Omoplata, Gogoplata, Locoplata, Baratoplata… There are a lot of “platas” in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Joking aside, all of these techniques are very efficient and painful submissions. Some, like the Omoplata and Baratoplata, are joint locks, while the Gogoplata is a choke. However, there’s one more submission to this family, that not many people look for. To be honest, apart from the Omoplata and perhaps the Baratoplata, all of the other are not common submissions. This includes the Monoplata as well. How often do you hit a Monoplata in training? Do you even have it in your arsenal? it is a very powerful submission that works from both top and bottom. Look into it.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu joint locks are probably the most numerous submissions in the sport. There are plenty of submissions involving breaking the joints of the limbs. These locks can be done in two main ways. The first is in a straight manner, like the armbar, armlock, kneebar etc. The second one is a joint lock on a bent limb, like a Kimura, Americana, Toe Hold, etc. The Monoplata submission falls under the bent limb joint locks category. In essence, it is a hybrid between an armbar and an Omoplata with the focus on the shoulder joint. It is a quick and easy submission that not many schools teach.
Some coaches, like grappling legend Marcelo Garcia, have the Monoplata in their curriculums. 10th PLanet Jiu-Jitsu also relies heavily on it, given that it ties in with the Omoplata and Gogoplata perfectly. Many other schools though, especially those that are Gi exclusive seem to shy away from it. Why would you skip over a submission that’s halfway between an Omoplata and an armbar? It’s like going from a Guillotine to a D’arce without attempting a Japanese necktie in between.
What’s The Monoplata
The Monoplata is essentially a shoulder lock which involves a slight ned in the arm and both the use of your legs and arms to finish. This makes it a really potent weapon, as you have your whole body up against a carefully isolated limb. Moreover, the positions for the Monoplata are generally very secure, from both the bottom and top attacking instances.
Since the quintessential setup for this submission is from the mount, we’re going to use it as our example. The goal here is to go step by step through all the details that make this shoulder lock such an awesome finishing move. The basic setup involves a huge error by your opponent, which is unlikely to happen at higher levels of the game. Fear not as you can provoke enough of a reaction to enter the setup effectively. More on that later on. For now, let’s imagine that you’re in mount and your opponent has double underhooks on you with a grip behind your back.
Once you feel the grip in place, choose a side to attack and lift one leg. Your leg should be bent at a 90-degree angle, like in a lunge position. This is going to both turn your opponent on their side and isolate their top arm. The goal is to create ample space to get your shin over their face. ToO do it, thread your arm around your own knee and tightly grip their shoulder. Use your other arm to push their head towards the mats. Now, you can easily swing the shin over.
The ultimate goal is to sit down like for an armbar, but with the arm trapped under your armpit. All it takes is sliding your bottom knee toward the trapped elbow, pinching your knees.
Wher Can You Get It From?
When you’re hunting Monoplatas, the mount is the best position to get them from. But, when you’re up against anyone with a blue belt or above, you’ll probably not going to have them grip you with underhooks from bottom mount. Regardless of that, you can cause them to act in a manner that’s going to open up a Monoplata entry for you. For instance, you could scoop their elbow for an armbar, which is going to prompt them to recover it. Once they pull it back, simply trap the arm with your armpit and raise the leg. Another option is going off the basic position of your arm under their head when in the mount.
Another great way to get the Monoplata is from the bottom. Although a less frequent setup, it is one that works like a charm. Form the closed guard, go about as setting up an Omoplata. Break their posture, trap an arm, shift your hips and try to hit an Omoplata. An intelligent opponent is going to press forward once you place your shin in front of their face, blocking the Omoplata. This is when you’re going to pinch your knees together and place both your palms on the mats, away from your opponent. From there, just switch the hips and you’ll land in the perfect position to finish.
Another great setup is hunting for the Monoplata straight after a knee cut pass. The moment your foot is free from the opponent’s quarter guard, switch your hips and use the underhook you have to open up space for your leg. Swing your nearside leg around their arm and aim to finish from the top. You could also place the leg in front of their face and finish like before.
The Monoplata Game
So how can you tie in the Monoplata into your submission game? We already saw how it connects to the Omoplata, but does it work with other techniques a well?
Well, another readily available move is off the Monoplata is the straight armbar. Since you’re already in place, all you need to do is switch to an armbar position. Keep the arm under your armpit as you’ll get better leverage to finish.
Other options include transitioning into (or from, via the Omoplata route) a triangle choke. One more next door neighbor is the Gogolata, in particular, the mounted Gogoplata. All it takes is to look for a correct foot placement once you swing the leg over. If you can get the neck, go for the Gogo instead of looking for a shoulder lock. When the opponent turns, though, the Monoplata is there for the taking.
Take your Omoplata knowledge to the next level with the “Omoplata Everyone” Bernardo Faria DVD. You’ll even find some Monoplata setups and connections in there. here’s a complete review of what to expect from this fantastic instructional.
Kenan Corneliues Reverese Omoplata on Yuri Simoes Full Video and BreakDown – ACBJJ 13
The most important thing, in my opinion, is the way people training. or better yet, teach self-defense. While you do not want to scare away people on their first day, teaching them to block a punch and stay there for a couple of minutes setting something up is just plain dumb. Self-defense requires training scenarios based on realistic events. Unfortunately, today’s self-defense curriculums seem to be based on Steven Seagal movies rather than reality. This is the number one issue the art faces.
While the first event didn’t really get plenty of attention, the second one most certainly did. It took place just a couple of days ago and featured a whole new lineup of 5 man grappling teams. To be completely honest, I only got wind after the event, but it most certainly raised my appetite for the next one. Through some very very exciting matches, the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu Team got the best of Tiger Muay Thai, Reebok and Vagabonds teams.
Since the old days of Imanari rolls in Pride, other people adopted the move to great effectiveness. Ryan Hall is one name that stands out in terms of using the roll to set up heel hooks. Much like the father of the move, Hall used it in both BJJ and MMA matches, in an awe-inspiring fashion. Since then, the new wave of leg lockers also gave in to the temptation of using the Imanari roll entry. Remember 10th planet prodigy Marvin Castelle’s breathtaking viral execution of the move? It’s on the left, for all of you who need a reminder.
Let’s take an opponent in a parallel stance as the starting point in our Imanari roll execution example. You’ll start on your butt, feet close together like in a butterfly guard. The first goal is placing a hook grip on the leg you’re about to attack. for the grip, you need to place your palm on the inside of their ankle, palm facing outwards. This is going to allow you to end up with a perfect grip once you roll.
The roll itself is anchored on this first grip. Basically, you want to use your grip to pull yourself into inversion, rolling your legs toward the outside of your opponent. To do that you lay down on the shoulder of the arm that’s gripping the leg and you swing your legs around and over. Your shoulders should be the only thing touching the ground when you roll. The goal of the roll is to end up with your legs on either side of the leg you’re attacking. this is going to land you in a high control Ashi Garami position so that you can finish with a leg lock.
The finishing positions available from the Imanari roll depend on the placement of your legs after the roll. If you place your outside foot in a “reaping” position you’re all set for the Honeyhole AKA Inside Senkaku. The inverted heel hook finish is as easy as spelling Masakazu Imanari.
Ryan Hall’s take on it was to get to the 50/50 position instead. For this, the leg that goes in between the opponent’s legs needs to come out in front of them. Since this requires a bit more movement than the previous one, you’ll use your outside leg on their hip to help you thread the second leg. the leg on the hip also determines when you’re going to take your opponent down. The 50/50 is a legal IBJJF position and if you attack an ankle lock from there you can use the Imanari at all levels in competition.
