Can You Break Someone's Arm with an Armbar?

Most people assume that an armbar will break an opponent's arm if they refuse to submit. But that is not typically the case.

It's possible to break someone's arm with an armbar. However, an arm bone fracture is not the injury this submission is most likely to cause. Instead, when applied correctly, an armbar applies pressure to the elbow, which leads to joint injuries more often than bone breaks.

This article will detail the injuries that arise from this move. Then we'll cover the underlying reasons why armbars can deliver so much damage to someone's arm.

3 Injuries an Armbar is Most Likely to Cause

Based on the mechanics of a standard armbar technique, these are the three types of damage that can arise in order of likelihood:

• Hyperextension

• Dislocation

• Bone Fracture

All three of those injuries are avoidable if you are prompt in tapping out. But let's consider what happens when someone who is a bit more stubborn gets caught in an armbar.

Hyperextension

Hyperextension is the injury most likely to occur during an armbar. An armbar forces the elbow joint to extend beyond its natural range of motion, which is essentially the definition of an elbow hyperextension injury. Elbow hyperextension causes significant strain and damage to the ligaments that hold your elbow bones in place. In severe cases, this leads to our second most probable armbar injury.

Dislocation

If you continue to hyperextend an arm in an armbar, it will probably result in a dislocation. When this happens, the three bones that meet to form your elbow joint separate from one another. Elbow dislocations can be partial or complete and cause damage to both ligaments and bones. Dislocations are noticeable because they give your arm a twisted and deformed appearance.  

Bone Fracture

A clean bone fracture is not as likely as a hyperextension injury or a dislocation, but one can happen during an armbar. Bone fractures typically come about when the practitioner applying the armbar places force on the upper arm or forearm rather than directly on the elbow joint. Depending on the specific location of that force, an armbar can fracture one or more bones at a time.

What Bones Does an Armbar Break?

Three primary bones comprise the structure of your upper and lower arm. Each of these bones is at risk during an armbar:

• Radius (forearm)

• Ulna (forearm)

• Humerus (upper arm)

The radius and the ulna are significantly thinner than the humerus bone, making them much easier to break. However, it's possible to use an armbar to fracture any of those three bones with enough force.

Still, bone fractures are much less likely than hyperextension injuries and dislocations for one simple reason. It takes significantly more force to break through the durable tissues of your arm bones than it does to damage the soft ligaments of your elbow.

How Do You Execute an Armbar?

To perform an armbar, you'll need to control both ends of your opponent's arm and hold it in an extended position. Then, you'll apply force to your opponent's elbow to force the joint past its natural range of motion.

Basic Armbar Technique

There are a few popular armbar variations. But for the sake of simplicity, we'll look at the most common armbar style in jiu-jitsu. Here are the four general steps you'll need to take to complete this technique:

• Control your opponent's shoulder with your legs

• Control your opponent's hand with your arms

• Extend your opponent's arm until it is straight

• Raise your hips to put pressure on the elbow joint

Armbars are one of the best submissions in jiu-jitsu, and they are available in multiple positions, such as mount and closed guard. They also rely on simple mechanics and a fundamental understanding of leverage.

How Armbars Employ Leverage

An armbar is a near-perfect example of a class one lever. The easiest way to understand a class one lever is to imagine a seesaw. You can also consider class one levers to consist of:

• A beam (your opponent's arm)

• A fulcrum (your pelvic bone against your opponent's elbow joint)

• Forces on each end (your legs control the shoulder, your arms control the hand)

Those simple components are present in some form in all armbar variations. Employing leverage in that manner is what permits you to do damage to your opponent's arm and force them into submission.

Armbar Safety

We've established that armbars can be damaging in more ways than one. Any time you perform an armbar in a training scenario, you should do so with care. Armbars are like many other submissions in jiu-jitsu in that they can easily injure your training partners if you fail to use control while you execute this technique. Likewise, you will be wise to submit to armbars well before your arm becomes hyperextended.  

Why is the Armbar So Effective?

An armbar is effective because it uses the strength of several major muscle groups against the comparatively weak muscles of your opponent's isolated arm. This discrepancy in power allows the person applying the armbar to exert incredible pressure on their opponent's elbow joint.

Creating a power imbalance by using your entire body to attack a single body part is one of the core philosophies of jiu-jitsu. The armbar is the perfect move to illustrate this concept.

How Bad Does an Armbar Hurt?

The degree to which an armbar hurts depends on how mobile your elbow joint is. In most cases, armbars become incredibly painful as soon as they damage the ligaments and bones in your arm. However, some jiu-jitsu practitioners have exceptionally lax joints, making them more capable of withstanding the pressure of an armbar. Still, an armbar can cause pain and injury even if you have mobile joints.

What's the Easiest Way to Break Someone's Arm?

Breaking someone's arm is not easy, but some techniques can do it. The Kimura is one of the most likely submissions to cause an arm bone fracture. The main goal of a Kimura is to twist the shoulder, but this technique can also lead to a broken arm bone. The armbar is another move that can break someone's arm bone if you apply force in the correct location.

Conclusion

A broken arm bone is not the most common injury during an armbar, but it can happen. Hyperextension and dislocation prove to be far more likely. In any case, the armbar is a highly-effective submission technique that is crucial to jiu-jitsu.