Kimura Defense

Escape

The Kimura Defense is an escape used when an opponent has secured a kimura grip (double wrist lock) on your arm from any position. The goal is to neutralize the shoulder lock threat by reconnecting your trapped hand to your own body, stripping grips, and recovering to a safe defensive position before the lever is fully applied.

Quick Reference

Key principles

  • · Grip your own belt, waistband, or clasp your hands together immediately to create a frame that prevents arm isolation.
  • · Keep your elbow tight to your body to shorten the lever arm and reduce the opponent's mechanical advantage.
  • · Rotate your trapped arm's thumb toward your own centerline to align your shoulder against the torque direction.
  • · Anticipate the opponent switching to a hip bump or guard break when you stall their kimura—be ready to stabilize base.
  • · Act early in the attack cycle; once your arm is fully extended behind your back, escape becomes exponentially harder.

Execution

  1. 1 As soon as you feel the figure-four grip lock onto your wrist, immediately grab your own belt, shorts, or gi skirt with the attacked hand to anchor it to your body.
  2. 2 Pin your elbow tightly to your ribcage and rotate your body toward the trapped arm side, reducing the angle the opponent needs to finish.
  3. 3 Use your free hand to peel or strip the opponent's top controlling hand off your wrist, breaking the figure-four configuration.
  4. 4 Once the grip is broken, immediately square up, tuck your elbows, and recover to a strong defensive posture with frames reestablished.
  5. 5 If in guard, posture up and create distance; if on bottom, re-guard or shrimp to recover a neutral defensive position.

Common mistakes

  • × Reaching the grabbed arm away from the body instead of pulling it in, which gives the attacker a longer lever and accelerates the submission.
  • × Focusing only on grip fighting while ignoring body rotation, allowing the opponent to torque the shoulder even with partial control.
  • × Waiting too long to initiate the defense after the arm is already pulled behind the back, making grip recovery nearly impossible.

Where it lands

The position you end up in.

Defensive Position

Use it against

The Kimura Defense is an answer to these.

Kimura submission
1 less common
Kimura From Side Control submission