The americana: how it works and how to do it
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By Scott Flear, founder of JitsAI.
The americana is a shoulder lock: you pin your opponent’s wrist to the mat with their elbow bent at a right angle, thread your other arm under theirs to grip your own wrist, then slide their hand down the mat while you lift their elbow. That turns the upper arm backwards in the shoulder socket (external rotation), the opposite way to a kimura (Hasegawa et al. 2026). The front of the shoulder and the inside of the elbow take the load, so finish slowly and tap early.
What is an americana?
The americana is usually one of the first submissions you learn from side control and mount in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. You’ll also hear it called the keylock, the figure-four or, in judo, ude garami. It doesn’t need the gi, so it works the same in no-gi.
It uses the same grip as the kimura: a figure-four on a bent arm. The difference is the direction. The kimura turns the hand up behind the back; the americana turns it towards the head, so the two load different parts of the shoulder (Hasegawa et al. 2026).
How does an americana work?
Their forearm is the handle and their upper arm is the lever. Keep the wrist on the mat, raise the elbow, and the upper arm spins backwards in the socket.
- The shoulder is a ball in a shallow cup. With the arm out to the side at about shoulder height, the main thing stopping the ball rolling out of the front is the inferior glenohumeral ligament, a hammock of tissue under the joint (Turkel et al. 1981). The muscles that turn the arm inwards are stretched too (Hasegawa et al. 2026).
- The elbow takes some of it. The twist goes through the elbow on its way to the shoulder. A 2026 review compares the position to a baseball pitcher’s arm cocked back, which strains the ligament on the inside of the elbow (Hasegawa et al. 2026).
- The 90-degree bend is the lock. If their elbow straightens or the wrist leaves the mat, the lever is gone. That’s why both are the first things people fight for.
Episode 1 of our Anatomy Series is the physics of levers: the further from the pivot you push, the more twist you get. In the americana, their forearm is that lever.
How do you do an americana?
The americana from side control is the classic version. From mount it’s the same grip, with your knees wide and your hips heavy so they can’t bridge.
- Step 1: Get heavy on top. Chest to chest with your head low, and your knees blocking their hips so they can’t turn in.
- Step 2: Pin the wrist. With the hand nearest their head, pin their wrist to the mat beside their head, at or below shoulder level, so their arm makes an L with the forearm pointing at their head.
- Step 3: Figure-four grip. Thread your other arm under their upper arm, near the elbow, and grip your own wrist.
- Step 4: Take out the slack. Turn your wrists to tighten the grip before you finish. Keep their elbow bent at about 90 degrees.
- Step 5: Paint the mat, slowly. Keep their wrist flat on the mat and slide it down towards their hips while you slowly raise their elbow. Stop the moment they tap.
Common americana mistakes
- Lifting the wrist off the mat. The most common mistake. Once the hand comes up, the shoulder is off the hook. Keep the wrist on the mat the whole time.
- Letting the elbow straighten. A straight arm has no handle. Keep the 90-degree bend and the arm in a tight L, not reaching overhead.
- Loose hips. If they can bridge or turn in, they’ll pull the arm out. Block the hips with your knees first.
- Finishing fast. The shoulder and the elbow are both under load. Go slowly and give your partner time to tap.
If they straighten the arm to escape, the armbar is the classic switch. If they turn the hand the other way, you’re in a kimura.
What happens if you don’t tap to an americana?
The front of the shoulder and the inside of the elbow give. A 2026 review of grappling submissions says the shoulder injuries an americana could cause may mimic a traumatic dislocation out of the front of the joint, including tears of the rim of the socket, and that the elbow is loaded the way a pitcher’s is (Hasegawa et al. 2026).
The americana is often called the safe one. The data doesn’t say that. The same review found no published reports of americana injuries and puts that down to underreporting, not a lower risk (Hasegawa et al. 2026). In the biggest BJJ injury survey, of 1,140 grapplers, the americana wasn’t among the top three submissions that hurt the person caught (Hinz et al. 2021), and no americana injuries were recorded across eight competitions in Hawaiʻi (Scoggin et al. 2014). Rarely reported doesn’t mean harmless.
