Don’t sleep on the reverse figure four

In the heavier divisions, more than once, I’ve seen a certain tactic. A guy will feed his arm inside the legs…

Yup.

One arm in, one arm out.

It’s the breaking of a fundamental rule, but they don’t do it because they know no better.

Nope.

They know exactly what they’re doing. In fact, it’s even intentional, and it stems from their confidence in beating the triangle with pressure and angle.

And you know what?

It works.

In fact, I remember watching Orlando Sanchez try it against the Paulo Miyao several years back. Miyao was savvy to it though and made no attempt to triangle.

I ain’t scurred though.

If someone tries that on me, I’m going to strike, but I won’t go for the choke right off the bat. Instead, they’re going to feel the bite of the reverse figure four.

Why?

It’s because it’s a superior control position. Bullying out of it doesn’t work so easy. In fact, I haven’t been able to discover a good escape from it yet. Even when my control is loose and someone can slip their head out, all that awaits them is the omoplata, and I snap that bad boy on quick too.

Regardless of what they do, the reverse figure four is a precursor to doom.

In fact, I’ve been teaching an attack series, this week, that focuses on wringing all the submissions out of it like water from a wet towel. And the options abound. Just to count a few, there’s two wrist locks, two armbars, three different grip variations for the shoulder lock, and a downright sinister transition to the triangle choke.

And those are all at the tips of your fingers in the position.

You just have to delay the transition to the choke for a bit.

The benefit?

It’s obvious.

More control. More offensive options. And the best part is that you can make someone who baits the triangle feel like a fool.

And you know what?

Over in the tube, I recently posted a short lesson on some of the attack possibilities in the reverse figure four. Today, I’ll follow it up with a short lesson on the grip variations, and next week, the new micro adjustments lesson with focus on the mechanics of a strong open guard setup to the position and a logical sequence of attack.

For the tube stuff, just head there and search for me, but for more, you’d have to head here:

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