The Bloody Elbow Judo Chop: Kimura Roll to Armbar

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2008 10:09 AM EDT in Technique Comment 13 comments

As you may or may not know, my martial arts training is limited to some karate lessons in the mid-90s and getting my ass-kicked badly in high school wrestling.

However, I have watched thousands of hours of fights and even recently started reading some books on fighting technique.

Therefore, I believe I'm eminently qualified to start a new column on MMA techniques: The Judo Chop.

Today's technique is a really sweet transition that Japanese ace Mitsuhiro Ishida pulled off at his Strikeforce debut against Justin Wilcox. Ishida's known for his wrestling, not his submission acumen (only 2 submissions in 17 wins) so this was a bit of a surprise.

Here's my attempt to describe what's going on. The gif starts out with an interesting positional battle, Wilcox is going for a single leg and Ishida has a kimura grip. (In traditional Judo that's called an Ude Garami grip).

From there Ishida rolls into a technique that is similar to Sumi-Gaeshi -- in Judo its normally done by grabbing the opponent's gi. The kimura grip is a nice way to make the throw work in MMA.

We've seen that move in MMA before -- Karo Parisyan used it on Dave Strasser at UFC 44. Karo describes the move in his book "Judo for Mixed Martial Arts" as a "sumi-gaeshi with kimura grip" (p. 151).

The difference is, where Karo went ahead and finished Strasser with a kimura, Wilcox spins in mid-air to escape the Kimura. Therefore Ishida rolls into a lightening fast straight arm-bar. I'd love to know if he's trained that sequence before or if he just improvised it in the fight.

I assume Ishida has always had a pretty solid Judo background and just hasn't had the chance to use it much in Japan. I think the ring prevents a lot of throws just like it stops a lot of double-leg takedowns (not that I don't love the ring, but just like the cage its an artificial environment that distorts the fight). I also think the commonality of judo training in Japan makes it harder to catch opponents with sweet throws.

And that's the Judo Chop of the Week!

Bonus: The reason that we call the Ude Garami a Kimura is because Judo legend Masahiko Kimura used the hold to break Helio Gracie's shoulder in their famous 1951 match. You can see Kimura using the Ude Garami grip to land a Sumi-Gaeshi at 0:20 of the video I've put in the extended entry.

Masahiko Kimura - judo techniques

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You should look into

This harai goshi. Throw I’m working on in my judo, pretty sick what it did to joe riggs.

by JaeeJaee on Oct 1, 2008 10:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

a very nice move

and one we’ve seen several times in MMA — mostly from Karo but also from Fedor and a few others.
IMO we’re on the verge of seeing tons of judo throws being used in MMA but the techniques that will rate a Judo Chop column must go beyond the basics! I want to see innovation, new combinations and clever chess-move strategies.

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2008 10:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

point taken.

and you are absolutely right about the frequency we’ll be seeing it. I joined judo to counter any high level wrestlers I’d encounter after going to a GSP seminar. I met an old olympian and he swore by it. A few months later I can promise judo works, espescially when you add it to wrestling, and if you are able to throw someone with a gi, I’ve found its even easier without one (save for throws like seoi nagi where grip is a huge factor).

by JaeeJaee on Oct 1, 2008 10:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

you should check out Karo's book and DVD

he’s done a lot of work on the grips for busting moves like seoi nagi with no gi.
He’s got a ton of moves in his arsenal that we still haven’t seen him use in a fight — even though he’s already broken the mma cherry on dozens of sweet throws.

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2008 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really hope we see more guys with judo skills enter the MMA world. Those throws definitely make for exciting moments in fights, and I see a lot of potential in guys like Dong Hyun Kim.

At the very least, I think judo throws could easily become a major part of the standard MMA fighter’s arsenal.

Visit MMA Eruption!

by MMAEruption on Oct 1, 2008 11:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i think we'll see both

what we’ve had in Japan for several years is a flood of judo-based fighters (and almost all MMA fighters in japan have trained a little judo at some point — it’s the national sport afterall) who aren’t using judo in matches.
As I said above, I think the ring was a factor. So is the lack of gi’s to grip. So is the well trained opposition, as we saw in Karo vs Alves, if your opponent knows what you’re trying to do, judo is a lot harder to pull off.
As we see more Japanese fighters coming to the US to fight in the UFC, WEC and Strikeforce we’ll see more flashy moves like this.

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2008 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

title

Just an absolutely fantastic title for this editorial page.

Wags

by DocWagner on Oct 1, 2008 12:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

thanks

it was inspired by something i saw in the comments, mocking an journalist’s malapropism. Can anyone remember what reporter it was?

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2008 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

im totally takin the credit this one.

but to be fare…..i watched austin powers like the day before u posted the column so i just stole it from him.

by mistake4 on Oct 1, 2008 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The problem with calling that a Sumi-Gaeshi is that it largely resembles a traditional rolling kimura attempt. Sure, he did try to use his leg to lift Wilcox, but mostly it was Wilcox’s own escape attempt that prompted the postion change. Still a nice sub though, I doubt Ishida hasn’t practiced that sequence of moves before.

As far as the harai goshi in MMA goes, I wouldn’t write it off as too basic just yet, given all the interesting ways people have tried to adapt the grips. But anyway, the next topic should obviously be Lyoto and his foot sweeps/dragon punches

by smoogy on Oct 1, 2008 3:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I could be wrong (of course)

I’m just going off what Karo called the move (or what looked like a very similar move in his book).

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2008 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Excellent post. As yet another MMA-watching judoka, I look forward to this feature.

by Carpal on Oct 1, 2008 3:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

hope you won't be disappointed

when most of the “judo chops” have nothing to do with judo. But hopefully many of them will, I love seeing cool judo moves!
Anyone want to speculate on whether or not Kimbo will pull off next week’s “judo chop”?

by Kid Nate on Oct 1, 2008 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs