Hammerlock Escape
Hammerlock escape — never leave the wrist behind your back plane, roll away from the trapped shoulder and sit up, drive the elbow to the hip to shorten the lever.
Adapted from InGrappling, Hammerlock Escape. System Games did not invent this curriculum.
Manage injuries →Position map Connects to 4 positions across 2 relationshipsOpen in the map →1234←Escape route from
The hammerlock folds the arm behind the back and drives the wrist and elbow up toward the shoulder blades, loading the shoulder in internal rotation and extension at the same time. For the attack, see Hammerlock. It sits in the kimura family because both load internal rotation — the kimura rotates the arm in front of the body, the hammerlock rotates it behind.
That difference in where the arm sits is what separates the defences. Kimura answers work on an arm you can see and reach with your free hand. A hammerlocked arm is behind you, out of sight, and your free hand cannot cross to it — so the escapes are body movements rather than grip fights, and the useful work happens before the arm ever goes back there.
It appears when an arm is late: face-down with one arm trapped underneath, turning with one arm slow to follow, or under a folkstyle ride where the arm has been deliberately walked behind. The chicken wing ride carries the real threat — it is the same arm position held as a control, and the submission is what happens when a rider decides to finish rather than turn you.
Elevated RiskHammerlock (Defence) is an elevated risk technique. The hammerlock loads internal rotation and extension simultaneously, which is a combination the shoulder has very little room for — the posterior capsule and the posterior rotator cuff take the force, with the superior labrum loading through the biceps anchor as the rotation deepens, and the two axes together reach the limit much sooner than either would alone. The defender also cannot see the arm or reach it with the free hand, so the usual feedback about how far a limb has travelled is missing. Under a ride the load can be applied by the attacker's bodyweight rather than their arms, which arrives faster than a hand-driven lock. Serious injury can occur Seconds. Two axes loaded together reach the limit with less travel than a single-axis shoulder lock..
If you are new to this technique: read this section before anything else. Understanding the danger is part of understanding the technique.
The person applying the technique is responsible for releasing immediately.
Communicate before drilling. Know your partner's experience level with this position.