3 Kesa Gatame Escapes

[adityasandhu]

As i chase him i'm loading him up!

[turi420]

dude. thank you so lot, teach!

you just dont know how much!

OSU!

[95ellington]

First one is my favorite, Im quite tall and have the long legs to hook the head.

[KenpoArtsGT]

Why do you keep your head up?!?!?! Tuck in it next to their shoulder so they can't push your head back and if they break the arm hold and push your face you can roll back and secure a choke, Other than that great video guys :)

[budoatemaildotcom]

@KenpoArtsGT Very good point! The head should always be low for the man on top. Thanks!

[Magurczek]

Its not traditionalism its standardization. I can go to a Judo gym anywhere in the world and say Uchi-Mata and they will know exactly what I am referring to. BJJ followed this same standard at one time seeing as BJJ is simply Newaza as taught by Esai Maeda to Carlos Gracie. Though, somehow between Carlos and today's practitioners they have lost this standard and now what is left is confusion. I also disagree that Judo and BJJ/JJ are different sports. They are the same sport just different rules.

[budoatemaildotcom]

@osocat I respect my judoka brothers and sisters! Our sports are different. BJJ guys have learned that the "real" judo kesa is a risky move. Too many guys get their back taken without the arm in.

[admbjj]

@budoatemaildotcom i practice bjj and to me this is kesa. good job your vids are awesome

[NeverAReflection]

@budoatemaildotcom Can you make a video of this happening? I am a Judoka and play from standard Kesa-Gatame quite often and have never had my back taken from it, but I also have not worked with many BJJ players so I would be interested to see that. As for this technique, this is certainly a Kazure version I have learned before, but it isn't one I often go to because I feel that it is too easy for the person I am pinning to escape in the manners you have shown in this video--to each his own

[ronin2167]

You should have your arm around his neck not under his arm....then you can displace his head so it's not inline with his spine...makes it hard to generate power like that.

[budoatemaildotcom]

@ronin2167 I'll refer you back to what @saltyseaweed said 7 months ago. While the judoka in the crowd disagree on the terminology, the truth is that the head in arm variation of kesa is dangerous in BJJ. The risk of getting your back taken is significant in that position.

[Agtren]

@budoatemaildotcom There is a significant risk of getting armbarred from under sidemount with "under sidemount to armbar". Are you familiar with that move?

Even the basic top positions aren't absolutely safe.

However, someone who knows how to play kesa gatame properly, such as an international judo newaza specialist, can cause a lot of problems even for a BJJ black belt. There are ten-fifteen elbow locks, shouder locks, neck cranks and chokes from it. Not to mention you may switch position.

[railroadtrash09]

Thats not even kesa gatame... 

[budoatemaildotcom]

@railroadtrash09 Judo guys, us BJJ guys apologize for mutilating your language. This *is* kesa gatame -- to most BJJ guys, even though is shows how little us BJJ guys know about Judo. It sure as heck works for us. Sorry - kusure kesa gatame. :) We are a different crowd in BJJ. We make up our own names and discard tradition, much to the disdain of many traditional martial artists. Them's the breaks.

[railroadtrash09]

@budoatemaildotcom I am a judo guy and a bjj guy. I love em both... Thanks for the escape.

[mrkvamaster]

This is kuzure-kesa-gatame

[messagefrombilly]

What is the name of escape #1? What is it commonly called?

[budoatemaildotcom]

@messagefrombilly I don't know what it's commonly called, but I'd call it "Leg across the face Kesa escape." It only works if your opponent's head is too high up, which is probably <20%.

[budoatemaildotcom]

@messagefrombilly The funny thing about BJJ is that there aren't common names for about 75% of the moves, which is what leads to the kind of argument you get on this page about kesa from the terminology purists. BJJ guys don't care much about terms, but I guess I'd call it a "leg over the face escape."

[johnnybolla]

This Kesa Gatame your Uke is using, is this how you do Kesa in BJJ? In judo we don't lie across the chest like that.

[saltyseaweed]

Yes. BJJ discourages standard kesa gatame (head wrap-around) because you can get your back taken that way. They underhook the farther arm, which results in lying across the chest.

[EyyGibDemEine]

I think the second one is the best possibility to escape, because if you have a bit of skill you´ll be able to keep the legs away and to continue holding the kesa gatame. By the way the kesa gatame is one of the best ways to hold your enemy down.

