Mastering the Arm Bar from Guard with John Danaher

Technique breadown:

Danaher starts by highlighting the critical relationship between your opponent’s head, elbow, and your hip. He stresses that the elbow must be inside your hip as a minimum requirement for a successful arm bar. Traditional methods of a two-on-one grip on the arm without controlling the head won’t suffice at advanced levels.

1. Control the Head and Elbow: The first step is to control your opponent’s head and bring their elbow towards your centerline. The ideal is to place their forehead directly over their elbow.
2. Top Lock: Once the elbow is inside your hip, you transition into a top lock to maintain the position. This prevents the opponent from retracting their elbow.
3. Pivot and Angle: The next step is to pivot to an angle that brings you around to at least 90 degrees relative to your opponent. This sets you up for the arm bar.
4. Execute the Arm Bar: With the opponent’s elbow locked inside your hip, you can now execute the arm bar either from the bottom or by flipping your opponent over to finish from the top.