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Lesson: Kimura Armbar from Broken Turtle
The assisting student will lay in the Broken Turtle position with their back facing the practicing student. The practicing student will then face the assisting student with their legs in the Triangle Sit. The practicing student should then take a Seatbelt grip with the hand closest to the head going under the neck. The assisting student should elevate their arm to allow easy access to the top armpit so that the second hand can clasp the hand under the assisting student’s head/neck.
Once the Seatbelt is secured, the assisting student should place their hands in a Home Alone position. This will make the Kimura grip accessible by allowing the practicing student to clasp the wrist of the top arm with their free hand. If this is difficult to obtain, simply have the assisting student help by bringing the hand closer to the free hand. While it seems like this is a difficult grip to get, in reality it is very easy as the Clock Choke is a common attack and defending opponent’s will try to protect their collar with their hands. This brings the hands into a position making grabbing the wrist easy.
Once the Kimura Grip is locked on, without opening the hands, the practicing student will unloop the arm from around the assisting student’s head and place the forearm straight across the top of the neck. To limit the movement in this position, the practicing student will pull the assisting studnet’s hand close to their own shoulder while simultaneously pulling up with the forearm that is in the elbow pit. This “in and up” pressure should prevent the assisting student from turning to Turtle and/or putting their back flat on the floor.
Next the practicing student will swing the leg closest to the assisting student’s head over the neck with the hamstring making contact with the neck first. It is extremely important that when this leg clears the head that it is as straight as possible. This will mask the intent of the movement AND create a quick angle change to isolate the arm/shoulder of the assistings student.
As the practicing student swings the leg over the assisting student’s head they will start to fall in the direction due to compromising their own base. This angle change will allow the practicing student to pinch inward with the knee that is still on the floor. The goal should be to tightly secure the shoulder between the knees of the assisting student, very similar to the previous armbar lessons. Remember, throughout this transition the “in and up” pressure should be maintained on the Kimura grip.
After pinching the knees, with a slight angle of the body towards the assisting student’s head, it should be easy to bring the foot and lower leg over the assisting student's body. While this is not essential in finishing the armbar, many students feel more comfortable, and have more experience, from the armbar position with one leg over the head and one leg over the body.
Once the practicing student has their legs in position, they may let go of the hand controlling the assisting student’s wrist and apply backwards pressure to extend the arm. Remind the student to keep the grip on their own wrist and maintain good squeezing pressure with their knees throughout the finish of the movement.
As with all the armbars, the finish should be applied slowly with plenty of time for the assisting student to tap without injuring the arm.
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