Whether you have just started practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jistu or submission grappling or are considering giving it a try, there are several things you can do to enhance your experience in the sport. Over the course of several years as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner and competitor, I learned some painful lessons that, in retrospect, could have been avoided. Today I would like to share with you several Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu techniques and how to avoid them.
Beware of dangerous submissions. These are Brazilian Jiu-Jistu techniques or performances that can cause serious injury BEFORE you have a chance to tap due to pain. Usually, one can feel the growing pain of an arm bar and tap without much consequence, but be careful with this:
1. bead hooks: This is a leg lock that your opponent applies by hooking your heel into the crook of their elbow and twisting their leg. This applies immense torsional pressure to the knee joint. Most people don’t feel pain in their knees until the damage has been done. When to play? When you feel your opponent hook their elbow around your heel.
two. knee bars: This is similar to an arm bar but is applied by hyperextending the knee joint. When to play? When you notice that your opponent has isolated one leg with his head facing your foot and begins to extend your leg. Don’t do what I did and wait until he feels pain in his knee.
3. neck cranks: Any neck submission that causes a tapping due to pain, as opposed to chokeholds which involve cutting off air to the lungs or blood to the brain. The “can opener” or “Boston crab” are names for neck cranks where your opponent is on your closed guard. He grabs the back of your neck with both hands and pulls your head into his chest to cause you pain. This technique is up to intermediate or advanced levels, but a beginner should tap to avoid injury.
Four. bicep slicers: A “bicep slicer” can be described as follows: You are defending an armbar by holding your own hand and preventing your opponent from extending your arm. He then places his legs in a triangle over your arm using his arm, which was originally trying to pull your arm out, as a lever to cause crushing pain in the bicep muscle and immense expansion pressure in the elbow. When to play? When your opponent changes tack from trying to break your hold to extend your arm and begins to place his legs in a triangle around your bent arm. This submission may not cause the same career-ending injury as a heel hook, but it can put you out for weeks.
5. Knee Compression/Calf Crank: Similar to the bicep cutter but applied to the calf muscle and knee joint. Again, the attacker’s arm is placed behind the bent knee and is used as leverage as the victim’s leg is bent with the heel pushed to the rear end. This painfully expands the knee joint and puts crushing pressure on the calf muscle.
Now that you know about these shipments, you can keep an eye out for them in practice. If you’re still not sure when to play or what a particular send looks like, just check with your instructor.