Three judo mistakes I make: Jujigatame
Anyone who has studied or watched judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or MMA is familiar with jujigatame, the straight arm bar. It is one of the most flexible and dangerous submission holds in any grappling art, which makes it very popular and common. Jujigatame is incredibly effective even against opponents looking to defend it, if you time it right. Unfortunately, I don’t always get it right… I hope you can learn from my mistakes to improve your own game.
Jujigatame can be applied from any number of top or side mount positions. The example in this article puts you in top position, with your opponent pushing into your chest to try and bench press you out of it. It’s a common reaction from people who don’t know how to wrestle, and as my master instructor says, “When they do this, you should be polite and say ‘Thank you’ before taking the armbar.”
Begin by moving each of your arms, keeping them straight, around one of his straight arms. For the sake of consistency, let’s say you’re going to attack his left arm; your right arm would go around the side closer to his head, your left closer to his chest. You lift up on your left knee and place that foot on the ground next to your right armpit… this will be your pivot point. Slide your right knee closer to your head, then continue that movement and swing your straight right leg around your head. At this point you will be sitting, with your right leg over your face and your left leg over your chest. Squeeze your knees together, isolate your left arm, and lower it, palm up, onto your left thigh.
When done correctly, the judge me The technique is a smooth move that will almost always end your match. When I do it wrong, it’s usually for one of three reasons.
1) I climb too high
In general, when I’m attacking, I want to stay as close to my opponent as possible, since they’ll use whatever space is available to defend and escape. Raising the butt is the biggest space mistake when doing judge me. When I first raise my left knee, I want that leg to stay in a fairly deep squat. My back stays straight and I keep my head up, forcing my butt to stay low. As my right leg begins to slide towards my opponent’s head, my hip should be close to his left shoulder. This way, if they start trying to pull their arm out, my body is limiting their movement. I don’t even need to have a grip on his arm to keep them in the correct position to continue to apply the hold.
Another reason to stay crouched is to force your opponent to carry more of your weight. If he’s uncomfortable because of the pressure you’re applying, he’s much less likely to be actively thinking of ways to counteract what you’re doing. As my first BJJ instructor, Mestre Carlos Machado, said when I learned the armbar: “You carry your weight all day. Why don’t you let the other one do it for a while?”
2) I do not balance my weight
As you begin to roll your leg over, it’s VERY important to try to keep your weight back toward your pivot foot. Natural momentum will bring your body towards your right leg as you swing. This will be disastrous as you complete the move. Give your body a counterbalance by leaning your head toward your opponent’s right hip (anywhere on the “far” side of your left knee is good). You can also use your straight arms to help keep your body weight back. I notice every time I don’t counterbalance well, because I end up landing sideways, instead of ending up perpendicular to my opponent.
3) end too far
So I stay low and try to counter. I will never be able to finish the move if I finish too far from my opponent, for two reasons. First, the further away I get, the more difficult it becomes for me to use the weight and downward pressure of my legs to control my opponent’s body as I try to straighten his arm. Two, the best way to get into the submission is to stretch it over my left thigh (down). If I’m too far away, it’s more likely that I won’t be able to control his arm at all…or worse, straighten him straight at me, so that his elbow ends up stuck in my groin.
The best way to stay close is to think about sitting up straight once your right leg has swung around your head. DO NOT fall backwards. Just sit. You are not in a rush at this point if you have done the technique correctly. Control your arm, keep it tight against your chest, and lean back.
Notice I said “lean back”…not “back away”. The most common mistake people make with judge me It wasn’t on my list at all, and that’s being out of control when they reach out to their opponent’s arm. I think judge me it’s the most dangerous upper body attack, and I’m sure anyone who has seen Miesha Tate take a broken elbow by Ronda Rousey would agree with me. The elbow is not designed to bend in the direction that the hold is pressing and there is very little room for error. If you back away with too much momentum, you have a much better chance of hurting your opponent. Nobody wants that, and that’s doubly true if you’re in the gym with a training partner rather than in a competitive environment.
judge me is the most common joint block submission in Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If you don’t master it, you’re way behind the curve. Avoid my mistakes, work on technique safely, and you’ll be one step closer to greatness on the mat!
