Troubleshooting Your Arm bar: Common Mistakes and Fixes

Arm bars are one of the most recognizable and versatile attacks in Jiu-jitsu. The arm bar is usually one of the first submissions you learn as a new white belt. This means that almost everyone in Jiu-jitsu knows this move and is on the lookout to defend against the arm bar. Because of this fact the arm bar can be one of the most difficult moves to master.

I used to be really bad at the arm bar, even as a black belt I barely finished the arm bar when trying it and often lost position when trying it. I decided that I needed to change that and make my arm bars as good as they could be. So to do this, I implemented a restriction on myself, I could only do arm bars when I was grappling. This made my arm bar ability to improve at a quick rate. I don’t recommend this method for everyone because depending on your level it can become very difficult. Once my regular training partners figured out what I was doing, they made it very difficult to get arm bars, forcing me to work harder to improve on my technique. That is why I do not recommend this method because if you are a lower belt the most likely thing that is going to happen is your training partners are going to figure out what you are doing and you will never get an arm bar again which is just plain frustrating. Instead I have a few tips for you to make your arm bars tighter and more efficient and avoid the common pitfalls.

The most common mistake I see people make with the arm bar regardless of position is not securing the arm by pinching their knees together. This is an incredibly common mistake that we as practitioners make because having your legs in that position is not a natural pose when grappling. It is much more common for us to have our knees apart and that tends to affect the people when they are doing arm bars. I see people all the time when they are grappling, go for the arm bar and keep their knees apart letting the arm move more freely between your legs. This generally allows people to release pressure by moving their arm or generate more of an escape from the submission. This can be an easy fix to drastically improve your arm bars.

I used two primary drills to fix this error besides just going for arm bars while grappling. The first drill with a partner is to walk through the steps of the arm bar very slowly making sure to keep my knees pinched. When I got to the point where I could finish the arm bar, I would let go with my hands and have my partner try to pull their arm out while I held with just my legs. The second drill was without a partner, I would take a regular pool noodle and hold it between my knees while doing some basic warm up movements like partial back rolls, and hip extensions on the ground to adapt my legs to staying close together when grappling.

The second most common mistake that I see when people are doing the arm bar is not securing the arm completely before attempting the arm bar. A large percentage of people try to attempt the arm bar with only a grip on the arm or by not pushing the arm into an advantageous position. This makes your arm bar percentage decrease significantly. One of the primary things I try and do when securing an arm bar from any position is to move my partner’s arm out of position to an angle where they are not strong either exposed awkwardly away from their body or moved toward their centerline to put in a position where their body will not be able to protect it as well. The other thing I try and do is secure the arm with two connection points either both of my hands for some versions of the arm bar or more often I secure it with one arm and either a leg or hip near the shoulder just above the joint near the shoulder blade to restrict my partner’s ability to pull their arm back. Having multiple connection points when working to secure the arm bar is a great way to improve your arm bar chances.

The other big issue I see when people do the arm bar is using your wrist or forearm to hold the arm while extending it. This allows people to either rotate their arm or free it easier to escape the arm bar. I have two suggestions to deal with this issue. The first is when you are working to extend your partner’s arm is to use your radius bone in your forearm to scrape along your partner’s arm like a knife buttering toast. This applies pressure to their forearm muscles and tendons and helps extend the arm faster and easier. The second is instead of holding the arm with your forearm or wrist, grab your partner’s hand like you are Dutch and Dillon from the first Predator movie. This will allow you improved connection with your partner and being able to control where their arm is placed against your hips improving your arm bar chances.

Overall the arm bar can be a very versatile submission but can be very difficult to finish if you don’t focus on the details. Because this is one of the flagship moves of Jiu-jitsu, many people are wise to the arm bar and are great at spotting it and stopping it. If you apply these details it should help your arm bar chances improve drastically.