The omoplata: how it works and how to do it
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By Scott Flear, founder of JitsAI.
The omoplata is a shoulder lock from guard: you swing a leg over your opponent’s shoulder, trap their bent arm against your hip and lean forward, which turns their upper arm inwards in the socket. It’s the kimura’s twist, done with your legs instead of your arms, and legs are much stronger than arms. Control their hips so they can’t roll out, lean forward slowly, and tap early when you’re caught.
What is an omoplata?
The omoplata is a guard attack in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Omoplata is Portuguese for shoulder blade, but it’s the shoulder joint that pays. You use your legs to trap one of their arms, sit up beside them and lean over their back.
It works in the gi and in no-gi. Even when it doesn’t finish, it’s a strong sweep and back-take threat, and it links with the triangle and the armbar from the same guard.
How does an omoplata work?
Their bent arm becomes a crowbar and your legs are the hands on it.
- The same twist as a kimura. Their hand stays stuck at your hip while their shoulder is pinned under your leg. As you lean forward, the upper arm turns inwards in the socket, the same direction as a kimura.
- Legs beat arms. Your hips and legs drive the lean, so the lever has far more behind it than an arm-only kimura grip.
- No hip control, no finish. If they can roll forward over their trapped shoulder, the twist unwinds. Holding their far hip or back is what keeps the lever on.
Episode 1 of our Anatomy Series is the physics of levers: a longer lever and a bigger push give more twist. In the omoplata your legs supply both.
How do you do an omoplata?
These steps start from closed guard, with you on your back. Drill the hip control in step 5 as much as the leg swing.
- Step 1: Break their posture. Pull them down with your legs and control one arm.
- Step 2: Hip out and push the head. Push their head away with your hand and swing your hips out to the side of the arm you’re attacking.
- Step 3: Leg over the shoulder. Swing the leg on that side over their head and down onto their shoulder, so their arm is trapped by your leg and their hand is stuck at your hip.
- Step 4: Flatten them out. Turn and scoot your hips away so their shoulder is pinned to the mat and they end up face down.
- Step 5: Sit up and hold the hip. Sit up beside them and wrap an arm over their back or grab their far hip, so they can’t roll forward out of it.
- Step 6: Lean forward slowly. Keep their hand at your hip and lean your chest forward over their back. Go slowly, and let go the moment they tap.
Common omoplata mistakes
- Not controlling the hip. Without a hold on their back or far hip, they roll forward and escape. Sit up and grab it straight away.
- Staying square. If your hips don’t get out to the side, your leg can’t get over the shoulder. Hip out first.
- Letting the hand slip off your hip. Once their hand slides free, the arm straightens and the lever is gone. Keep it trapped against your hip.
- Cranking the lean. Your legs are strong and the shoulder is near the end of its range. Lean forward slowly and give your partner time to tap.
If they posture up as you swing your leg, the triangle is often there instead.
What happens if you don’t tap to an omoplata?
Honestly, we couldn’t find a study that looks at omoplata injuries. The closest evidence is for the kimura, which turns the shoulder the same way. In a kimura, the ligament at the back and bottom of the shoulder capsule and the muscles that turn the arm outwards are stretched, and the front of the joint can be pinched (Hasegawa et al. 2026).
Past the tap point, the shoulder is being forced beyond its range, and with your legs driving it that point comes quickly. Finish slowly, and tap early when you’re caught.
How to train the omoplata safely
- Tap early. Tap when your shoulder is pinned and you feel the stretch, not when it hurts.
- Finish slowly and let go on the tap. Lean forward 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 pain, weakness, or a shoulder that feels loose after an omoplata.
Does your omoplata 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 omoplata really works on.
- One Focus a week, with pinned lessons from Henrique Rezende’s 74-lesson fundamentals course.
- A nine-level ladder for every technique, from partners less experienced than you to more experienced ones, each split lighter, same weight and heavier.
- Land it once and it’s a hit; 3 wins across 2 sessions and it’s proven.
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Know what works See what holds up, against whom, then pick your next Focus.
Video transcripts
Transcript: What happens if you don’t tap to an omoplata
What happens if you don't tap to an omoplata? The back of your shoulder can tear and the ball can pop out the back. Omoplata is Portuguese for shoulder blade, but it's the joint that pays. It's a kimura, done with legs, and legs are way stronger than arms. From closed guard, they push your head and hip out to the side. A leg swings over your head and onto your shoulder. Your shoulders pin to the floor, hand stuck at their hip. They sit up, hold your back so you can't roll out, and lean forward, slowly. Your bent arms now a crowbar. The upper arm bone twists inwards in the socket. Your shoulders a golf ball on a tee, held by a bag of ligaments and the muscles that turn your arm out. The back and bottom of that bag stretch, and so do those muscles. That's your tap. Keep going, and the ball can slip out the back, and the bag can tear. Honest bit. There's no study of omoplata injuries. This is kimura evidence. Same twist. 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.
Omoplata questions
What does omoplata mean?
It’s Portuguese for shoulder blade. The lock itself works on the shoulder joint.
Is the omoplata the same as a kimura?
It turns the shoulder the same way, but you do it with your legs instead of a figure-four grip with your arms.
Is the omoplata legal for white belts?
In IBJJF competition it’s on the illegal-moves table only for the 4 to 12 and 13 to 15 age groups, so it’s allowed for 16 and 17 year olds and for adults at every belt, white included (IBJJF Rule Book v6, 2024).
Why do people roll out of my omoplata?
Because their hips are free. Sit up and hold their far hip or back before you lean forward.
Does the omoplata work in no-gi?
Yes. It uses your legs and their arm, not the clothing.
Sources
- Hasegawa et al. (2026), Common grappling submissions, Hawaiʻi Journal of Health & Social Welfare 85(6): 132–141. Kimura (the same direction of twist as the omoplata): the posterior band of the inferior glenohumeral ligament, the posterior capsule and the external rotators are stretched, and anterior structures such as the labrum can be impinged. No omoplata-specific data.
- IBJJF Rule Book v6 (June 2024), Technical fouls: illegal moves table, p. 29. “Omoplata” is illegal for ages 4–12 and 13–15 only.
This page explains a sport technique. It isn’t medical advice.