Kimura (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), chicken wing/double wrist lock (catch wrestling), or reverse keylock are terms used to specify a medial keylock known in judo as gyaku ude-garami (reverse arm entanglement) or simply as ude-garami. The application is similar to the americana, except that it is reversed. It needs some space behind the opponent to be effective, and can be applied from the side control or guard. Contrary to the americana, the opponent’s wrist is grabbed with the hand on the same side, and the opposite arm is put behind the opponent’s arm, again grabbing the attacker’s wrist and forming a figure-four
By controlling the opponent’s body and cranking the arm away from the attacker, pressure is put on the shoulder joint, and depending on the angle, also the elbow joint (in some variations the opponent’s arm is brought behind their back, resulting in a finishing position resembling that of the hammerlock outlined below). The kimura was named after the judoka Masahiko Kimura, who used it to defeat one of the founders of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Hélio Gracie. Because Americana is a reverse Kimura, in UFC fights, Bruce Buffer still announces fights won by Americana as “by tap-out due to a kimura.
In this video, we see a very effective way to finish the Kimura when the opponent straightens their arm:
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Learn The Best Ways To Add the Kimura to Your Game Using Legendary Strategies from BJJ Pioneer and Champion MMA Fighter Rafael Lovato Jr.!
- Rafael Lovato Jr. has been competing in BJJ for over 20 years and is one of the most decorated American Back Belts in BJJ history claiming IBJJF world titles in gi and no gi, Brazilian Nationals Gold (first American to do so), and he boasts a 10-0 MMA record .
- Lovato Jr. has been using the kimura since he was 15 years old and the submission remains his most trusted method of finishing his opponents.
