I do Brazilian jiu-jitsu and all along I am asked to do videos for BJJSoul. In my Writer’s Digest/Penguin book, Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes, I go over several ground positions. Be sure to check that out. In this post I will go over what I can a x-choke arm bar. I call it that because the x-choke defense opens the combatant up for an arm bar.
After the videos, I have listed a few pointers on how you as a writer can use this technique:
X-Choke Arm Bar
Breaking it down
Ok, let’s break this thing down. The position I have adopted is called “guard.” Sandy is in my guard. Because my feet are crossed, it is called a “closed guard.” If my feet are not crossed, Sandy is in “open guard.” This is a very strong position for me. I can pull Sandy toward me to attack her. I can also push her away if for some reason I need distance, say, she punches me.
I can also put my feet on her hips, push my body away and kick her in the face. This is a technique I teach in self defense. It’s very useful if a character, OR REAL PERSON, is in an intimate assault situation.
If you have a character in another’s closed guard, and they are wearing a shirt with a hearty collar, this attack can be used and yes, you can break an elbow with an arm bar. In the video at the end of this post, the fighter gets caught in an arm bar at about 1:14. I am not sure at what point the elbow breaks or is dislocated. The injured fighter keeps going but you can see that the arm is much weaker and in the pic at right, you see the distortion of the joint. The ref notices the injury at around the four minute mark.
If the character in guard doesn’t have on a hearty shirt, this move can still happen. Let me speak in first person, it’s just easier. It is possible to get the arm bar from a choke but it’s trickier because without a good grip, Sandy could pull away. It might be better for me to just go to the arm bar from closed guard.
I would put my right hand on the back of her head and pull her down. If I grab the back of her neck she has a little more power to sit back. So, my right hand is pulling her toward me. I would reach under my right arm and with my left arm grab the back of her tricep. From there I would continue with the technique.
Street Use
HOWEVER, if this were a life or death situation, I wouldn’t arm bar. I would gouge Sandy’s eyes, then wrap my hands around her throat to crush her trachea as quickly as possible. If Sandy were much larger than me and her throat was short and thick, I might be better off gouging the eyes (or eye), putting my feet on her hips, pushing away and kicking her in the face.
The real world issue with this guard position is that I am very close to Sandy. If she has a knife, I will have to isolate that knife hand with extreme prejudice! If she has a gun, it’s trickier still.
My view is also compromised. I wouldn’t be able to see someone walking toward the top of my head until they are right up on me. It is also hard for me to get up and run away.
It is best for your character to avoid going to the ground if at all possible. But, a good bit of fights end up there. I have the stats for that in my book. If your character ends up on the ground, they have options. If that character finds they are being attacked from the position that I am in, that character is actually in a strong position. It’s just hard to see that when you are being assaulted, and adrenaline is pumping.
Remember when you are writing techniques such as this arm bar, avoid technical lingo and focus on large movements. Give the greater focus to the sound of the elbow popping, the injured character’s reaction and the feel of it against the body of the attacker.
Ok, in the next post we will go back to our series on picking a fighting style for our character. Before you go, SUBSCRIBE so you can have access to subscriber only posts. And, I will have a big announcement coming soon, sooooo keep an eye out!!!!
Until the next round at FightWrite™, get blood on your pages! If you are a grappler, let me know if you pull off the X-choke arm bar.
