The arm across position is the cornerstone of a good closed guard game, made famous by Roger Gracie. Here Lachlan demonstrates how to get the arm across and take the back.
Awesome video again Lachlan! Been teaching this exact same position last month but with focus on the armbar setup (and also linking the backtake and flower sweep). Nice to see this detailed backtake! Thanks!
I love all your technique breakdowns Lachlan! I find it to be hit or miss whenever I try RU-vid techniques in live training. I have the most success with your advice! Much appreciated.
was having trouble breaking down larger guys in my guard who would just muscle their way out any time i tried to lock down an arm, will give this a try tonight while rolling. Using the trapped arm to break the posturing of the free arm is honestly pretty genius. Thanks for the great vid!
update: was rolling with a guy bigger than me, was able to drag the arm across, but wasn't able to push it all the way across and down. probably was too focused on hands to put real pressure with legs to lock it down. went for high guard, he was able to break it by posturing up. guess need to focus more on curling them towards me while trying to lock down arm
edit: probably just gut reaction of trying to prevent bigger guys from just laying down on top of me in guard (that happens a lot to me lol, i get squished)
Lachlan - as you get his arm across the midline and get both your arms hugging around him , wouldn’t it be a good idea to go for a “gift wrap “ type hold where, in the video , your left hand (top hand ) reaches down to grab his right wrist ? Wouldn’t that make everything so much easier, as he would not be able to bring his right arm back into proper position ?
It's definitely an option and some people use that really well. My preference is to stay attached to the armpit as sometimes when you grab the wrist they can still adjust the positioning of the hand (e.g. start to bring their arm in front of their face), in that case there may be less purchase when going for the back.
Hey Lachlan! Not sure if you will get this or not, but do you have any advice for when they pin your bottom hand to the mat with their free arm? I love the way you address all the options they have from the position, but I can't find this detail anywhere. Thank you!
