Defending armbars have left me with super sore elbows, biceps, and pecs. I am now a strong believer in early defense when I feel them going for an armbar or I tap earlier when I feel I have no way of escaping safely. This has helped me be able to train daily rather than take off for days to recover.

If I ever get a chance to meet you in person I would like to shake your hand a give you a hug. This is EXACTLY the mentality ALL martial artists should have!

It is important to keep your training partners safe. Can we also have people tap to submissions though? I'm tired of training with people that think they're Jay Rod "rolling out" of armbars like maniacs while i hold their arm completely locked out waiting for them to tap.

Thanks for posting, Coach. Praying that guy recovers smoothly. Injuries SUCK

A very important message that everyone should hear and respect. But there are many huge egos out there. And some idiots as well.

Master Sauer says never trust anyone with your joints.

If you have to use full force and 100% effort it wont work when youre gas tank is empty, so figure out a better way.

Thanks for the videos. I'm a new white belt and went too hard the first few classes and have been so sore I could barely get out of bed for a week. I'm definitely continuing training, but with way more caution from now on.

I tore my LCL almost completely by a newbie who wasn't using good technique. I freakin hate that this happened, we're not in a life or death fight when we train at the gym, everyone wants to train safely. Thank you for this video, I wish EVERY jiu jitsu practitioner saw this.

That's something that should be taught more frequently in all jujitsu schools... The health and safety of your partner is in your hands!!!!

thanks for posting and sharing this thumbs

As a purple belt this is how all the higher belts in my gym roll with any sort of joint lock. One person goes through their setup, the other their escapes. When you run out of escapes you tap. We both know it could be finished but it almost never gets to the point of application because we both know it's over.

This blew my mind when I first watched this. Then today I was training and rolling with another blue belt, him and I always have super competitive rolls. I had him probably about an inch away from tapping in a kimura, and as I was synching it up I could hear the warning beeps going off, and I couldn't imagine needing to so desperately get a tap on my compatriot so badly that I yanked the submission. Absolutely mind-blowing to hear this story.

Hi Chewy. Just wondering if these same principles can be applied for the person defending. Like not going 100 percent. Tapping early. Trying to more thoughtfully go about escaping and not heaving and/or wrenching out of things. May also encourage technicality from my attacking training partner. Just trying to figure out what i can take away from this as a blue belt who still is mostly on the defensive (in coloured belt session i go to) against my more advanced and seasoned training partners.

Why would a seasoned competitive black belt just yank the arm repeatedly..there are way more technical ways to break the gable grip -_-

I had no idea this was possible. Thank you! Also, I think a good armbar should be to the head side or the leg side, not straight back.

From the position you are describing, it seems more likely that the person defending the arm bar tore his own pec-not the person attacking. Pec tears at the ligament generally happen when the pec contracts quickly and forcefully, such as when you are pulling your arm across your chest, and NOT when it is merely stretched mildly, as is the case in a completed arm bar. Surprisingly relevant question: Were either of these guys on TRT? In my experience, whenever I hear about someone with a pec or bicep ligament tear, it seems it’s always been someone who is on the sauce. Artificial levels of testosterone do strengthen the muscles more than the ligaments, so there is a plausible mechanism by which we might see more of these injuries in the juiced population. (And also anecdotally, they seem to happen most among very explosive people who are juicing, and even moreso when they are “cold”, nearer the beginning of a workout.) Do any of these describe the person in question? One older TRT guy I know tore his pec off doing plyometric push-ups. Another from doing bench press reps for speed. Repeatedly jerking your arm back in toward your chest against an arm bar is a similar thing: A powerful fast muscle contraction of the pec, where the strength of the pec may not be supported by the strength of the ligament. I’m not saying this kind of injury is impossible without the juice, but I do think it substantially increases its likelihood.

I agree if you have to crank and go hard to finish a submission it’s not done correctly.

I’ve torn the ligament in both of my elbows on arm bars. It’s the one move that I won’t do to other people because I know how easy it is for it to go bad.

Dude thanks for this! I'm almost 37 white belt but athletic. I gotta learn to communicate more, because the younger guys especially other white belts go way to explosively in drilling and rolling. I got my arm cranked pretty badly the other day being taken down because it happened while falling. I want to wrestle but it's bad for injuries lol

My elbow still hurts from my 1 stripe white belt days when i would spaz and hold out on tapping.. Luckily it didn't take long to realize tapping is safer when submissions are in deep..

Please do that follow up video

After hearing this from Chewy years ago, I've really focused on it. Also, I just have old man jiu-jitsu so it works. I do everything super slow and controlled. I take pride in never injuring a training partner* in 7yrs. *= Okay, so when I was a year in, as a white belt, a blue belt came back to train after training at another gym for a long time. I was to the side/behind him almost in a body lock and he tried doing some sort of front flip to get out of it. I tried doing the "IT WASNT ME MOM!/ I've been caught!", hands thrown up, as he spiked himself on his neck. He left and never came back.

I think I finally understand why they call you Chewy.

Black belt in his 20's and ego spazzing to get a finish while (checks notes) ROLLING!!? There's just so many things not ok with this.

"heh this submission isn't locked in yet, I can hang out here fine while my opponent puts increasing force into me... oh no I got injured! how could this happen?" Shouldn't a black belt know better? He should tap whenever he's in danger , not just when a submission is "fully on" or whatever. sounds like he has an ego problem and lacks wisdom.

Bob should have tapped

🙌🥋

Awful. I can’t stand people who have no tact or grace.

It's BJJ, people get hurt. You do your best to stay safe and pick your partners as best you can. Still, you'll never be able to entirely prevent injuries. My first serious injury was dislocating a rib from my sternum while trying to complete an armbar. It just happens.