Arm Drag

What it is

The arm drag is a control where you grab the opponent's wrist, reach across with your other hand to the back of their upper arm, and pull the arm past you while you move the other way. It puts you beside them with their back exposed. It works standing, from any seated guard and inside closed guard, and it is one of the simplest ways to take the back.

When to use it

• Standing, when they reach for a collar tie or a grip and leave the arm extended.
• From seated open guard, when they reach for your legs or collar and the arm comes inside.
• From closed guard, when they post a hand on your chest or on the mat beside you.
• Any time you want the back and they have given you an arm to pull past.

How to do it

1. Grip their wrist with a cross grip, your right hand on their right wrist, palm down.
2. Reach across with your other hand and cup the back of their upper arm, just above the elbow, from the outside.
3. Pull the arm across your body toward your hip, with both hands, while you move your body in the opposite direction.
4. Move your hips and feet to their side as the arm passes, so your chest ends up at their ribs or back.
5. Let go of the wrist, reach the near arm around their waist or take the seatbelt, and go to the back.

Key details

• Pull and move at the same time. If only the arm moves, they pull it back and you are facing them again.
• Grip the arm above the elbow, not the shoulder. Too high and the drag has no leverage.
• Get your head and shoulder past their arm. If their arm stays between you, there is no angle.
• Attack the back straight away. The arm drag only opens a window; it does not hold them.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: dragging the arm without moving your body. They circle back to face you and nothing has changed.
• Mistake: dragging with a weak wrist grip. They pull the arm out and you are in the same place minus a grip.
• Mistake: pausing beside them. They turn in, square up and the back is gone.

What they will try

• They follow the drag with their feet and square back up before you reach the side.
• They re-drag you with the same arm, or hit a snap down as you pull.

Gi and no-gi

In no-gi the wrist grip is a cupped hand and the drag needs to be faster because the grips slip. In the gi you can grab the sleeve cuff and the arm drag holds longer.