In this video I show a very common escape from the armbar position, the L- Grip Escape.
There are a couple of points that you really need to make sure to do well or you will not be able to escape effectively.
The first step will be to take a good grip on the inside of your bicep or on your far side lapel. The bicep has some great counters but oddly I have experienced a lot of BJJ practitioners prefer grabbing the bicep over grabbing the lapel. Irregardless of which grip you take it must be secure before you think about escaping the position...PROTECT THAT ARM!
The next step is uncrossing your opponents feet. This can be very difficult but having a strong grip on the lapel or on the bicep should by you enough time to get those legs open. Once the legs are open it is a good idea to continue controlling the leg until you get the back of your head on the thigh.
Once the legs have opened and you attempt to get your head on that thigh it is important to bend your neck and enter the thigh as close to the hip as possible. This will insure that your opponent doesnt move their leg and put you back into the pocket. This may feel uncomfortable at first as it is uncommon that we actually take our neck out of alignment to perform a move in BJJ.
Once the back of your head is on the thigh it is important to walk your upper back onto that leg. This will provide some good domination over your opponents hips. Remember that you should have your weight resting on your opponent and not be bridging up.
Once you have that leg dominated it is time to bring your outside elbow to the floor. This will make sure that it is impossible for your opponent to bridge up and get his leg back into the game. As you advance through the ranks this will be one of the steps that you can skip but it does add a lot of extra time and safety to the escape.
Once your outside elbow is on the floor you should have enough room to get your arm that is being armbared out of danger. Bring that elbow to the floor next to your opponents hips and then turn in. The act of bringing the elbow to the floor should GREATLY increase the effectiveness and ease of turning.
As you come up make sure that both arms are in so that you do not get submitted via triangle or put yourself back into danger of the armbar (seeing you just put so much effort into escaping).