Jiu-Jitsu Training - Arm Drags and Guard Drills »

Arm Drags from Standing or Wrestling

Training class was just Oz, Ryan and I. Oz is a professional MMA fighter and amazing grappling, Ryan is a brown belt in Kobukai Ju-Jitsu and is one of the smartest and technical grapplers I know. These two are constant training partners. Last night we decided to focus on arm drags from standing and in guard. We drilled a few arm drag techniques from standing. I found this video showing a good drill which actually sparked a memory from my old days of wrestling. We used to arm drag to take the back or attack a single leg, then we also used it to setup a body lock.


I also liked Marcelo Garcia’s arm drag wrestling series as well.

Arm Drags from Guard

Working with Luigi Mondelli, we learned that the arm drag is a great setup for guard attacks. We worked the arm drag from butterfly guard. We saw a couple different variations online that we wanted to work on. This video is the basic arm drag from butterfly guard. The way this guy talks annoys me a little, but he’s Canadian, what can you expect. It is a good video and you can tell he’s very technical.



What I particularly liked about that video was the emphasis on bringing your leg out and wide, and then driving up and into your opponent.

Marcelo Garcia’s arm drag is a little different and geared towards gi fighting. I really like it though. A lot of us don’t really have the traditional or the recommended gi sleeve length so this setup is a little harder to do at times. I guess if you had a rock hard grip, then this could be pulled off no-gi as well.


The wrist control to sleeve control looks very effective. I also liked how he scoots out, which allows him to move in. The key point too is how he keeps a tight grip and control on the dragged arm.

Guard Training Drills

We did a round-robin type of training last night for guard. One man would start off in closed guard. He could sweep or submit. The guy on top could pass or submit (mostly pass). They would have 2 minutes to do this. After that, the guy on the bottom stayed and the guy on the top was replaced by the fresh guy for 2 minutes. We did this for closed guard, half guard and butterfly guard. Clearly I have a lot weakness in my butterfly and half guard. I was having a difficult time posturing up on the bottom or swimming in for control in these positions. Ryan and Oz did quite well, Ryan impressed me with some nice sweeps in butterfly. At the end of my butterfly training session, I switched to a Luigi’s version of butterfly which he calls the seated guard. I was able to control from this position a littler easier. But it was more of an open guard fighting then a butterfly guard.