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Purple belt · Defense · Core

Omoplata defense: roll forward and recover

How to escape the omoplata: posture early, or roll forward over the trapped shoulder and recover. Use it when their leg comes over your shoulder from guard.

In closed guard Passing

Omoplata Position Front Roll · Great Grappling · YouTube · shown in the gi; the mechanics carry over

Step by step

  1. Prevent it: keep your posture and your elbows inside their knees. An elbow left outside their hip is the omoplata entry.
  2. If they swing a leg over your shoulder, posture up and pull that elbow back toward your hip before their leg clamps down.
  3. If their leg is over your shoulder and they start to sit up, tuck your head toward your free shoulder and roll forward over the trapped shoulder.
  4. Come out of the roll sitting up and facing them. Your arm is free.
  5. Turn into them and get back on top in open guard.
  6. Tap once they're sitting up, controlling your hips, with your arm bent behind you and they lean forward. The roll only works before that.

Details that make it work

  • Roll early. Once they control your hips, the roll is gone.
  • Roll over your shoulder, never your head or neck. Practice the roll on its own first.

Common mistakes

  • Waiting and pulling the arm while they sit up and settle.
  • Rolling straight over your head instead of the shoulder.

Drill it

Solo: 10 forward shoulder rolls each side. Partner: 5 slow omoplata entries each side, you roll out and recover.

If it fails, or what comes next

This defends against

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