After advice on alternate finishes to a Kimura from side control

[Yamato Damashii]

Hey guys,

Judo black belt/BJJ blue belt here.

I love all things kimura and since coming back to BJJ this year after a three year gap, I've really been trying to unpack some of the ways it can be used.

Last night while rolling I had it set up from side control, hands clasped, good pressure, basically everything I'd need to sit up and finish. The only hitch was that my (higher belt) opponent had excellent pressure on my hip with his free elbow, stopping me from either sliding up high on his chest or stepping over his head the way I'd normally finish a kimura.

For the sake of imagery, I was in side control, attacking his left arm. His right elbow and forearm were wedged into my left hip stopping me from moving up his body much higher than lower chest.

It's been bugging me that I haven't brainstormed a way to get around this, and I won't be back at training for another four days to ask my instructor, so I thought I'd ask if anyone here has a nice trick or alternate finish to get the kimura when stepping over to get leverage isn't available.

Cheers guys!

 

[trustdoesntrust]

how do you grip your kimura? A big invisible jujitsu style tip is to get your opponents arm bent inward at a 45 degree angle then motorcycle your wrist. If you do this you can get the finish without doing any of the other step over stuff. My other suggestion would be to crucifix your opponents blocking arm. If I envision the scenario correctly, you should be able to easily swim your knee up his side rib and over his armpit to pin his arm.

 

[Yamato Damashii]

Thanks man.

The arm was a little bit further extended than I would have liked, but my partner is 220lbs and much better than me, so that was the best position I could get. Agreed that a tighter angle would have helped and I'd forgotten all about the motorcycle grip tip. I heard that a while ago but haven't applied it.

I've been thinking about stepping over to crucifix, but I'm not sure it'd be possible as his elbow was still really tight to his body and followed my hips as I tried to manoeuvre around it. I felt like if I raised my hip to step over it I probably would have been swept.

 

[trustdoesntrust]

Doesnt seem like a step over would be needed to crucifix there. If he's blocking your hip with one arm and the other is in a kimura position, then he's basically conceding any movement that's not in the north south direction. You should easily be able to swivel your knee up his torso and kill the arm at the crook of his elbow. I guess if you're so worried about the reversal and feel there's no safe way to keep your weight back while you move, you could use your off-leg to put your knee on his stomach to further pin him and slowly work the other leg free to pin his arm, or be brutal and pin his head while you transition to a straight armbar

 

[rmongler]

Some broad strokes;

• - grip around the hand > grip around the wrist.
  
  - keylock
  
  - reverse sits-switchbacks to defeat frames.
  
  - pull him into you to collapse frames.
  
  - circle around frames.
  
  - kpoz's evil twin.

 

[Yamato Damashii]

Doesnt seem like a step over would be needed to crucifix there. If he's blocking your hip with one arm and the other is in a kimura position, then he's basically conceding any movement that's not in the north south direction. You should easily be able to swivel your knee up his torso and kill the arm at the crook of his elbow. I guess if you're so worried about the reversal and feel there's no safe way to keep your weight back while you move, you could use your off-leg to put your knee on his stomach to further pin him and slowly work the other leg free to pin his arm, or be brutal and pin his head while you transition to a straight armbar

Ah yes, I see what you're saying now. Thanks man.

 

[Yamato Damashii]

Some broad strokes;

• - grip around the hand > grip around the wrist.
  
  - keylock
  
  - reverse sits-switchbacks to defeat frames.
  
  - pull him into you to collapse frames.
  
  - circle around frames.
  
  - kpoz's evil twin.

Nice man, I love that evil twin.

Could you expand on why the grip on the hand is superior to a grip on the wrist with a kimura?

 

[HtomSirveaux]

If you can't step over the head for the classic finish, you can sort of sprawl/sag your weight down, and slide backwards. It brings that far shoulder off the mat, giving you room to apply the finish

 

[AEMD]

kimura is a strong mans technique keep the lock close to the body thats my tip if u feel like ur losing it transition into an armbar, knees together,.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Lots of good advice on here already, but I'll add that if you can't finish the kimura either from side control or after a N/S transition then you can go all the way around either to an armbar, or use it in lieu of a seatbelt grip to take the back.

A little trick too: if you're in the gi and you get to N/S but you're having trouble pinning the bottom arm or otherwise getting into a stable position to break the defensive grip and finish, you can take the gi skirt and feed it to your top side hand (the one gripping your own wrist, not his) which locks down his arm, freeing your hand to deal with his defenses. It's easy then to go back to the kimura grip and finish.

 

[rmongler]

Could you expand on why the grip on the hand is superior to a grip on the wrist with a kimura?

It is pleasing to the god of biomechanics, who will curse your opponents arm to take his strength, and smite his joints that they might rice crispy at the slightest movement, and send his only begotten son, leverage, that your lock might hold fast and and stand proof against all attempts to escape, ere it is utilized for transitions and positional control.

 

[ijustwannasurf]

+10 for username, TS.

The only advice I'd add to the above poats (I'm a big fan of gripping the hand on the kimura, too) is to add the neck scissor choke into the mix. It's a very powerful strangle when done correctly, it allows you to maintain dominant position, and it opens up a lot of kimura finishes and transitions if uke tries to power out.

 

[goatfury]

Hey Yamato-

I've got a system built around an unbreakable grip your opponent has when you just can't manage to finish the Kimura. Feel free to browse:

http://hubpages.com/sports/BJJ-Tutorials

^ the section on Kimuras is near the top. Let me know if there's any confusion there.

 

[Badger67]

It is pleasing to the god of biomechanics, who will curse your opponents arm to take his strength, and smite his joints that they might rice crispy at the slightest movement, and send his only begotten son, leverage, that your lock might hold fast and and stand proof against all attempts to escape, ere it is utilized for transitions and positional control.

Works the same for the toehold foot lock via bending the toes before twisting ankles.

 

[Curly Peibce]

Do this.

Balls on head shoulders bent

Knees on sides you're gonna....

http://eel.is/GrappleMap/composer/index.html?237

 

[iYoda]

 

[roventu]

if he wont let you go higher ,you can keep the kimura grip just for control and transition to knee on belly. another thing, if his nearside arm is in that position, elbow on hip and forarm extended, isnt that perfect placement for armbar?

but if you're going to stick with kimura, i would go with what other person said above and pin that arm with knee before progressing.