--- title: The elbow cut description: Foundational Skill 2. Keep elbow out of centerline in front headlock. Get elbow to the floor in turtle. Verbatim from Volume 01. section: body tags: [bjj, skill, elbow-cut, front-headlock, turtle, centerline] genre: reference stability: stable lastUpdated: 2026-04-18 url: https://fardiniqbal.com/docs/body/mat/skills/elbow-cut --- **Source:** Volume 01, §7 —   ([full transcript](/docs/body/mat/sources/only-way-out/volume-01#7-foundational-skill-2--the-elbow-cut)) *** ## Verbatim from the transcript [#verbatim-from-the-transcript] The second skill that's going to be very important for you is the ability to **cut your elbow** either to the outside or to the inside. Really understanding that if you can get your elbow to the floor — especially when your partner is attacking your back (which happens off both front headlock and turtle) — in many ways **you solve the problem of back exposure** from turtle and front headlock. A lot of elbow cutting has to do with **keeping your elbow out**. Sometimes it has to do with drawing the elbow across, but usually it has to do with **keeping your elbow out and cutting it back**. Two classic problems: * In **front headlock**, our elbow moving across our centerline is a big problem. * In **turtle (with partner on your back)**, our elbow being locked in place by his chest is a big problem. We can solve both with the elbow cut. ### 7.1 Elbow cut in front headlock — don't let your elbow cross centerline [#71-elbow-cut-in-front-headlock--dont-let-your-elbow-cross-centerline] If Chris is in front headlock and he's drawing my elbow across the centerline, **nothing good** comes out of that: * He can strangle (whatever strangle he likes). * He can roll — even hit an Olympic-style roll and take me through. * Once my elbow is across the centerline, it's even easier for him to hit strangles. * And if I try to **sit to guard** with my elbow across the centerline, it becomes even more difficult. I may get my legs through, but actually I give him a clean opening to start strangling — and I end up with my elbow trapped. So being able to **recognize** when your elbow is going across the centerline — and having the confidence to cut it and draw it open — is a critical skill. **What we're trying to do (tying back to extension vs. retraction):** whenever we feel our partner extending our elbow away and drawing it across the centerline, we make a concerted effort to **pull our elbow back toward our knee**. You've heard this idea of **knee-elbow connection** and how important it is. It's important from this position too: * When Chris takes my elbow away from my knee, he exposes my neck, makes it easier to roll, and compromises my base. * Pulling my elbow back preserves my base and makes it a little more difficult for him to strangle. * It also **weakens his grip**, so once my elbow is back, I can open space to free my head. > **Caveat:** When you cut your elbow back, you do need to monitor your exposed neck — Chris could take his hand through and threaten strangles. So **enter inside position**: whenever you feel your partner making that transition, your right hand is there to catch his wrist. From there you can start to separate hands, move to the outside, or roll and put your back on the floor. So from front headlock: as much as our partner wants to draw our elbow across the centerline, our job is to cut our elbow back and move it to the **outside**. ### 7.2 Elbow cut in turtle — get the elbow to the floor [#72-elbow-cut-in-turtle--get-the-elbow-to-the-floor] In turtle — especially when a partner has **seat-belt position** — if we can put our back on the floor, the major issue is that our **right elbow is trapped** and we can't cut it back enough to free ourselves. If our partner is able to keep our elbow on their chest, it's very difficult for us either to gain meaningful head height or to avoid getting reversed. A lot of times you'll see people finish a **Makikomi roll**, get to a position, try to get up, and their partner reverses them — re-exposing their back. The way to get away from back exposure here is by **taking this elbow down to the floor**. Now, if we were to both roll away — even though he nominally has back control — it's very difficult for him to keep it. Not only that, but it's much easier for us to keep our own back on the mat. So from here, as we go to trap and take our partner through: when we **cut our elbow** and draw our back down to the floor, when he goes to move around, it's not that easy — you can see the elbow is down. Even if he goes to put the strangle arm in and tries to strangle, he doesn't have the proper angle or leverage to finish. That comes from your ability to take your elbow down to the floor: it takes your upper back off of your partner's chest, glues it down to the mat, and now the best thing he can do from there is turn up and face you — at which point we take inside position, draw our legs to the inside, and we're out. Same is true of something like a **peek-out**. In front headlock, if Chris locks his hands around my chest (a chest-lock), the elbow cut becomes even more important — we have the ability to cut our elbow back. > \[!PRINCIPLE] **The elbow cut** > **Separating your partner's arms through the elbow cut** — and **putting your back on the floor through the elbow cut** — is critical. Throughout the rest of the course, you'll hear us referring to elbow cuts, paying attention to where that elbow is, and avoiding bringing it across the centerline. This skill is essential whether you're defending front headlock, the back, or turtle. *** ## Connections [#connections] * **Principle in action:** [Retract; don't allow extension](/docs/body/mat/principles/retract). The elbow cut is literally "retract elbow back toward knee" at the level of a specific limb. * **Also serves:** [Back to the floor](/docs/body/mat/principles/back-to-floor) (in turtle — cutting the elbow to the floor is how you finish putting the back down against a seat-belt) and [Inside position](/docs/body/mat/principles/inside-position) (the caveat: as you cut the elbow, your secondary hand takes inside position on partner's wrist to defend the exposed neck). * **Knee-elbow connection:** the underlying anatomical idea. Partner's entire offensive game in these positions is built on extending your elbow away from your knee; elbow cut is your answer. * **Cross-position:** same skill works in front headlock (elbow back to outside) and turtle (elbow down to floor) and back (same idea). One skill, three contexts.