADLY position also known as the Scarf Hold or the Head and Arm pin. It’s a staple pin in Judo, Sambo and Freestyle Wrestling.
All these arts have honed kesa gatame as a pinning position. The only problem is that they don’t use or teach very many submissions from here.
In those particular sports the submission is redundant – if you pin your opponent for 3 seconds (wrestling) or 25 seconds (Judo) you win the match. Given these rules, why risk going for a submission?
BJJ is different – the ultimate goal is to submit, not pin, your opponent. And if submitting your opponent is your goal, then Kesa Gatame has a LOT to offer!
Pinning with Kesa Gatame
First, here is a detailed session I did on Kesa Gatame. There are lots of critical details here, so check it out…
Kesa Gatame is essentially a headlock on steroids: you wrap one arm around his head, control his near arm with your other arm, and then splay your legs widely facing his head.
But then there are a LOT of additional details that make this a much more effective pin than the garden-variety headlock.
For example, you can literally tap him out just from the pressure alone, especially if you get your weight off your butt and cut into his diaphragm with the side of your ribcage.
Check out the video above – it’ll get you off to a great start with this vicious pin!
Submitting from Kesa Gatame
Here’s an overview of the highest percentage submissions from Kesa Gatame…
I first learned about the submissions in Kesa Gatame from Shootwrestling, as taught by Dan Inosanto and Erik Paulson. It turns out that you can submit your opponent using a whole gamut of submissions, including:
- straight armlocks
- bent armlocks
- chokes
- neck cranks
- leglocks
Kesa Gatame submissions have a special place in my heart because, many years ago, it saved my butt in a tournament. I was behind on points, managed to secure Kesa Gatame, and then transitioned into a kneebar which won me the gold medal.
So no matter what anybody says, I know that Kesa Gatame works in BJJ.
Kesa Gatame Escapes and Escape Prevention
Kesa Gatame is great, but like all positions, it’s not undefeatable. There are definitely legitimate escapes from the bottom of Kesa.
Most often, people will try one of two things if you’re pinning them with Kesa Gatame…
- They’ll try to climb to your back, or
- They’ll try to roll you over.
Many BJJ purists think that it’s easy to take someone’s back when they’re pinning you in Kesa Gatame.
But as someone who has used it successfully in many sparring sessions against quality opponents and in competition, I’m here to tell you that, used correctly, it’s very hard for someone to take your back from here.
Keeping your opponent flat and your own legs splayed at 9 and 12 o’clock relative to his body makes it much harder for him to climb your back, but my very favorite counter to the backclimb in the video above (skip to 2:30 if you don’t want to watch the whole thing.
Basically, if someone is trying to slither to your back then backstep, trap their lower leg, let go of their head, and then dive for the kneebar.
(Here’s a handy PDF reference for the kneebar that you might enjoy.)
When it comes to getting rolled, well, that’s not as easy as it may seem.
Here’s a whole video I did on the specific things you need to do to avoid getting rolled in Kesa Gatame…
If you want more answers to avoid getting rolled then check out the video that Judo black belt and national champion Kathy Hubble shows about 45 seconds into the video below.
I think many people will find her “floating arm” detail very useful!
If you’re a grappler then you have to study the Kesa Gatame position!
If it works for you, then GREAT! You’ll have a resource you can deploy in BJJ class and competition that most of your opponents won’t be familiar with.
But even if you never use it as an offensive position then you still need to understand it from a defensive point of view.
The best way to get good at defending against something is to learn how to attack with it, so put in the time with Kesa Gatame so you don’t get surprised by it!
Good luck with your training,
Stephan Kesting
Related Resources
No Gi Pin Escapes
No Gi Pin Escapes is the new Grapplearts instructional that’ll absolutely change how you escape bad positions. This is based on 38 years of studying, teaching and training jiu-jitsu with some of the best instructors in the world.
This 7-volume, instant-access instructional LOADED with action steps that are chunked into digestible blocks of information, with concepts and strategies that make it easy to remember what to do next.
It doesn’t matter if you’re skinny or fat, old or inflexible, weak or out of shape, you WILL get much, much better at escaping from the bottom.
Click here for more information about No Gi Pin Escapes! And YES, it covers Kesa Gatame escapes!!
Unorthodox Positions and Sneak Attacks
I put together the most important Kesa Gatame details, transitions, attacks and strategies into the Unorthodox Positions and Attacks Package.
In this instructional you’ll ALSO learn how to efficiently apply related positions like Offside Kesa Gatame and Reverse Mount to easily dominate and submit your opponent.
This video instructional and PDF combination covers over 30 entries, submissions and techniques that you can add to your game right away! Click here for more information about Unorthodox Positions and Attacks!
The Best Guide to Starting Jiu-Jitsu (FREE)
I’d like to give you my FREE checklist to the positions and techniques of BJJ.
This PDF download has helped tens of thousands of grapplers a high-percentage positional strategy that helped them make sense of the jumbled mess that happens when two people are trying to choke each other out.
It has helped other people and I’m sure it’ll help you too.
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