[69elchupacabra69]

There's one escape my friend taught me. It involves grabbing the guy's farther arm(the one not around you) ,thus making a loop. You then insert your leg inside the loop then pulling yourselves around. It requires a bit of flexibility and lots of technique to do but it really is cool to see.

[ManicParroT]

The first escape surprised the hell out of me when I first encountered it. I knew the other two, but I'd never seen the first one and it wasn't a pleasant surprise at all :(

[Fadur1]

Very very nice techniques man!!!!!Keep showing us!!!!!Gr,

[bexmx]

Nice. I was looking for escapes from Kesa...

[Quaylan112]

actally there is one more escape u learn during the tri-pod exescrise i think

[cybes1010]

Make a vid on armbars

[getthetapjj]

Nice video, comprehensive yet succint

[jf1gd2]

kesa gatame is a judo move not a bjj one :)~

[JinsukeHP]

BJJ was formulated primarily from Judo groundwork. Kesa gatame is found in most grappling styles in one form or another. I even had someone talk about how it's "just a wrestling pin" one time.

[L3thargicF3tus]

When he uses the first escape, the tori if fast enough, can put the uke in kata gatame. Personally, I'd rather be put in Kesa cuz it doesnt hurt as much. Just my opinion.

[jkes92]

About the 1. escape:

What if your opponent has his own hand between your neck and left arm? So, his arm is going around your neck, what then?

[budoatemaildotcom]

Easy. Take his back or lock down his outside leg and twister him. Seriously. The worst thing the guy on top is to make the mistake to not underhook my far arm.

[Valetudo21]

on the second escape, it us good to drive your right elbow into the mat to help pop up the body to get your hips under for the roll.

[yourarsonist]

that's not kesa gatame it's kuzure the modified version. The escapes work the same but theres better ones for kuzre and you can see a lot of muslce being used in those rollovers.

[dacreeguy]

I've seen Helio Gracie do this technique too... it's just a matter of putting the kesa gatame exerciser's head back enough to wrap your leg around the head... good escape

[JRT140]

Oops I meant escapes not sweeps.

[JRT140]

These are three nice sweeps. Of course they won't work against experienced guys which is like less than one percent of the general public.

[codemonkey076]

this isn't kesa gatame, it's kuzure kesa gatame, and the guy holding the pin in the video has very bad form with his head way up in the air and his left leg up instead of flat on the ground, making it ridiculously easy to escape.

[budoatemaildotcom]

Regarding the name correction, you'll note that most BJJ guys are happy to make up new names and break with tradition, although we respect your Judo roots! Most folks just call this "Kesa" even if in translation it becomes meaningless to the purist.

Regarding the technique, you are right to say a better position would be to have your head down. Having his left leg up doesn't hurt. I leave it up all the time and find it a strong posting position.

Thanks for your comments!

[naruteko]

i think it is kesa gatame.... kuzure stands for modified.. kinda different pin.. correct me if im wrong...

Kuzura = their elbow to their mouth.. thats how i define it.. in a simple way

[chushinryoku]

I dunno about these. The 1st one is hard to pull off if they're holding really strongly and the 2nd and 3rd are really hard if the person is a lot heavier than you.

[budoatemaildotcom]

Most escapes are "hard," but you need options. Each of them has worked for me against various-sized opponents. Try them out and get back with me.

[chushinryoku]

Oh I've tried these before. It's a pain to do them. Normally I will create space to move to half-guard, pull my knee in for an armbar, or move for a butterfly hook & sweep, or bump them up and hook their back leg to gain leverage for sweeping and position.

[haggle2007]

have you ever had a judo guy that had good ground put a kesa in, i dont think this would work to get out, the whole leg thing to face is good but if your opponent is strong its doesnt help, some bjj guys dont do a traditional kesa cause they say its to easy to get your back taken, i dont belive this true if it is done right

[budoatemaildotcom]

Sure, any position can become very difficult to escape against a highly skilled practitioner. North/South is another good example of a position that can be very tough to get out of.

If by "traditional kesa" you mean with the arm around the head rather than under the arm, I believe this position is much weaker than the position demonstrated here, at least against a skilled BJJ guy.

[obscurelines]

Why? I've worked both and the 'Hon' grip feels much stronger. I'd like to know why it's a poorer technique than the kazure.

[stevenjonis]

true a brown belt judo guy (bigger than me) always defeats me with a hipthrow in to the kesa and then he armbars my right arm overhis right leg what should i do?

[budoatemaildotcom]

Keep your inside elbow close when you are being held here.

[Bigredcfr]

greta videos! keep them coming!