Upper or Lower Body Submissions?
Hi fellow Demons!
What are your favourite submissions? More specifically, do you prefer upper body or lower body submissions?
In today’s blog post we will talk about the key differences between the two submission types and explain how being proficient in both areas will allow you to be a constant threat.
Upper body submissions – focus on control
When talking about upper body submissions we are referring specifically to arm/shoulder submissions and chokes. These will include popular submissions like arm bars, kimuras, rear naked strangles, guillotines and head and arm chokes.
If one was to create a tier list of submissions, chokes will always rank at the very top. When considering any combat application, whether that be sport jiu-jitsu, MMA or self-defence being able to put your opponent to sleep leaves no doubt as to the winner of the engagement.
With any limb-based submission there are some maniacs who will simply allow their arm to be broken and fight on in a compromised state – Tony Ferguson and AJ Agazarm we’re looking at you!. Chokes simply remove this possibility.
With regards to where upper body submissions are most commonly found, they tend to originate from dominant top positions. This is not to say that arm bars, kimuras or guillotines can’t be scored from the bottom guard positions. However, the probability of scoring them on skilled opponents increase significantly upon advancing to and consolidating superior positions like mount, back or side control.
One only needs to look at the steep decline in the number of triangles or arm bar submissions which have been scored from bottom guard in the UFC over the years as evidence of this trend. Therefore, in most circumstances a high degree of control precedes the majority of upper body submissions.
Another factor to consider is that certain upper body submissions have a greater degree of success dependent on an athlete’s attributes. For instance, the triangle choke is going to be a higher percentage submission for practitioners with longer legs and similarly head-and-arm chokes will be a more effective tool for those with longer arms.
Lower body submissions – the great equalizer
The growth in popularity of no-gi grappling over the last decade has seen leg locks become an essential staple in every grappler’s toolbox.
Unlike upper body submissions, lower body submissions are more commonly found from the bottom position. As John Danaher famously outlined on the Joe Rogan podcast, circa 80% of leg entanglements are initiated from some form of guard, whether that be open, closed or half.
Therefore, this makes them the great equalizer since leg lock efficacy is indiscriminate, being less reliant on the natural attributes of the athlete. Indeed, in modern no-gi grappling when a smaller athlete defeats a much larger competitor the submission of choice will almost always be a leg lock. Case in point: Lachlan Giles’ legendary performance in the absolute division at ADCC 2019.
However, given that most lower body submissions originate from guard, this inherently makes them riskier since failure can put you in an inferior position. Part of the current guard passing meta is defending leg locks and taking the back in the ensuing scramble. Whilst it is true that attacking upper body submissions also carries a degree of risk, failing to cinch up a kimura from side control is very unlikely to result in you having your back taken as an example.
This is arguably the reason why leg locks still haven’t taken off in MMA in the same way as no-gi grappling. Why take the risk of falling back for a leg lock when you can punch your opponent from a dominant position? Furthermore, as previously mentioned, MMA athletes are also more willing to sacrifice catastrophic limb injury to carry on fighting, as famously seen in TJ Dillshaw’s fight with Cory Sandhagen, in which he tore several ligaments by refusing to tap to an inside heel hook.
Creating dilemmas by combining upper and lower body submissions
So, do you define yourself as an arm hunter, a choke artist or a leg locker?
The truth is that acquiring skill in all these types of submissions is key for increasing your overall finish rate. Whether you favour arm locks, leg locks or chokes, on a long enough time scale your opponents or training partners will start to work out your movements and habits. Consequently, you’ll start to see them shut down your game.
However, the very act of forcing an opponent to defend a lower body submission opens the door for you to attack the upper body and vice versa. For example, if your opponent sprawls on your attempted leg lock entry then this exposes his neck and arms. If they posture to avoid a choke or arm bar attempt, then this gives you access to leg entanglements.
Presenting these dual threats will allow you to stay on an offensive cycle and eventually you will be able to pierce through the best of defenses!
Conclusion
Hopefully you found this blog post insightful – we’d love to hear your thoughts on the distinctions between the two types of submissions.
We also have an exciting new Oni “Submission Only” no-gi set coming out very soon! Stay tuned for the pre-order launch, since newsletter subscribers will get a special discount code!
Many thanks
The ONI Team