Eight Angle Pose Tutorial: 7-Min Arm Balance for BJJ

See how you are. If you're down here, that's fine. But just try and find a bit of a stretch in the hip to begin with here. And again, if you are now thinking maybe I should have done a warmup video, just pause it and come back once you've done one.

As I said, you need to be warm for these. Good. So what I'm doing right now, we're going to do in an arm balance shortly. We'll just get the other side kind of stretched a similar way.

Okay, so just drop that down by the side. We'll grab the right foot. Okay, same thing. Cut round the leg.

Just go from side to side. Feeling where it's tight. Okay, so we've got maybe foot in the criss-cross of the arm, cable grip from side to side. Good.

Now left hand, right foot. Bring your right hand or arm on the inside and now try and get that calf over your shoulder. Again, if you're here, that's fine. Just move from side to side.

See how your knee feels though. Good. So this is just kind of the way we set up. So it's just nice to kind of have been there and to just move a little bit there for a second.

So for an angle, I'm bringing the knee over my shoulder and then the other foot is scooping down to the side. All right, so the way I like to get into this to begin with is just to get that leg over your shoulder. So try and really tuck your shoulder under that to begin with. Makes it much easier when we get into it.

And now I'm thinking about pointing that foot and clamping my heel down. Okay, we've done this kind of elephant trunks pose before and it's a very similar entry. Okay, so I'm not, my hands aren't here. I'm never pushing myself up.

My hands need to come back by my hips here. Okay, this is already sliding down. That's going to happen, but try and start off with it nice and high up. It's going to help you.

And then my hands are a little wider than they would be usually. And my right foot is going to come to the side as I lift myself up. So imagine you're pushing up off the ground, my hips up. Now this foot tucks in, cross your feet and then go to the side, push your feet out to the side and lean down.

Okay. It's very tricky. You might fall like this to begin with, but you're in the right place. Okay.

So let's come back out. We'll try the other side. So right foot over. Good.

Scoop the hands back. This is going to keep that there. Keep this pointed, keep your heel heavy, wider hands than plank. Okay.

Now I'm going to push my hips up, cross my heels or ankles, feet out to the side. Okay. Hold yourself here. It's fine if you fall.

Balance, balance, balance. Come back up and out. Good. We'll go to the other side in a minute.

If that was a complete nightmare for you, we can break down how you get into that without the balance. So leg goes over the shoulder. Okay. And then as I come down, I would have pushed myself up here, just learn your right hip and imagine you're in the pose here.

This is how we want to be. Okay. I'm not letting my leg completely collapse my shoulder. I'm pushing into my leg with the back of my shoulder.

All right. So when we're here, I'm not like this, this is dropping down. Can't do much. I am lifting up into that.

Okay. That's going to help. So if you watch, I'll get into the pose. I'm in here.

So if this comes in, cross, now I lean forwards. Obviously I've got a lot of weight in my left hamstring on that shoulder here, but I'm also pushing back into that. I'm not letting it collapse and blow out my shoulder in the front here. I'm nice and strong back into it.

Okay. So let's come up. Same thing forwards, sending the feet away. Good.

Back, see hips down. Let's go the other side. So same thing over strong with this. My shoulder is back into my hamstrings or hamstring point down, cross, lift out to the side and forwards.

Good. Back up and out. Good. So keep playing with that.

Keep trying to get in and out of that. Maybe you can just lift yourself up, wobble a bit and then fall out. The more and more you play with it, the more you're going to learn to use those fingers as brakes. Like same thing with crow.

All goes back to crow. Okay. Whether your legs are to the side and you're pivoting up and forwards is still the same thing. So you think even if my legs are to the side, it's the same thing to come up.

If I need to send my weight back, heavy with my fingertips and I go back, or if I need to go forwards a bit, we can just ease off that a little bit and slow slowly bring ourselves forwards. Okay. Same thing. And then eventually you can start working from certain like poses or balances into that and just have great fun with it.

Okay. So any questions, leave them in the comments and I can do more videos on this. That's my basic introduction to that. Really hope you enjoy it.

Give it a go and I will see you in the next video.