BJJ Wristlock And Its Styles: Should You Learn It?

With time, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has been giving new techniques and skills to make itself even better and a dominant martial art in the world. Now the techniques in BJJ are divided, with some being old and others being new. Now, the current generation is more focused on the new techniques and slowly forgetting the old ones, which are very effective. One of the oldest, historical, and most effective techniques is the BJJ wristlock. The technique serves many purposes for the one who executes this technique. This is the classical example of a joint manipulation technique which as old as the Japanese Ju Jutsu.

A BJJ wristlock is a joint manipulation technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in which the wrist of an opponent is manipulated in some ways so that they cannot continue their game due to a lot of pain and eventually tap out. The manipulation can be done by bending the hands or wrists of the opponent, twisting, and extending them beyond their normal range of movement. While doing the wristlock, the grappler applies a lot of pressure on the wrists.

• Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that has developed its own techniques. But to make it even better, the sport has taken some techniques from other arts and refined them to make the technique better and implement them in training.

• Traditionally, or when there was no Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the most famous martial arts at that time were Judo and Japanse ju Jutsu or Jiu Jitsu. But Carlos found some lacks in both and observed the need for improvement. So he developed the new system. But some techniques were perfect, and there was no need to change them. So these were added as such, and everyone can use such techniques.

• The wristlock was one of them. It has deep roots in Judo and Japanese Ju Jutsu. It was there in BJJ from the start, but people didn’t follow it as much as they trained other techniques. Despite this, it is very effective and one of the best ways for quick submissions.

• Not common earlier on, but currently it has started regaining its lost popularity, and practitioners have started to use it as their effective weapon to put their opponents to tap out. They are now emerging again, and you can see the grapplers using the wristlocks in major BJJ competitions across the world as their best weapon to make their opponents submit quickly.

• The reason why it's gaining popularity is that the grips have been in a particular rise in the past few years. So to counter this grip trend, the wristlock became the number one tool, particularly for grips related to arms and hands. To counter, you just have to do the wristlock on your opponent, and you have the submission.

The following are the key principles and mechanics of BJJ wristlock, which you must take into consideration for executing the perfect wristlock:

The first principle or key point you should take into account is that you should isolate the wrist of your opponent. BJJ practitioners, mostly beginners, make this mistake many times as they do not isolate their opponent’s wrist and start going for the wristlock. This is a very bad approach, and it will expose your technique, and also you won’t be able to make it on your opponent. So the first thing you need to do is to always focus on isolating the wrist of your opponent. This will ensure that they do not defend against your technique with their whole arm or body.

The next thing to note is that you should know the target. Most people don’t even know exactly where they need to apply pressure. The wristlock is focused on the wrist of the opponent. That is what everyone knows. But the exact point of the target is their radioulnar joint. This is where you should apply pressure and do manipulation like twisting, bending, or extending. So this makes the wristlock technique highly specific to the wrists, and this specificity makes it very powerful.

The basic principle of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu follows technique and position. You cannot execute any technique based only on the strength against your opponent. So, for the execution of a wristlock, you have to apply the technique correctly in the right position and using the right angle and leverage. Always prioritize your technique, position, angle, and strategy over strength. What BJJ athletes do is that they try to overpower their opponent’s wrist and apply force as much as they can, only to get the result of failing in technique execution. This does not mean that you should not apply force and power. But apply force only when you have the right angle and position for the wristlock.

The Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu provides you the opportunity to have many grips on the arms and wrists of your opponent, just because of the Gi. So it becomes easier for you to execute the wristlock against your opponent if you do it in Gi BJJ. But you can also do it in No Gi BJJ. You just have to ensure all proper steps are being followed for it.

Consider following the steps given below to execute the perfect wristlock:

The first step you should take is to get a grip on your opponent’s hand. The perfect grip would be such that your fingers wrap around the knuckles of your opponent with your thumb at the back of their hand. The grip must not be very loose, or otherwise, they will lose control. It should be very strong, and you should not let it go on any chance.

