by Great Grappling | Oct 25, 2011 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

In this video I show the important concepts surrounding the Lapel Punch Pass.If you watch the video you will notice that I do a couple of things differently. One of the things that I do differently involves staggering my hand grips with the lapels. This allows you to stuff the choking hand and have more success with the pass/submission.Take note at how my hands are positioned. It is very important to have your thumbs facing your chest when taking these grips. This is contrary to the normal way that you would control the lapels within someones guard.The most important aspect of this pass is getting to the standing position without getting armbared. Every time one of the bigger guys tries to do this to me I quietly bide my time while being choked (even though sometimes it makes my eyes feel like they are going to bug out of my head) and wait for the moment when my hips are free and their arms are extended. Once that moment comes I swivel my hips and lock on an armbar and take the tap before my airway gives out.Please reference the video to understand the way that I reach the standing position. You MUST put pressure in with your hips on the back of their butt. Notice there are not large leaps, I dont rush to my feet. I come to the balls of my feet and slowly drive them up onto their shoulders as I come to the standing position. The whole time you need to keep that pressure forward to kill their hip movement.During my first trip to Brazil there was a purple belt that armbarred the crap out of me and led to some mild frustration. I totally abandoned this pass for almost a year while I figured out how to do it safely. If you use the correct pressure it should be impossible to get armbared.