There's more to an arm bar than an arm bar

Photo courtesy of Hans Gutknecht

Every time I read someone on an internet forum call Ronda a "one trick pony", I silently say a prayer of thanks that you can't catch stupidity through the internet.

Jim and I just finished writing an article on an arm bar as counter and combination. Here are three points we made.

First is that you should always practice both sides, so we showed the same move from two different angles and done on both the right side and the left.

The second is that an arm bar is not just an offensive move but a move in defense as well. The arm bar Ronda is doing here is in the MIDDLE of the sequence. It is a counter to a move Manny attempted.

The third is that an arm bar isn't necessarily the end. It can also be part of a combination. The photo below is a pin that is done after your partner escapes the arm bar by doing a forward roll.

There is another pin after this, too.

The point we make in the article is that an arm bar is not an isolated move. If you really are an expert, you can do it from both sides, multiple positions and multiple points in a sequence, at the beginning, at the end or, as shown here, in the middle. It is not just a finishing move. That is particularly so in judo where you can win by a pin just as easily as an arm bar. In fact, more easily. (Remind me to explain that some time.)

Jim says this same move works in wrestling as well, that even though arm bars are not legal you are allowed to put pressure on the arm and when the person rolls over you can pin him and win the match. I don't know as much about wrestling as he does but he sounded very believable when he said it, so I am going  to believe it.