The pressing armbar, also known as the ‘cutting armbar’ or the ‘reverse armbar’, is one of the big attacks from guard.
It’s a legitimate submission that can finish people from different styles of guard, including closed guard, butterfly guard, and the spider guard…
The pressing armbar isn’t dependent on the presence of a gi, and thus it works in both gi and no gi grappling…
And even if it doesn’t result in a submission, your opponent will often do desperate things to get out of it like post, dive or roll, all of which give you opportunities for other sweeps and submissions.
In the video below you’ll start in the bottom of the cross side position, use a bridging and shrimping motion to put your opponent back into the guard, and then finish the match with the pressing armbar.
Critical points for this armlock include…
- Controlling the elbow area of the arm you’re attacking
- Rolling his arm so that his elbow points up and his thumb points down
- Applying the armlock on your side, not flat on your back
- Creating a hollow space in front of your chest so that you’re not pulling his arm into your body
- Pinching down on his shoulder with your top knee
You should definitely play with this technique and add it to your arsenal!
The pressing armbar is one of the ‘must learn’ techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
I’ve written a checklist of the other critical techniques, positions and transitions. It’s called ‘A Roadmap for BJJ’ and it’s 100% free. You can download it from my site on this page here.