D'arce Defense Principles <VIDEO>

[Brandon Mccaghren]

I made this to send to John Botello after he asked how I was able to survive a mean John Meija D'arce at the Omaha Training Camp.

It's kind of an impromptu recording and not very professionally done, so let's just keep this one as a forum exclusive; don't share it outside of this arena, please.

Hope you guys enjoy and get some mileage out of these ideas. If you have anything to add, please chime in

All criticisms are welcome, as always.

[FRANK BARCA]

Brilliant. I ve been using those counters all year long and it saves my ass every time.

I also loved the rnc grip and and the face palm dense on the arm bar. Excellent details too Bmac

Bibliography
I learnt those counters from Nabil S, the head instructor at 10P Coquitlem in Canada
one of the coolest mutherfickers ever!

[DENNY PROKOPOS]

Awesome video solid details on the mechanic frame to prevent the drace. I use that Rnc frame armbar defense. I really like the arm in guillotine defense.

[luke randell]

Thanks Brandon from dropping some knowledge. Some nice details and principles there to work with. Thanks

[Isaac Atley]

thanks a billion Bmac, one way i find gets me out of the arm crush once he has it on is to let go of the RNC grip and stick the hand of my armabrred arm flat, then i let him tug on it slowly until it pops out but unless the guy is super strong the arm crush means he cant rip the arm out and you have enough time to grab your wrist again and defend the armbar. if the guy knows what he is doing it goes straight into a triangle but i will take a triangle attempt over an almost finished armabr anyday. the key is having the hand flat. it still hurts a bit but no where near enough to tap.

question about the d'arce defense, when youre on your side and youre about to do the mechanic sweep, you gripped his arm with the arm thats off the ground and framed with the arm on the ground. i noticed that your elbow of the arm on the ground was tucked in, would you be able to pop the elbow out and rest it on his knee? im thinking that would make it more stable and less likely to get folded up. and he might adjust his leg to get your elbow in.

and with the RNC armbar defense, i was taught to grab his leg instead of your own face. do you do that to kind of break the grip or is it more a matter of style?

thanks heaps again, i cant wait to get over there and train with you for real.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

I don't think I would change that grip on the mechanic sweep. It's pretty precise. It feels like any other adjustment other than the one I touched on here would be counter productive.

On the armbar defense, absolutely do NOT grab his leg. Keep your hand on your forehead and watch what happens.

Obviously, the point of this video wasn't to teach either of those specific techniques (though, you presented two excellent questions); it was simply to lay out some principles that will help you stay alive in a variety of different head and arm attacks.

I'd be happy to make a video on either of those specific techniques, though, particularly the armbar defense since I was simply mentioning that as an aside. John and I had also been discussing that so that's why it was even brought up.

[Isaac Atley]

I don't think I would change that grip on the mechanic sweep. It's pretty precise. It feels like any other adjustment other than the one I touched on here would be counter productive.

On the armbar defense, absolutely do NOT grab his leg. Keep your hand on your forehead and watch what happens.

Obviously, the point of this video wasn't to teach either of those specific techniques (though, you presented two excellent questions); it was simply to lay out some principles that will help you stay alive in a variety of different head and arm attacks.

I'd be happy to make a video on either of those specific techniques, though, particularly the armbar defense since I was simply mentioning that as an aside. John and I had also been discussing that so that's why it was even brought up.

i was meaning at 4:20, if you had your elbow on the outside of the leg instead of tucked in the i think (havnt tried it out yet) that you could frame your arm against his knee which would support it better. thanks heaps, even youre quick thrown together at a moments notice tech vids are awesome. i think msot people would agree when i say that the more tech vids the better.

[Chris Garry]

Great details on the darce Brandon, something a lot of the guys who are becoming more advanced will definitely benefit from (once they are staying out of rncs, arm bars, guillotines and triangles more effectively the next ones are kimuras and darces)

I have always felt that the gable grip is the best one to defend the arm bar. I'll have to try going to my own head because just holding the bicep alone is way weaker than a gable and can slip off quite easily. Thank you

[Wancarlos]

Thanks Brandon! This is pretty good!

[bobby rivers]

When Brandon showed me this armbar defense I've never looked back.

When I planche for darce or vice defense, the hand of the arm being attacked is by my hip and palm up while I am literally face down and flat. My forehead and the back of my hand will never leave the mat until your grip releases. I will also be yelling "Plank!" Directly into the mat and repeat it everytime you adjust. From here two things are guaranteed. I won't get dumped onto my side and my shoulder will stay outta my neck.

I would totally do it in a fight, because if he's in deep enough for me to bail to planche, he has to release his grip to transition. I time this to hop up to dogfight with an underhook and immediately circle to trap the leg. Very confident in this defense.

I know you were just demonstating, but if Josh went hip to hip and drove into your hips, he could still dump you on your side. I prefer to avoid this even if I have a frame, its not gonna be sturdier than the mat. That's why I just flatten out. This is a worse case (he connected his hands) scenario. If they connect, respect the jnt and darce immediately and completely. Or die.

I would also like to say I've never darced or jnt'd Brandon. And I've had him full on viceddd. He also forgot to add that the one eye that isn't blocked in his armbar defense will be staring through the back of your retina and into your soul.