The Armdrag Trap - Bernardo Faria Academy

The Armdrag is a great position in BJJ. The Armdrag is not only great in BJJ but, I see is super effective in my wrestling training. When I first started wrestling, I looked for positions and setups that I already had a good comfort level with from my time in BJJ. I found that when I would go live in wrestling practices, the Armdrag was a technique that I was able to effectively use even against guys who have been wrestling much longer then I had been. I think there was a couple reasons why the Armdrag is able to make this happen for me.

Why The Armdrag Is So Effective:

Simple. The Armdrag is very strait forward. It does not take many complicated steps. It is not a move that changes a lot if it starts on the guard or on the feet. The reaction of the opponent is limited so, it is easier to master all the options from the position (In this blog post I discussed why it is important to have a game plan and to master the positions in that plan). If there was many different reactions for my opponent to do, It would take more time to master the position because it would take many more repetitions in the position to get the feeling of all of my opponents reactions.
Another reason, is that because I do the Armdrag from many different positions on the ground already, I have a good feel for the position. If I was to try and do a setup for wrestling that I don’t do on the ground like a snap down. I would not have the same feel for the position because I have not been doing it alot in my time in BJJ. The Arm drag I do alot in my time in BJJ so, I already had the feeling to make the position work on the feet.
The Armdrag is one of those positions that is super efficient. It is efficient in a couple of ways. It does not take a ton of energy to attempt. If I shoot a double leg and get sprawled on, I will have my opponent on top of my back, shoulders and neck. It will take alot of energy to build back my base and escape the position. In the Armdrag if I miss, my opponent maybe just pulled their arm away. It does not take much energy to try again or to attack my opponent with another takedown or setup. The Armdrag is also efficient because I can end up on my opponents back or in a good position to pass the guard. In some takedowns the end result is being in the persons closed guard. This can be dangerous if our opponent has good submissions and sweep attacks from this position. Doing the Armdrag from the feet, connects well to my game on the ground. I can end up in a position that is great to pass like the over-under, over- under brother ( Take a look at this breakdown of the “over-under brother” position) and folding pass. There is also a great a chance that I end up on the back of my opponent and can start to work the submissions from there.