The ‘Carni’ is a variation of the Omoplata that is popular in the 10th Planet system and is favored by the likes of Richie ‘Boogeyman’ Martinez amongst others. This move ties in nicely with various 10th Planet guards and has different finishing mechanics compared to a conventional Omoplata.
According to some, the Carni variation actually has more control unlike a typical Omoplata. Of course, this opinion is completely subjective and it depends on your outlook. This guide will show you how to land the Carni submission from start to finish. Don’t worry, there won’t be any weird 10th Planet terminology used in this article…it will easy to follow for non-members of 10th Planet too.
Table of Contents
Entries into the Carni
Before discussing the finishing mechanics or subtleties of the move, we shall first focus on the main two entries. Like many moves, there may be more ways to get to submission but for now we shall assess the basics. These guards are the Z guard and Rubber guard, we shall start with the Z guard.
From the Z guard, you will need to get an overhook on the opponent’s near arm. Imagine they are underhooking your arm and trying to do a knee slice pass. This is a good way to counter this particular pass but if it’s not being done, then of course you can get the overhook yourself and be more proactive. Often you will get this position when people try to flatten your Z guard.
After the overhook is secured, you should whizzer hard into the opponent of the shoulder. This will naturally break the posture of the opponent and force their head to the floor. This is ideal positioning to get your leg over the shoulder. At this point, you should shoot your leg over the shoulder.
Next is the entry from Rubber guard. Naturally, your legs will be high anyway due to the nature of Rubber guard. You can actually enter this from a regular guard so long as your legs are high. However, the Rubber guard is also a common position in 10th Planet too. With Rubber guard set up, you can then bring the leg over the face of the opponent. Often to do so, you will drag your leg over the head with your arm as you would a regular Omoplata. In this respect, most of the entries are exactly the same as if you were going for a standard Omoplata.
Foot and leg placement of the Carni
Perhaps the main point of the Carni is that your legs don’t need to sit outwards as they do with a regular Omoplata. From day one, you’re taught with to get your legs facing away from the opponent to finish the submission. However, this is not necessary when finishing the Carni. In fact, what makes the finish different to the Omoplata is that your legs should stay connected and facing into your opponent. This is what makes the move unique and may stop most traditional Omoplata escapes from working.
To begin with, your bottom leg should hook behind the knee of the opponent’s far leg. If you start in Z guard, you can easily slip this in behind the knee, whereas in Rubber guard you will have to thread this inside the legs. The second part of leg placement is to put it under the throat as if going for a Gogoplata. Instead of grabbing your foot, you should instead just keep your toes flaired upwards.
There are two key reasons for the leg and foot placements of the Carni. The first leg is put behind the knee to stop the opponent from back stepping. Often, this is typical escape to the Omoplata and sometimes people will almost cartwheel over your body into top side control.
As this is a terrible position to end up in from a possible submission, the foot keeps the opponent from escaping through the back way. Secondly, your other foot should remain in front of the throat to stop the opponent from performing a forwards roll. If desperate, people will do this to escape and try and scramble before an Armbar can be attempted by you. With your feet active and in place, neither escape should be possible.
Finishing the Carni with your hands
There are two main functions of your hands, the first is that you use your near hand to post on the far shoulder of the opponent. This is used by Martinez to stop the opponent from rolling properly. Although the foot in the throat should be sufficient, this adds another layer of defense. The second arm that is close to your opponent is used to grab the wrist and bend towards the floor.
Even against strong opponent’s, this will work due to the structure of their arm. This can work as a shoulder lock like an Omoplata, or even as an Americana lock on the elbow. If the opponent doesn’t tap, then either joint can break. Alternatively, you can bend the wrist to use it as a wrist lock.
An alternative grip is to avoid pushing on the far shoulder and instead using this arm to cup under the elbow. This is done to keep the arm in place and to stop it from slipping out and escaping. Eddie Bravo often refers to this as the ‘Jiu claw’ and is a good way of remembering to control the arm you are attacking.
Knee safety when getting your leg over the head
The same applies with an Omoplata but is worth addressing nonetheless. Basically, when an opponent resists you may struggle to bring your leg over their shoulder and beyond their head. There are a couple of ways to bypass these problems without harming your knee.
The first option is to push the head of the opponent to the side. Typically this will create a few inches of space that should allow your leg to pass through easier. The second option is to start the entry at an angle. Typically, you will want to shrimp out to the side to make a little distance on your opponent. Like most submissions, creating angles is key as otherwise your body may be misaligned.
Lastly, it’s ok to drag your leg over the head in a forwards motion, but not towards your chest. If you do this without flexibility then you can seriously damage your ligaments in your knee. Whilst flexible people like Martinez and Bravo have no issues here, the same can’t be said for everyone else. In short, if you lack flexibility then never try and force your leg where it can’t physically go. Instead, you should rely on angles, technique and correct positioning instead.
Using the Carni as a sweep
Sometimes, if you don’t establish control quickly enough then people may escape and mange to roll forward. Similar to a regular Omoplata, you should still be able to roll with them and finish. Further, if your foot remains under the throat of the opponent, you can possibly switch to a mounted Gogoplata or switch to a mounted Triangle.
In short, once the Carni has been set up from the bottom, as long as you follow the opponent then you should be good. With this said, try using the Carni next time you’re struggling to move your legs during an Omoplata. There can be a lot going on with finishing an Omoplata from start to finish, but the Carni offers a good solution and can take away some of the tricky steps involved.
For more information, check out Richie Martinez’s instructional here.
