Arm Locks

Arm locks come in many varieties. Broadly speaking, they are leverage holds which attack the joint of the elbow, or, less commonly, the shoulder. Locks that attack the wrist joint are often referred to as wrist locks in common parlance, and will not be discussed in detail in this article.

Juji Gatame
The most common arm lock is juji gatame - the straight arm lock or arm bar. The only positions from which one cannot apply juji gatame would be under a number of pins or otherwise inside of a hold such as guard or back control. Even still, one can apply juji gatame from under the side position (yokoshiho gatame).

Opportunities and setups for the straight arm lock are as numerous as the stars in the skies. It combines well with virtually every other major submission hold.

Ude Garami
The clear second most common arm lock is ude garami - the arm lock, shoulder lock, Americana (when performed up, or North), Kimura (when performed down, or South), or key lock. Ude garami has applications from Mount, Guard, Side (2), North/South, and Scarf hold.

Ude garami combines well with juji gatame and vice-versa.It can be applied from within a sankaku jime (triangle choke) attempt.

Other Arm Locks
There are a number of other, more situational arm locks. All combined, they are not as common place as either ude garami or juji gatame. Here are the more major ones, and their situational opportunities:

Ude gatame - the elbow crush. Used from side, guard and spider-web (juji gatame attempt) positions.
Sankaku garami - triangular arm lock (or omoplata). Only real application is from the guard.
Hiza gatame - knee arm lock. Similar to juji gatame in appearance, it can be applied from the guard.
Waki gatame - arm pit arm lock. This can be applied when the opponent is face-down (flat or turtle).
Kannuki gatame - the Elbow lock. It has a standard and reverse option.
Standard option is only really used from mount and guard and is easily escaped.
Reverse option is used from mount and side and combines well with ude garami.


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