The omoplata is a fundamental submission from the guard in BJJ. Here is a simple and effective way to attack the Omoplata. This attack is a bit of a trap, where I’m allowing Stephan to smash down on me a bit from top Half Guard.
The hope is to bait my partner into attacking me; and thus, putting them into a position where I can counter attack with an omoplata. Of course, this can be dangerous. If your partner is successful with their initial attack, I can be in big trouble.
The key to making this counter attack work is, first, being aware of the potential dangers involved, and secondly, defending against my partner’s guard pass attempt in a timely manner, and thirdly, transitioning to a counter attack in a seamless manner; so, my partner falls unsuspectingly into the trap.
In this situation, Stephan is attempting to do a Folding Pass from Top Half Guard. This is where both my my knees are folded over to the one side and Stephan is driving forward with weight into my chest..
However, I want to stay safe with my left shin against his hip to create a Z Guard type configuration. My left shin acts like a frame to stop my partner from coming forward.
It should be noted that from this position, I can try and attack Stephan’s left arm with a Kimura. Me attacking Stephan’s left arm with a Kimura is a fake and it’s just my way to get Stephan to forget about his right arm and for his weight to lean over to his left side a bit so that I can attack my Omoplata.
When I feel that his weight is over to his left side, I turn so that my left back pocket points up to the sky and then I extract my left knee and then place it over Stephan’s right shoulder to enter into my Omoplata.
Alternatively, I can go for the Kimura on Stephan’s right arm from this position; however, if I can keep rotating my body I can site up and follow through to the Omoplata.
This is a highly effective way to go for the Omoplata from Bottom Half Guard. Give it a try!
