Best Submissions That Work Against Black Belts
Use this if you wanna tap a black belt
The best BJJ Submissions that work against higher belts (purple, brown and black belts).
Leg Locks
A lot of higher belts in BJJ do not train leg locks. It’s possible to be a black belt in BJJ, but a white belt in leg locks. That’s the reality for a lot of BJJ black belts who started training before the leg lock game started exploding in popularity around 2014. I remember when I was a white belt in 2007, going for an ankle lock and my training partner (blue belt) rolling his eyes and said, “Really? You’re gonna try and leg lock me? Can’t you TRY and pass my guard?”. It stopped me from doing leg locks for a while. Now if someone said that to me, I would say “Yup” and just keep going for leg locks on them.
I had another training experience when I was a BJJ blue belt where I got to train with BJJ legend Ryan Hall for a few weeks at his gym 50/50 in Washington, DC. At this point in time I had very little leg lock knowledge. He showed me a few heel hook entries and finishes. I remember going back home to Halifax and submitting one of my regular training partners 3 times in less than 2 minutes all with heel hooks. It almost felt like a cheat code.
Guillotine choke
Chokes are great. I usually prefer chokes over joint locks. A rear naked choke is great but lets think about all the things that have to happen for you to get me in a RNC. You have to take me down, get my back (good luck), secure the position, win the hand fight, secure the choke and fight through any other resistance they throw at you. Compare that to getting a guillotine choke. To get a guillotine choke you must wrap your arms around the persons head and squeeze. It’s that simple. You can totally overdo it and spam guillotine chokes until your arms burn out. I always say if you can attack something quick it can be defended quickly too.
Armbar
Any time you can get someone’s elbow facing the ceiling you can get an armbar. It’s a versatile submission that can be hit from a lot of different positions. Armbars a lot of people don’t respect until it is too late. Starting out I think it’s better to setup your armbars from on top rather than on the bottom.
Arm triangle choke
This one is simple to learn and very effective. Any time you can get their elbow above the line of their shoulder you can get an arm triangle choke. You can do this from top, bottom, even standing up. Big, strong guys usually develop good arm triangle chokes. Be aware.
Darce choke
Versatile, can hit it from anywhere and very trendy in the last 5-10 years.
Submissions to avoid
Triangles – Don’t get me wrong. I love triangle chokes. But unless you are very skilled with the triangle, it’s generally gonna be a bad idea to go for that. Anytime I went for a triangle against someone better than me they would always escape and I would end up in a worse position than when I started.
Kimura – Avoid against big guys. Again, I love kimuras. But against someone bigger than you it’s unlikely you will submit them with a kimura. Strength plays a huge part in kimuras. I use the kimura lock more to gain position than I do for the actual submission.
Omaplata – I didn’t even believe in this move until I was a blue belt. Great for sweeps, great for using in the gi. Submitting a higher belt with an omaplata? I don’t think I have ever seen that happen.
Anything that requires a lot of strength or flexibility. I like to stick to the basics and moves anyone can do regardless of body type. There’s an unlimited number of moves in BJJ. Technique selection is important.
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