Tarikoplata

What This Is

The tarikoplata is a kimura-grip shoulder lock reinforced by the leg. The attacker holds the figure-four kimura grip — one hand on the opponent’s wrist, the other threaded behind their elbow and gripping the attacker’s own wrist — and the opponent defends the way kimuras are defended: gripping their own body or leg, or stiffening the arm so the wrench stalls. The tarikoplata answers by bringing the attacker’s leg over the trapped shoulder and arm. The shin or calf presses down on the shoulder line, sometimes with the foot hooking to the attacker’s own wrist or hip, so the leg’s weight reinforces the grip and breaks the defensive hold. The finish drives the bent arm into internal rotation, kimura-direction, with the leg’s leverage added to the arms’.

The technique shares real estate with the omoplata family — a leg over the shoulder from guard — while the force runs through a different channel. The omoplata rotates the body against a leg-trapped arm; the tarikoplata transmits force through the kimura grip, with the leg as the amplifier. That difference is why it works where its neighbours stall: it beats the self-grips that stop a kimura, and it beats the postures that shut down an omoplata, because the grip and the leg attack both defences at once.

The tarikoplata is a recent addition to the competition repertoire, and the published instruction on it is recent and limited. The description here follows the consensus of that material.

Safety

The Invariant in Action

The kimura grip begins the isolation and the leg completes it. A defensive grip on the opponent’s own thigh or shorts reconnects the trapped arm to a structure the attacker’s arms alone struggle to overcome — the stall that ends most kimura attempts. The leg over the shoulder changes the equation: bodyweight bears down on the defensive grip until it breaks, and the shoulder is pinned so the arm cannot travel with the rotation. Isolation here is a sequence — grip first, leg second, finish third.

The tarikoplata requires the top player’s posture to be broken — their weight forward, the shoulder line within reach of the leg — before the shin can seat on the shoulder. Against an upright top player, the leg cannot cross the shoulder line cleanly. The posture break that precedes all closed guard attacks also precedes the tarikoplata, and the kimura grip contributes to it: sitting up into the figure-four folds the opponent forward. Rubber guard maintains the break structurally; from other guards it must be created before the leg travels.

The Mechanics

The tarikoplata builds its lock in three parts — grip, leg, finish:

The grip: The figure-four kimura grip. One hand controls the opponent’s wrist; the other threads behind their elbow and grips the attacker’s own wrist. The opponent’s arm is bent and the elbow is held tight. This grip is the force channel — everything the leg adds is delivered through it.

Leg placement: The attacker’s leg comes over the trapped shoulder and arm, the shin or calf pressing down across the shoulder line. The foot can hook to the attacker’s own wrist or hip to close the structure. The leg’s role is double: its weight pins the shoulder so the joint cannot travel with the rotation, and it bears down on the opponent’s defensive grip — the hand clamped to their own body or leg — until the grip breaks.

The finish: With the defensive grip broken and the shoulder pinned under the leg, the attacker rotates the bent arm in the kimura direction — the wrist travelling up the opponent’s back, the shoulder driven into internal rotation. The leg’s leverage makes the finishing motion small. Apply gradually; the tap window is short.

Setup and Entry

From Closed Guard

The standard starting point, though the finish is reached by climbing the legs into high guard or rubber guard rather than launched from a bare closed guard. The attacker sits up, over-wraps the arm, and locks the figure-four kimura grip. When the opponent defends by gripping their own thigh or locking their hands, the attacker opens the guard, climbs the hips, and brings the leg over the trapped shoulder. The leg’s weight bears down on the defensive grip until it breaks, and the finish runs through the same grip that was stalled a moment earlier.

From High Guard

High guard pre-positions the leg near the opponent’s shoulder, shortening the entry. With the posture already broken and the kimura grip locked, the leg slides over the shoulder line directly — the shortest path between grip and leg placement.

From Rubber Guard

Rubber guard enforces the posture break structurally, and the leg is already high on the opponent’s back. Locking the kimura grip on the near arm and transferring the leg from behind the neck to over the trapped shoulder produces the tarikoplata without releasing the posture control.

From Omoplata Control — the Conversion

When the omoplata’s arm is defended — the opponent grips their own body or hides the wrist so the rotation cannot load the shoulder — and the kimura grip is available, the tarikoplata is the conversion. The leg is already over the shoulder from the omoplata; the attacker locks the figure-four on the defended arm and switches the force channel from body rotation to the grip. The defensive grip that stalled the omoplata is exactly the grip the leg now breaks.

Position Requirements

• Closed Guard — The standard entry: kimura grip locked, then the leg climbs over the trapped shoulder when the grip is defended.
• High Guard — Leg pre-positioned near the shoulder; the fastest leg arrival once the grip is locked.
• Rubber Guard — Posture broken structurally; the leg transfers to the shoulder line without releasing control.
• Omoplata Control — The conversion when the omoplata arm is defended and the kimura grip is available.

Defence and Escape

Protect the far wrist before the grip closes. The tarikoplata begins as a kimura, and the kimura begins with the wrist. Denying the wrist grip — hand connected to the body, elbow tight to the ribs — stops the sequence at its first link. This is the earliest and cheapest defence.

Posture and strip the leg before it lands. Once the figure-four is locked, the remaining window is the leg. Posturing up lifts the shoulder line away from the leg’s path, and the free hand can strip or block the leg before the shin seats. A defensive grip on the defender’s own thigh or body buys time here; it does not survive the leg’s weight once the shin is across the shoulder.

Once grip and leg are both set, tap early. The leg-amplified kimura leverage reaches the shoulder’s limit with very little visible movement. There is no late-stage escape to hold out for.

Common Errors

Drilling Notes

Systematic Approach

Phase 1 — Grip mechanics (cooperative). From closed guard, sit up and lock the figure-four kimura grip: wrist controlled, second hand threaded behind the elbow to the attacker’s own wrist. Ten reps. Confirm the elbow stays clamped and the opponent’s arm stays bent. No finishing pressure.

Phase 2 — Leg placement against the defensive grip. Partner locks a defensive grip on their own thigh. Attacker climbs the hips and brings the leg over the trapped shoulder, settling the shin across the shoulder line and arm. The partner releases the grip voluntarily as the weight arrives — the drill trains the placement, the release simulates the break. No finishing rotation.

Phase 3 — Finish at slow speed. With grip and leg both set, rotate the bent arm kimura-direction to a tap signal. The motion is small; count it in stages. Confirm the partner feels the shoulder loading, and release immediately on the tap.

Phase 4 — Omoplata conversion. From omoplata control, partner defends the arm by gripping their own body. Attacker locks the figure-four on the defended arm and converts to the tarikoplata without letting the leg leave the shoulder. Drill the grip transfer as one continuous sequence.

Ability Level Guidance

Ruleset Context

The tarikoplata is a shoulder lock with no restricted status in no-gi rulesets. The submission is legal across all standard no-gi competition formats.

Also Known As

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