Hitchhiker Escape

What it is

The hitchhiker escape is an armbar escape where you turn the thumb up like a hitchhiker, rotate your body toward the trapped arm and pull the elbow out while you come up to your knees. It only works before the arm is straight, which is the only time any armbar escape works. Its job is to turn a late defence into an early one.

When to use it

• They have the armbar from guard or mount with your arm pulled but the elbow still bent and your hands connected or close.
• They have swung their leg over your head and are lying back, but have not yet pinched the knees or pulled the wrist to their chest.
• Use it together with the stack: when the stack is not possible, the hitchhiker is the escape that uses rotation instead of pressure.

How to do it

1. Turn the thumb of the trapped arm up, like a hitchhiker, so the point of your elbow turns toward their hip and the joint is no longer lined up with the lock.
2. Keep the elbow bent and pull it toward your own hip, not straight out, so they cannot straighten it.
3. Rotate your body toward the trapped arm, stepping your legs around in a circle in that direction.
4. Come up to your knees as you rotate, keeping your weight on them so they cannot sit up and chase the arm.
5. Pull the elbow free past their hips and settle on top with your arms clear and your posture up.

Key details

• Thumb up, elbow toward their hip. The armbar needs the elbow lined up with their hips; turn it and there is nothing to straighten.
• Rotate toward the arm. Rotating away pulls your own arm straight.
• Go early, while the elbow is still bent and your hands can still touch.
• Pull the elbow, not the hand. The hand is the end of a lever; the elbow is where the escape is.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: waiting until the arm is straight. No escape works then, and pulling only hurts you.
• Mistake: rotating away from the arm. You straighten the arm for them and the tap comes quicker.
• Mistake: coming up without posture. They sit up and switch to a triangle or an omoplata on the same arm.

What they will try

• They follow the rotation with their hips and re-cross the legs, keeping the elbow above their hips.
• They switch to a triangle or a wrist lock as you turn, since your head and arm are still inside their legs.