---
title: "The Kimura: history and application"
date: 2026-04-28T11:28:00+02:00
author: "henk@noregt.com"
canonical_url: "https://www.renzogracietilburg.nl/en/news/the-kimura-history-and-application"
section: Nieuws
---
# The Kimura: history and application

 

 

 

 *28 April 2026* | [Lees dit in het Nederlands](https://www.renzogracietilburg.nl/nieuws/de-kimura-geschiedenis-en-toepassing)

 ![Kimura in mma](/afbeeldingen/nieuws/kimura/_groot/19259/kimura-in-mma.avif) 

You probably know the image. Someone grabs a wrist, hooks their other arm through it, twists the shoulder, and your training partner taps. That's the kimura. The kimura is everywhere. Literally. You use it to finish, to pass, to set up sweeps, to win scrambles, to counter takedowns. A whole philosophy hidden inside a single figure-four grip.

 

 

 

 

  ![Masahiko Kimura 2](/afbeeldingen/nieuws/kimura/_klein/19263/Masahiko_Kimura_2.avif) 

### The origin: Masahiko Kimura

Masahiko Kimura was born on September 10, 1917 in Kumamoto, Japan, and died on April 18, 1993. On paper, a judoka. In practice, a phenomenon Japan still talks about eighty years later.

He started judo at age ten. By fifteen he was a fourth dan. In 1935, eighteen years old, he became the youngest fifth dan ever by defeating eight consecutive opponents at the Kodokan, the headquarters of the judo world.

After that, things moved fast. He won the All-Japan Judo Championship three times in a row, the first man in history to do so, and between 1936 and 1950 he didn't lose a single judo match. Fourteen years undefeated.

He was relatively small for a heavyweight. About 1.70 meters and 85 kilos. But he trained like a man possessed. Contemporaries started complaining because his osoto gari was so brutal they were afraid of getting injured.

And then, in 1951, he flew to Brazil.

 

 

 

   ![Kimura versus Helio Gracie](/afbeeldingen/nieuws/kimura/_klein/19262/Kimura-versus-Helio-Gracie.avif) 

### October 23, 1951: Helio Gracie vs Kimura

The Gracie family had spent years challenging every Japanese fighter who came near them. On October 23, 1951, Kimura and Helio Gracie squared off in the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Twenty thousand spectators. Among them the vice president of Brazil. Armed police officers were stationed outside the stadium, because things could easily get out of hand.

Helio weighed 65 kilos, Kimura 100. The Brazilian crowd had brought a coffin along, just in case. For Kimura. On his way in he got pelted with raw eggs and jeered at.

The fight itself? Helio tried to take Kimura down with osoto gari and ouchi gari. Kimura blocked everything and threw him several times himself. Once the work moved to the ground, he pinned Helio. Helio looked like he could barely breathe, but he wouldn't tap. When he tried to escape by pushing with his arm, Kimura grabbed that arm and applied gyaku-ude-garami.

Roughly translated: a reverse arm-lock. The technical name for what we now call the kimura.

Helio didn't tap. Kimura kept twisting until the arm broke. Helio still didn't tap. Kimura kept going and broke it a second time. Only then did his brother Carlos throw the towel onto the mat. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masahiko_Kimura)

 

 

 

   ![Kazushi sakuraba breaking renzo gracies arm august 27 2000](/afbeeldingen/nieuws/kimura/_klein/19269/kazushi-sakuraba-breaking-renzo-gracies-arm-august-27-2000.avif) 

### Renzo Gracie vs Sakuraba

Nearly half a century later. Renzo Gracie steps into the ring on August 27, 2000 at Pride 10: Return of the Warriors in Tokorozawa, Japan. Across from him stands Kazushi Sakuraba, the "Gracie Hunter".

Thirty-nine thousand Japanese fans in the stadium. Sakuraba had already beaten Royler and Royce. Now Renzo.

Renzo was winning the fight. He was about thirty seconds away from a victory that would have restored the family's honor.

And then it went wrong. They crashed into each other and Sakuraba went for a standing kimura. Like drunken dancers, they spun around and slammed into the canvas. Sakuraba cranked the arm. Renzo's elbow exploded. With seventeen seconds left on the clock.

Officially: 9:43 in the second round, technical submission via kimura. Renzo, just like his great-uncle Helio nearly fifty years before, refused to tap. The referee and Renzo's corner had to step in.

Sakuraba became the second Japanese athlete to defeat the Gracies via a kimura.

 

 

 

  ## Sakuraba vs Renzo Gracie

 

  

 

The full fight between Renzo Gracie and Sakuraba, ending in a kimura. Back then rounds were ten minutes, so it was a almost 20-minute war of attrition.

