Submission profile

Armbar: how often it lands in real training

The armbar is the #1 submission in BJJBuddy logs: 2,385 people have finished it and 2,214 have tapped to it. How it works, gi vs no-gi, and by belt.

People who finished it2,385Logged it as their submission
People caught by it2,214Logged tapping to it
Rank#01Among 36 submissions
Gi share47%Of finishes on a logged gi day
Both sides of the exchange

Finished it. Got caught by it.

Finished it2,385
Caught by it2,214

The same person can be in both groups. Across all logs, 8,041 finishes and 6,571 taps were recorded on separate training days.

Training format

Gi vs no-gi

47%gi
Gi 47%No-gi 53%

6,181 finishes on days with a logged gi or no-gi session. Across all sessions the split is 51.5% gi.

The armbar (juji gatame) hyperextends the elbow by trapping the arm between your legs and lifting your hips. It works from closed guard, mount, back and side control, which is a big reason it tops the list in almost every belt.

How the armbar works

  1. Control one arm and break your partner’s posture before you move your hips. Without posture control they can stack you or pull the arm out.
  2. Angle off: put a foot on the hip, swing your body perpendicular, and bring your other leg over the head.
  3. Pinch your knees together and keep the thumb pointing up, so the elbow joint faces your hips.
  4. Hold the wrist to your chest and lift your hips slowly. Release the moment your partner taps.

Common mistakes

  • Leaving space between your knees, which lets them turn the elbow and escape.
  • Pulling on the arm without lifting the hips: the hips do the work.
  • Finishing fast on a training partner. Elbow injuries happen quickly, so apply pressure slowly.

Learn and drill techniques with a qualified coach and a cooperative partner, and let go the moment your partner taps. This overview is not a substitute for live instruction.

How often each belt finishes it

White belt45.4%
Blue belt52.2%
Purple belt52.4%
Brown belt63.2%
Black belt48.9%

Share of each belt’s users (among those who logged any submission) who have finished with it. Belt is the rank set in the app today.

How to read these figures

“Finished it” means a user logged this move as a submission they got. “Caught by it” means they logged tapping to it. The rank orders all 36 submissions by how many different people logged them either way. From BJJBuddy training logs, November 2015 to November 2026. Duplicate uploads are removed, so a session is one person on one training day. Each person counts once per technique. Groups smaller than 10 people are not shown.