How to train the americana safely
- Tap early. Tap when you feel the stretch in the front of your shoulder or your elbow, not when it hurts.
- Finish slowly and let go on the tap. Raise the elbow gradually so your partner has time to tap, and release the moment they do.
- Train under a qualified coach. Learn and drill shoulder locks in a class, with someone who can check your position.
- Get checked if something’s wrong. Seek medical care for shoulder or elbow pain, weakness, or a shoulder that feels loose after an americana.
Does your americana land on everyone, or only on beginners?
Finishing a white belt and finishing a resisting blue belt are different results. JitsAI scores each technique against a nine-level ladder by partner size and experience, so you know who your americana really works on.
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Video transcripts
Transcript: What happens if you don’t tap to an americana
What happens if you don't tap to an Americana? The front of your shoulder gives, and your elbow can go with it. Same grip as the Kimura, turned the other way. From mount, pin their wrist to the mat, your elbow by their ear, other hand under their arm. Grab your own wrist, keep their hand on the mat, slide it down and lift the elbow, their forearms the handle. It cranks the upper arm bone backwards in the socket. Your shoulders a ball in a shallow cup, with a hammock of ligament underneath holding it in. That hammock stretches and so do the muscles that turn your arm in. That's your tap. Keep going and the ball can pop out the front and tear the rim of the cup. Your elbow cops it too. The inside gets pulled open like a pitcher's. People call it the safe one. Barely any injuries get reported and researchers reckon that's because nobody reports them. Go slow, tap early, train tomorrow.
Transcript: Leverage
Strength loses to physics, every time. A pivot, a load, a push. Push further from the pivot and you get more twist. That twist is torque, force times distance. Same push, three times further out, three times the twist. In an armbar, your hips are the fulcrum. Grip near the elbow, barely anything. Grip the wrist, five times the leverage. Their arm has a short lever, yours is long. Base, stay wide and low. You tip when your weight passes your base. Frames, stack your bones. Stop pushing, start framing. Smaller person, longer lever, physics wins, every time.
Americana questions
What’s the difference between an americana and a kimura?
Same grip, opposite direction. The americana turns the hand towards their head (external rotation); the kimura turns it up behind their back (internal rotation). They load different parts of the shoulder (Hasegawa et al. 2026).
Is the americana a shoulder lock or an elbow lock?
Mainly a shoulder lock. The elbow is loaded on the way, on its inner side, but the shoulder’s rotation is the target (Hasegawa et al. 2026).
Is the americana safe?
No submission is safe if you don’t tap. There are almost no injury reports for the americana, and a 2026 review says that’s likely underreporting rather than a lower risk (Hasegawa et al. 2026). Finish it slowly and tap early.
Why does my americana keep slipping?
Usually the wrist comes off the mat or their elbow straightens. Keep the wrist pinned, the elbow at about 90 degrees, and your weight on them so they can’t turn in.
Does the americana work in no-gi?
Yes. The grip is on the arm, not the clothing, so it works the same in the gi and no-gi.
Sources
- Hasegawa et al. (2026), Common grappling submissions, Hawaiʻi Journal of Health & Social Welfare 85(6): 132–141. Americana: hyper-external rotation of the shoulder (the kimura is internal); injuries may mimic a traumatic anterior dislocation, with labral tears possible; the elbow sits in a pitcher’s late-cocking position, straining the ulnar collateral ligament; no published americana injury reports, likely underreporting.
- Turkel et al. (1981), Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (Am) 63(8): 1208–1217. Near 90 degrees of abduction, the inferior glenohumeral ligament is what prevents dislocation during external rotation (cadaver shoulders).
- Hinz et al. (2021), Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine 9(12). Survey of 1,140 athletes: the top three submissions injuring the person caught were the armbar (55), kimura (31) and heel hook (27); the americana isn’t listed.
- Scoggin et al. (2014), Assessment of injuries during Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine 2(2). Eight BJJ tournaments in Hawaiʻi, 2005–2011: no americana injuries recorded.
This page explains a sport technique. It isn’t medical advice.