The posture is one of the most important things for executing the techniques perfectly and getting and keeping yourself dominant throughout the match. If your posture is not right or you are unbalanced, then you will eventually lose the match because you cannot defend yourself against your opponent’s techniques and cannot attack them. So you need to follow this exact strategy during the execution of the wristlock. After getting control over their hands, the next step you should take is to move to the side of your opponent and try to unbalance them. As soon as they are unbalanced, you will be halfway to winning the match.

Now is the time for the climax. Now you have control over your opponent’s hands, and you have successfully unbalanced them. After both of the above steps, rotate and twist the hand of your opponent that you have in your control. You should also twist it in the correct direction instead of bending it anywhere. The direction of rotation depends on how you have secured the hands and how you want a wristlock. So if you are doing the simple or easy forward wristlock, then you should rotate their hand in such a way that their palm is facing their body and their hand is bending towards their forearm.

• The final step is to move your opponent down towards the ground. This is the last step, as it completes the submission. You have their locked hand or wrist. You also have unbalanced their posture and rotated their wrist. Now, move their locked wrist, which is also twisted by you, to the ground.

• After this, your opponent will try to defend it, and in defense, they will try to move their knees also down, and eventually they will fall on the ground completely while defending against this move. But this will put them into the trap even more, and once they are on the ground, you will have the submission. They will have to tap out eventually. They will have no other option than this.

• So this is how you can do the wristlock. It has only four steps, and the duration it takes is also not longer. So you can have a quick and effective submission.

The following are some common styles of wristlock used in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu:

The first style is from the BJJ closed guard. The wristlock is very easy and effective if you have to do it from the closed guard. While in the position of closed guard, if your opponent keeps their hand on top of your body, such as your chest, you have a clear and very big opportunity to do a wristlock. Grab the wrist of your opponent, twist them, and go for a wristlock. This will give you a quick submission.

Another good opportunity is when your opponent is trying for a grip fight with you. You have to stay cautious and anticipate their moves according to their previous moves and actions. Now, when you grab any part of your Gi, but most particularly the lapel and collar, you should know it's time for a wristlock. Get hold of their hand, twist and rotate it in the right direction, and then complete the BJJ submission.

• Another opportunity is during the mount or side control. You can do this in any type of mount. So, during these positions, while the opponent is trying to dominate and submit you, you should pin their arm.

• Once their arm is pinned, the next step, as discussed above, is to isolate and separate their wrist or hand. This will create a space for you to lock their wrist for a wristlock submission. Then grab their hand or wrist, rotate it, and complete the submission.

You all know that you can do a wristlock while you and your opponent are grappling on the ground. But you can also do the lock on the wrists of your opponent while you are standing with them. This is not common, but you can do this in other martial arts or during self-defense in street crimes.

There are some techniques in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that are not very commonly used, and wristlock is one of them. They provide you with the advantage over your opponent because most people don’t learn these techniques, and therefore, they do not know the defense against these techniques. So make use of the opportunity and learn the techniques for implement in all your next BJJ matches.

A BJJ wristlock is a joint manipulation technique in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in which the wrist of an opponent is manipulated in some ways so that they cannot continue their game due to a lot of pain and eventually tap out. The manipulation can be done by bending the hands or wrists of the opponent, twisting, and extending them beyond their normal range of movement. While doing the wristlock, the grappler applies a lot of pressure on the wrists.

It has deep roots in Judo and Japanese Ju Jutsu. Traditionally, or when there was no Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the most famous martial arts at that time were Judo and Japanse ju Jutsu or Jiu Jitsu. But Carlos found some lacks in both and observed the need for improvement. So he developed the new system. But some techniques were perfect, and there was no need to change them. So these were added as such, and everyone can use such techniques. The wristlock was one of them, belonging to Judo and Japanese Ju Jutsu.

Consider following the steps given below to execute the perfect wristlock:

• Secure the Grip and Get Control

• Unbalance Your Opponent’s Posture

• Twist and Rotate

• Move Your Opponent Down on the Ground

You can execute the BJJ wristlock from the following positions:

• From Closed Guard

• During Grip Fighting

• From Side Control or Mount

• Standing Entry