There are not too many practitioners that get anointed as being “The King” in any particular thing in jiu-jitsu, but in the case of Nino Schembri… well, now that’s a different story. On one hand Nino is a longtime and avid Elvis Presley fan, but on the other hand he’s an omoplata, wrecking machine on the mats. He’s so good at it that he actually created it in the reverse direction and much to the chagrin of his opposition it’s much worse and they’d usually fine themselves looking up celebrating his victories with his Elvis like dance moves. As a past 2x world champion in the sport Schembri has seen the ups and downs, as well as all the changes in jiu-jitsu, yet he still was very much ahead of his time by creating moves like this and the gogoplata. Eventually Schembri pursued MMA and was an early force in the sport handing Kazushi “The Gracie Hunter” Sakuraba a loss by stoppage when at his best after already defeating Royler, Royce, Renzo, and Ryan Gracie. Unfortunately family tragedy struck and Nino’s focus completely shifted; however, there is no denying the unbridled talent within “The King of the Omoplata” which he passes onto his students today in Lawndale, CA. For more information on Nino and his academy you can check outhttps://www.ninoschembribjj.com.
In this video Nino demonstrates just one of the many setups he uses to slap on and finish with the reverse omoplata.
For more information on Nino, a breakdown of this move, others demonstrated by him, more great techniques from other high level practitioners, news, product reviews, nutritional advice, conditioning programs, supplements information, and more check out issue #31 of Jiu-Jitsu Magazine. Be sure to get your subscription today at http://jiujitsumag.com/.