Issue 053

August 2009

With Pete Irving.

3 MINUTE CLINIC

Tight grip 

Crossed arms, as seen here, or baseball bat grip (both hands on the wrist) are your best options.

Thumbs up!  

Knox’s arm is straightened with the thumb pointing straight up, ensuring that the range of motion in the elbow is as limited as possible.  

Knees together 

Keeping the legs squeezed together lessens the chance of the defender slipping his arm out.  

Heels pulled in 

Don’t cross your feet and extend your legs to get your knees tighter, that will create ‘escape space’ at the ankles.  

The straight armlock is one of the core submissions. The set-ups for the armlock vary drastically but, regardless of which position you apply your armbar from, a tight grip with the legs is essential for securing the finish.  

Although it may be uncomfortable at first, developing a strong ‘leg vice’ (squeezing the knees and pulling the ankles in toward your butt) will dramatically increase your success rate with this submission.  

Armbar from closed guard

Step 1: Pete has Tommy in his closed guard and is using double wrist control. 

Step 2: Pete reaches his right hand back over Tommy’s forearm and behind the elbow. 

Step 3: Pete controls Tommy’s posture with a collar tie and puts his feet on Tommy’s hip. 

Step 4: Pete lifts his hips… 

Step 5: …and drops them down again, bringing Tommy’s elbow across his center line. Pete shifts his hips out to the side and climbs his right leg high. 

Step 6: Pete locks his guard high around Tommy’s shoulders. Pete brings his collar tie around the other side of Tommy’s head, so that he is now pushing his face away. 

Step 7: Pete slips his left leg around Tommy’s head and makes his heels heavy, pulling in to stop the stack defense. He holds the wrist with the hand that was controlling Tommy’s head. 

Step 8: Pete lifts his hips and pulls down on the wrist to hyperextend the elbow joint.   

Armbar from mount

Step 1: Pete is mounted high on Tommy. 

Step 2: Pete collects both arms with one hand, using the other for base. 

Step 3: Pete slides his knee high, right to the crown of Tommy’s head. 

Step 4: Pete sweeps his other leg around so that his toes touch his knee.

Step 5: Pete swings his leg over Tommy’s head, keeping both of Tommy’s arms and pulls his knees together and heels in. 

Step 6: Pete crosses both arms over Tommy’s near arm. 

Step 7: Pete lies back to hyperextend the elbow, keeping Tommy trapped down with his legs.  

Peter Irving is a professional welterweight fighter and Fighters Only’s resident fight expert