Being tall not just makes you tower over your opponent but also gives you more reach. Long arms and legs allow you to wrap them around your opponent and control their mobility. There are a few submissions that favor having longer arms and legs, let’s explore them below.
Here are the top 5 submissions for tall fighters:
- Triangle
- D’arce Choke
- Arm Bar
- Omoplata
- Anaconda Choke
We will now take a deeper look at these submissions and why they can work well for taller fighters.
1. Triangle
If you’ve been training BJJ or any other form of fighting for a while now, then you probably know about the BJJ triangle. The triangle is one of the oldest submissions in the book and a fundamental technique for any taller BJJ fighter. The good news is that with a little effort and a lot of practice time, you can master this maneuver as a tall fighter.
To get a better grip of this maneuver, you should probably start with the full guard position. This is important, especially for any tall fighter. Once you understand the basics of the full-guard position, you will be in a better position to execute this submission better against a shorter opponent.
This submission is perfect for a taller fighter because you can easily grab your shorter opponent’s hand and tighten your other leg over his neck. Although this move is quite necessary, it can be daunting to execute. Therefore, it’s imperative always to practice your triangle submission diligently.
2. D’arce Choke
It’s not uncommon for names of BJJ moves to be named after their inventors. Although these names change over generations, the technique remains the same. One such move is the D’arce choke. Named after Joe D’arce, the D’arce choke move is a hand move similar to the Anaconda choke move. The only difference between the two moves is that the fore choking arm is always threaded under the shorter opponent’s arm, through the forward part of the opponent’s neck, and finally on top of the opponent’s far-left arm.
It’s worth noting that this move comes in quite handy for tall fighters, just like any other hand choke submissions. This is mainly due to height, allowing a taller fighter to easily grab an opponent’s hands and choke him with ease through the neck. Additionally, you should notice that the D’arce maneuver is quite powerful and can be managed by all fighters. However, tall fighters with longer legs are best suited for this move. Generally, this move is quite sneaky, making it quite easy to set-up for a taller fighter.
3. Arm Bar
Also known as arm lock, arm bar is one of the oldest techniques in BJJ history. It is one of the most useful moves in a taller fighter’s arsenal because, unlike other arm submission moves, the arm bar is either a single or a double joint lock. Due to this, arm lock always results in hyper-extending, hyper-flexing, or hyper-rotating the opponent’s joint. Ideally, this is a very painful move; however, when mastered well, it results in traumatizing pain to the opponent.
In any normal sense, obtaining full leverage for making this move means that you need to use your full body leverage as an individual. In other words, to secure a lock on the target arm, you will have to tower over your opponent while at the same time preventing your opponent from escaping the lock. The leverage needed to use this move effectively makes it perfect for tall fighters to use against shorter opponents.
4. Omoplata
Omoplata is another powerful submission that targets the shoulder blade/scapula. Also known as ashi sankaku garami, this move incorporates both the leg, triangle, and entanglement moves. Ideally, this move is used to attack the opponent’s legs and hips by extending the opponent’s shoulder joint past its normal range motion. Typically, the lock applied by this move on an opponent’s shoulder is quite similar to the kimura lock. However, the only difference is that the legs are used in place of the figure-four grip.
The history of omoplata goes back to the 1980s where it was thought to have first originated from Judo and catch wrestling. However, this move slowly became a BJJ favorite in the 1990s, after Nino Schembri first used it. Nino used this move well due to his height, making it a favorite move for tall fighters.
One of the most popular applications of Omoplata for tall fighters is from the guard. This is achieved by placing your leg under your opponent’s armpit and rotating 180 degrees, resulting in the leg moving over the opponent’s back and around his or her arm. To complete this move, you will have to control your opponent’s hands by placing them away from the back. Apart from being an effective submission, Omoplata can be used to set up for sweeps, chokes, armbars, and any other techniques.
5. Anaconda Choke
This is another submission that is highly effective for taller fighters. Basically, an anaconda is an arm triangle move that is achieved from the headlock position. For this to happen, you should thread your arm under your opponent’s neck and through the armpit. At the same time, you should extend your arms to grasp the opponent’s biceps. Once you have grasped the biceps, you proceed to pin your opponent onto the trapped shoulder to interrupt the flow of blood better while maintaining pressure on the grasped biceps.
To accomplish this effectively, you will need to roll your shorter opponent over the trapped shoulder. Due to the dynamics involved, this submission is one of the best submissions for taller fighters since it takes advantage of an opponent’s short height. Even so, to do this well, you should always practice thoroughly to perfect the submission.
Other Techniques for Taller Fighters You can Consider
To fight effectively, it’s important to ensure that you not only fight offensively but defensively as well. While tall fighters mostly use the above submissions, other important moves should also be used. Read on to find out.
Solid Closed Guard
Considered to be a white belt position in BJJ, the closed guard is one of the most fundamental fighting positions. Many world champions, including Roger Gracie, have perfected this move and have seemingly experienced great success with this basic move at their elite level.
The best thing about this move is that it involves a lot of positions. Therefore, you can use either wrist lock, choke, arm lock, and sweep at the same time. Thus, a solid closed guard encompasses different strategies, such as the closed guard retention strategy and the wrist lock.
Butterfly Sweeps
For quite some time, the butterfly sweep has been one of the most effective sweeps in BJJ. In fact, this is undoubtedly one of the basic sweeps that any BJJ learner should learn. Although this is the case, the sweep move is one of the most underrated guard moves, especially by taller fighters.
There are many reasons why the butterfly sweep is an effective guard move. For starters, this move is extremely versatile. A tall fighter can use this move in BJJ, Nogi, or MMA with ease. Due to this versatility, the butterfly sweep is considered one of the most utilized sweeps in all forms of grappling. Secondly, the butterfly sweep can be applied from varied positions. Finally, this move is quite aggressive; thus, setting the precedence for other moves.
Although taller fighters vastly overlook the sweep move due to its simplicity, it is a move that always comes in handy and is worth mastering.
Gripping
Regardless of the height, each BJJ fighter should be well acquainted with Gripping. Ideally, gripping is an essential part of training as a BJJ fighter. To get a sense of how essential this move is, you cannot execute any other BJJ technique without having an understanding of how gripping works. Essentially, when you start fighting, you would want to have an iron grip. The iron grip will make it harder for the opponent to escape from any submission. Therefore, while gripping might seem quite necessary, it’s of utmost importance to ensure that you regularly practice your grip. This way, you can rest assured that all your submissions will be able to work out perfectly.
The Standing Guard Pass
One of the most challenging aspects of BJJ is passing the guard. However, the move can be challenging if your opponent is short with active hips and strong legs. Dealing with such an opponent can be challenging.
In many ways, the standing guard pass could also be referred to as the standing guard break. This is mainly because you will be standing for the first part where you’ll be breaking open your opponent’s guard when your legs cross on your lower back. Once your opponent’s legs are open, you can go ahead to pass the guard to your opponent, either from a kneeling or a standing position.
Finally
BJJ fighting involves using a lot of techniques. As a taller fighter, you come with a lot of advantages over your shorter opponents. Using height as an advantage coupled with these top 5 submissions, you can be sure that you will stand a better chance of winning against a shorter fighter. However, it’s always important to ensure that you perfect your moves as a fighter to be effective.