Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Judo's Kesa Gatame in Brazilian Jiujitsu


Kesa Gatame is the Japanese name for a position used in Judo that is also used in Brazilian Jiujitsu where it's known as head and arm or the scarf hold.

Many practitioners of Brazilian jiujitsu criticize this position as having a major flaw because you are left vulnerable to your opponent taking your back. This can be prevented if you are careful and aware about proper foot placement as well as remaining balanced and in control.

The key to making it useful and effective in BJJ is to develop your submission skills from here, by doing so you are essentially taking an effective pin from Judo and modifying it's use thus making it effective in BJJ.

The most common submission from here is a neck crank, but many other possibilities exist as well.
Armlocks, chokes, and even leg locks are just some of the submissions you can set up from here.
To initiate the neck crank you'll need to move up high underneath the arm you're trapping and grab your opponent's wrist pushing it down to the ground and trapping it with your ankle that's parallel with the ground. From there you now pull up and back hard on your opponent's head causing the neck crank.

An important point to maintaining control from this position is in maintaining a strong balance to prevent your opponent from either reversing you by pulling and bridging you over or taking your back. To effectively prevent this you'll have to practice keeping your opponent pinned in this position just to develop the feel and tactile sense to prevent his escapes.

A great throw that you can effectively couple with Kesa Gatame to end up with it on the ground is Koshi Guruma. This Judo throw involves the same hand positioning with the head and arm ground pin, so all you have to do is after executing the throw, hold on to your opponent and go to the ground with him instead of throwing him down and away from you. This will enable you to end up in Kesa gatame on the ground with your arms already in place holding his head and arm in the pin position from where you can establish and set up your submissions.

In closing, I cannot stress the usefulness and effectiveness of this position when properly applied so if you aren't aware of the possibilities involved with Kesa Gatame I would suggest you begin including it in your game and you'll see a whole new world of submission finishes open up.

      By Kosta Megas


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4019188

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