What is an arm drag?

The arm drag is a fundamental grappling movement that clears your opponent's arm across their body, exposing their back. To execute: grip their wrist or tricep, pull their arm across while stepping to the side, and reach around to their back or far hip. The motion drags their arm past your body while you move to their exposed side. Arm drags work from standing, seated guard, butterfly guard, and many other positions. They chain naturally into back takes, single legs, and sweeps. Marcelo Garcia built much of his legendary game around arm drags from butterfly guard. Key details: time the drag when they are reaching for you, explode laterally as you pull, and immediately establish back control or attack before they can square up.