 

 

 

    ![Kimura renzo gracie academy](/afbeeldingen/nieuws/kimura/_klein/19274/kimura-renzo-gracie-academy.avif) 

### The kimura is everywhere

What makes this technique so special? Its versatility. The kimura grip, that "figure four" where you grab your own wrist after gripping your opponent's wrist, works from just about every position on the mat. As a finish, as control, as a sweep, as a guard pass, as a counter to a takedown.

A few of my favorite places to work it, in order of complexity. Don't try to learn them all at once. Pick two, drill them, and come back for the rest later.

Of course nothing is better then a real class from an approved instructor, check our [Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes!](https://www.renzogracietilburg.nl/en/bjj-tilburg)

[30 day trial](https://www.renzogracietilburg.nl/en/trial-class)

 

 

 

  ## Kimura from closed guard

  

  

The classic. Your opponent puts a hand on the mat next to your head to posture up. That's what you're waiting for.

You grab his wrist with the hand on the same side. Your other arm swings up and hooks underneath to grab your own wrist. Figure-four. From there you sit up toward his shoulder, shift your hips off at an angle, and bring his arm behind his back.

A tip people forget: keep your legs active. If your closed guard pops open before you've locked the arm down, you've lost it. And if he postures up and yanks his arm free, switch to a hip bump sweep or an omoplata. The kimura from closed guard thrives on combinations. It's almost never an isolated attack.

 

 

 

  ## Kimura from side control

  

  

Here it gets more concrete. You have side control, and his arm is lying in the wrong place. Above his head, or too far from his body.

You grab the wrist, hook underneath, figure-four. And now the detail most beginners miss: you walk your hips toward his shoulder. Don't pull with your arms. By bringing your body along, you generate way more leverage. The same arm gets pushed further behind his back without you having to squeeze a millimeter harder.

A variant your rolling partners won't see coming: step over his head with your leg while you have the grip. You put your weight on his head, he can't turn away anymore, and the finish gets tighter than ever.

 

 

 

  ## Kimura From north-south

  

  

From north-south you have the head locked down, he's on his back, and you go fishing for his arm.

Once you have the figure-four, you want to bring your knee over his head. Knee against your other knee, squeezing together. Your weight sits on his head, and he can't move his upper body anymore.

From here, the most important detail: everything at 90 degrees. You want his elbow pulled 90 degrees away from his body, and his arm bent at 90 degrees. Only when that geometry is right do you turn off. And you don't turn with your arms, those stay glued to your chest. You turn with your whole body. Your core does the work.

 

 

 

  ## From half guard

  

  

Half guard is interesting because the kimura can be either a submission or a sweep.

From the bottom you grab the far side arm. The arm furthest from you. That arm often comes forward to cross-face you and put you on your back. You roll under him, same figure-four, and you can usually finish from there or convert to a sweep.

When your partner hides his arm to defend the kimura, you can use a sweep instead. See the Lachlan Giles video above.

 

 

 

  ## Sumi gaeshi: kimura as a counter to the single leg

  

  

This one's personally one of my favorite applications.

Your partner shoots for a single leg. Instead of sprawling, you grab his arm. The arm wrapping your leg. Figure-four on that arm. From there you let yourself fall backward in a controlled way, you drag him with you, and you roll over your shoulder so he ends up flat on his back and you sit in the T-position. The Danaher school calls this the "T-kimura". Others call it the kimura trap.

You don't have a submission. Your hand isn't behind his back yet. But you have complete control over his upper body, and from there you can take the back, attack an armbar, or just slowly tighten your grip for the tap.

 

 

 

  ## The rolling kimura: a guard pass

  

  

From top half guard you clear the knee shield, switch your base, and grab his far side arm. Figure-four. Instead of trying to submit, you roll forward over your shoulder. You land on the other side of his body in the T-kimura position. His legs stay behind. Guard passed. You still have his arm and you're now in a dominant position.

A warning: against experienced opponents this doesn't just work. They feel it coming and pull their arm back in. You need to create dilemmas. Threaten a knee cut pass, force him to put his hand on the mat, and only then go for the roll.

 

 

 

  ## All the options at a glance

 

  

 

Already drilled most of these but want a quick refresher? This overview by Jason Scully is really useful. He runs through every kimura option in rapid-fire fashion.

Too much too quickly? Join our [BJJ classes!](https://www.renzogracietilburg.nl/en/bjj-tilburg)

 

 

 

    [Ouder >](https://www.renzogracietilburg.nl/en/news/how-to-motivate-children-to-play-sports-5-tips)