Master Countering the BJJ Underhook With This Ultimate Guide

Underhooks in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu hold significant importance. We can call it a gateway for many attacks and submissions. You can utilize underhook to submit and take down your opponent. With all its significance, it becomes essential for you to master it. But it is not enough to master and apply it to your opponent to open your submission gate. People often take the BJJ moves and techniques to submit and take their opponent down. However, the most critical aspect is to learn to counter and reverse a particular move.

This will make you a true master of the BJJ move or technique. So besides knowing the BJJ underhook and its application, you also need to learn to counter and reverse the BJJ underhook. BJJ underhook counters are crucial to understand because once your opponent has you in the BJJ underhook, you will have no way to escape, and ultimately, your opponent will take you down. You don't need to be confused regarding BJJ underhook counters. This article will discuss the best ways for countering and reversing the BJJ underhooks.

BJJ underhook is the BJJ technique, or move-in, in which you try to put your arms and hands under your opponent’s arms. This way, you can control your opponent’s upper body and shoulder. BJJ underhook is a very effective way of controlling your opponent’s upper body and trapping them. It is a versatile technique, meaning you can do it in various ways.

• Imagine you have taken your opponent down. You have passed your opponent’s guard. You have finally reached BJJ side control for taking your opponent to submission. But after getting all that, you screw it all up. Why? Because you got underhooked by your BJJ opponent. This makes you vulnerable to many attacks, traps, and submissions. But you don't need to be worried about that. This article will stop that from ever happening again with you.
• One of the positions that your opponent wants to get on the bottom is a BJJ underhook with their far arm. They will try to come under your bottom arm. Once they have the BJJ underhook, they can bridge you up. They can either come to your back or leg or just escape. All of these things happening to you are bad. So you may think now, how should you shut down this BJJ underhook? This article will give you the five best ways to avoid the BJJ underhook or to counter or reverse the BJJ underhooks.

• The first way among the five best ways for countering and reversing your opponent’s underhook is tying your upper body to your opponent’s lower body. It is very simple. You have to take your arm, which is being underhooked. Place it between your opponent’s legs. With that arm, grip your opponent across their hips while keeping your arm between their legs. Once you have gripped them, they will lose control over you. They will not be able to throw you up. 

• This will tie your body to your opponent’s upper body. This technique reverses your opponent’s BJJ underhook. From their complete control on you to no control with this technique. So, it is a very effective and easiest method for reversing and countering the BJJ underhook. You have put your opponent from controlling you to a position in which you control them. They will left with no other option. They will not be able to trap you or make attacks on you. They will only try to escape from your control.

• The second way among the five best ways for countering and reversing your opponent’s underhook is trying to put your opponent in the BJJ kesa-gatame position. This has high risk, but it is also the most effective. You can quickly go for submissions once you have done this. You have to be very careful about doing this. You have to do this technique for reversing and countering the BJJ underhook by doing the method at the start of the move.
• As your opponent brings their arm under your armpit, they will expose their head to you. This will make their head vulnerable and available for you to submit them. At the same time, as they expose their head by getting their arm under your armpit, catch and grip their head. Pull their arm up. This will take your opponent to the BJJ kesa-gatame position. Your opponent will end up in the kesa-gatame position by trying to underhook you. 

• This is a very tricky position because you can make a lot of submissions and attacks on your opponent. You can put a lot of pressure on them to keep them in your control. However, this highly effective technique comes with a higher risk. The risk is that if their head slips by you or they succeed in saving their head from you, then you will become vulnerable to submission. They will be on your back and can make various moves and techniques for submitting and taking you down. So only use this technique after much practice and if you are confident putting your opponent in the BJJ kesa-gatame position.

• The third way among the five best ways for countering and reversing your opponent’s underhook is neutralizing your opponent’s BJJ underhook and changing it to the BJJ overhook. Although it is a very old technique, it is still very effective for reversing and countering the BJJ underhook against your opponent. 

• As your opponent comes for the BJJ underhook, try to swim your hand into a BJJ overhook. After that, come behind your opponent’s head. Push their head down and circle to their far side. This is another easy technique. This comes with a lower risk than the BJJ kesa-gatame technique.

• The fourth way among the five best ways for countering and reversing your opponent’s underhook is putting your opponent into BJJ D’Arce Choke. This technique is challenging to learn, but it is also very effective for countering and reversing the BJJ underhook. So, do this technique only if you have practiced it enough and consider yourself a master. Because otherwise, you will get yourself into a submissive position.

• So, as your opponent comes for the BJJ underhook, just suppose for now that they will turn and start coming onto their knees. Then try to push their head down and bring your arm that is being underhooked into a deep overhook. Bring your wrists deep or even your forearm deep under their neck and then move into the choking position. So now your opponent has gone from a good position in side control to a nasty BJJ D’Arce choke. 

• The fifth and last way among the five best ways for countering and reversing your opponent’s underhook is to put your opponent into BJJ reverse technical mount. This technique will help you put your opponent in various submissions such as BJJ armbar, BJJ reverse technical mount, or BJJ omoplata. This technique is important because it has been used by the greatest of all time (GOAT) in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Marcelo Gracia.
• Marcelo often used this technique to counter and reverse the BJJ underhook. If the greatest BJJ fighter has used the method, the technique has been quite effective in reversing and countering the BJJ underhook. He used to do this to everybody's body. 

• If, in the context of escaping side control, somebody got the underhook, you should immediately step over your opponent’s back. So now the foot close to your opponent’s back or spine is up. The knee that is close to your opponent’s face is down. It is the opposite of technical Mount, i.e., BJJ reverse technical mount. The knee behind your opponent’s head touches the ground, and the other foot is up. We can call it reverse technical mount.
• Now, you have to stop your opponent’s arm from escaping. Your opponent will try to bring your their back to safety. So either you need to step up or dive forward there. Then, step up by diving forward. Take your opponent’s arm, which can move up by moving your hip behind your opponent’s armpit. Now, try to sit up and pinch their shoulders.
• Slowly and carefully sit down behind your opponent. It is like a BJJ armbar that is screwed up. This is essentially the BJJ omoplata position. You can move your hips with your opponent’s arm still there. Finish them off. Put your arm back into the crease. If you rotate your hips, then the lock comes on very quickly. This is essentially the BJJ omoplata. You can move your foot in front of your opponent’s face. 

BJJ underhook is a widespread BJJ move or technique used by BJJ fighters while playing in a professional match. So you have to learn it. You have to see it both ways. You should practice putting your opponent in BJJ underhook. Try learning different ways from different positions to trap your opponent in BJJ underhook. The second thing you should remember is how to defend and escape from BJJ underhook against your opponent. You have to know both defense and escape. In this way, you can first try to protect yourself against BJJ underhook, and if your opponent somehow succeeds in putting you in BJJ underhook, you can escape from the trap. 

The following are the best ways to reverse and counter the BJJ underhook;

• Tie your upper body to your opponent’s lower body.

• Put your opponent into BJJ Kesa-Gatame.

• Change your opponent’s BJJ underhook into a BJJ overhook.

• Put your opponent into BJJ D’arce choke.

• Put your opponent into BJJ reverse technical mount.

You have to take your arm, which is being underhooked. Place it between your opponent’s legs. With that arm, grip your opponent across their hips while keeping your arm between their legs. This will tie your body to your opponent’s upper body. This technique reverses your opponent’s BJJ underhook. So, it is a very effective and easiest method for reversing and countering the BJJ underhook. 

As your opponent comes for the BJJ underhook, try to swim your hand into a BJJ overhook. After that, come behind your opponent’s head. Push their head down and circle to their far side. This is a very effective technique.