Mastering the Kimura

By Stephan Kesting and Marcus SoaresOriginally published in Grappling Magazine, May 2002

The Kimura lock is one of the most important submission holds in Jiu-jitsu. It is also found in many other grappling systems, where it might be called a hammerlock, a chickenwing, or ude-garami. Whatever it is called, it is a powerful and versatile attack. Wherever you see grapplers competing, whether in Pride, the UFC, Abu Dhabi or the Jiu-jitsu Mundial, you see the Kimura lock used to submit opponents and win matches!

Kimura Technique 1: Kimura from Closed Guard

In Brazilian Jiu-jitsu the Kimura lock is named after Masahiko Kimura, who is widely regarded as the greatest Judo player of all time. While on tour in Brazil in 1952, Kimura fought a famous challenge match with Helio Gracie. Helio first had to defeat Kato, a judoka in Kimura's entourage, to get the opportunity to fight Kimura himself. After choking Kato unconscious, Helio was now allowed to face Kimura.

Kimura Technique 2: Kimura from Mount

This match lasted 13 minutes and ended when Kimura caught Helio Gracie in an armlock, causing Carlos Gracie to throw in the towel, signalling surrender. Kimura was most impressed that the much lighter Helio Gracie lasted as long as he did, and invited him to come teach in Japan. Almost 50 years later, the armlock that defeated Helio is now known as the "Kimura Lock" in Brazil, in homage to Kimura's great ability.

Kimura Technique 3: Kimura from North-South Position

The Kimura lock is the favourite armlock of Marcus Soares: once he locks it on, there is no escape. It is also the favourite armlock of Marcus's teacher, Carlson Gracie, who won many Vale Tudo fights with this submission.

Kimura Technique 4: Kimura from Open Guard

In this article we begin to explore the world of the Kimura according to Marcus Soares. We will show you that you can apply the Kimura from closed guard, open guard, north-south position and from the mount. You might be familiar with some of these moves already, but we are going to try to stress some of the most important, but often ignored, details.

There are many more variations for each of these positions, some of which you will find for yourself if you do some research and experimentation. There are also Kimura attacks from the sidemount, half guard, half mount, turtle, standing and even from the back; it is a very versatile attack. We will discuss these, and many other submissions, in future articles for Grappling Magazine.

Marcus Soares Kimura from Closed Guard

Photo 1 - In Brazil this sequence is often taught as one of the most basic attacks from the guard. You start with your opponent in the closed guard and a grip on his sleeve and lapel.

Photo 2 - With your sleeve grip you pull your opponent's hand to the ground. At the same time you open your guard, escape your hips, sit up and reach over his tricep with the hand that had been on his lapel.

Photo 3 - Reach your second hand over and through his arm and grab your own wrist. It is very important to have his arm, especially his upper arm, trapped tight against your chest.

Photo 4 - Now, with his arm firmly trapped, keeping his hand well away from his body (so it will be harder to defend) escape your hips out to the side of his trapped arm. The act of escaping your hips is the most important part of this move. Scissor his body with your legs, keeping your calf firmly pressing down on his lower back - this keeps him from rolling. To apply the lock from here you do two things: A) move his elbow towards his head - this takes all the slack out of the system, B) try to bring his hand to the back of his head. Unless he is made of cooked spaghetti you now have him trapped in the Kimura lock.

Marcus Soares - Kimura from Mount

Photo 1 - If your opponent is quick he may be able to counter your Kimura from the guard by posting his foot and grabbing his pants. You may be able to simply rip his grip free from his gi pants if you are stronger or he is sloppy, but the following is a more elegant solution to the problem.

Photo 2 - Post your hand on the floor behind you, keeping his arm wrapped. You are now in a position to apply the hip buck sweep by sitting up and twisting in the direction of the entangled arms.

Photo 3 - You should now end up in the mount position. The mount is not a typical position from which to apply a Kimura, but here is a way to do it.

Photo 4 - Keep the Kimura grip firmly on your opponent's arm. Now bring your near knee up into your opponent's armpit and post your head on the ground to base. Now you can step your other leg up and over his head. Hook his head with your calf - you may have to crank on his arm a little bit to lift his head off the ground.

Photo 5 - Finally roll over your shoulder, ending up with your back on the ground, one leg over his body, another over his head, and his arm firmly locked in a Kimura.

Marcus Soares Kimura/Neck Crank from North and South Position

Photo 1 - Start in the north-south position with one arm over your opponent's shoulder and one arm under his shoulder. Your bodyweight should initially be on the side of the underhooking arm.

Photo 2 - To set up the submission, start circling towards the overhooked side, and trap his arm by encircling it with your own and gripping your own lapel.

Photo 3 - This close-up shows you how exactly how to hold his arm and your own lapel. Your opponent is unlikely to suspect how close he is to a Kimura lock!

Photo 4 - Now switch your base, bringing your thigh up under his head like a pillow. The next move will be to step your other leg up over his head and triangle your feet, trapping his head between your legs.

Photo C5 - Now you lie back and pull on his arm, putting severe strain on his shoulder. If you don't believe that this is a Kimura lock try it on your training partner.

When he taps, take a look at his arm: it should be bent into the exact same position as if you were applying a regular Kimura. At the same time as you are locking his arm, however, you can be neckcranking and choking him by squeezing your legs together and pulling on his arm: a very bad position for your opponent.

Marcus Soares - Kimura from Open Guard

Photo 1 - This time your opponent is standing in your open guard and trying to pass it. Start with a sleeve and lapel grip, with one foot pushing your opponent's hip and the other hooking behind his knee. Keep your opponent bent over to limit his ability to move or mount an offence.

Photo 2 - If your opponent grips your knee then you know that he is probably going to try to push it down to the floor and pass your guard. Quickly switch your grips so that you are controlling the wrist of the hand on the knee and the lapel closest to that side.

Photo 3 - Swing the foot that was pushing his hip over his head and shoulder and insert that instep under his leg. Keep on pulling his wrist so that it almost comes close to the floor to prevent him from easily countering your attack. You might feel pretty awkward at this point but don't worry; you are very close to getting him to tap.

Photo 4 - Now figure-four your arms to totally trap his arm. This limits the amount of movement in his arm and his ability to escape.

Photo 5 - This photo clearly shows how your feet and legs are hooking both of his legs. Use a scissoring action to stretch his legs, completely off-balancing him. He is now in a position where it only takes a tiny movement of your arms and hips to apply the Kimura lock.