5.

Precision in Movement

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Precision in
Movement

Good Jiu Jitsu relies on precise movements When you begin to push on an opponents
body you must push with a specific area on your arms (the heel of hand last thee
inches of the elbow and the bicep) AND you must place them on a specific area of the
opponents body to have leverage over it
Allow me to share an analogy with you:

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When you attempt to push open

Poor leverage
a door do you push on the handle
side of the door or the hinged side
of the door? The answer is obvi%
Good leverage
ous you push on the handle side
of the door However I must ask
you another question: what
would happen if you pushed on
the hinged side of the door? Well you would end up exerting a lot more pressure on
the door to open it You would still be able open the door from the hinged side How%
ever you would be using pure strength The same thing applies to Jiu Jitsu!

Precision in
Movement

If your goal is to push an opponent chest off of your chest placing your forearm
across his throat and pushing with say -. lbs of pressure would do the trick This
would represent pushing on the handle side of the door
In contrast lets say that you knew nothing about posture and you began to push on
the opponents ribs with one hand and pull on the back of his gi with the other hand
How much pressure would you have to apply to get his chest off of yours? -. lbs? /0
lbs? -00 lbs? -.0 lbs? I would say it would roughly be in the neighborhood of the
weight of the opponents upper torso plus the isometric strength of his forearm and
bicep muscles This would represent pushing on the hinged side of the door
Now both methods have the potential to be effective However only one of these
methods would be efficient Do you see the difference between the two? This is why
precision in movement is more important than the old grab and heave method

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6. Pushing motions with the arms

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Pushing with
your arms

When you attempt to escape the side mount position you need to push the opponents
weight off of your chest To do so you will need to use your arms There are three
areas on your arm that will give you the most leverage for pushing:

The heel of the hand gives you a great amount

of leverage over your opponents body
when you have them at arms length
However you can not rely on be%
ing able to push with your hands
at all times

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- The heel of the hand

3 The lower bicep / upper forearm
/ The last few inches of the forearm (close to the elbow)

Sometimes an opponents
body is so close to yours that
you will not be able to push

2
3

Pushing with
your arms

on his body with the heel of your hand In these instances you will need to push with
the lower portion of your forearm (the ulna bone in your forearm) When you push
with this area make sure you push with the lower portion of it near your elbow (the
last three or four inches)
Additionally there will be times when you purposely hide your arms underneath an
opponents body When you do this you will be unable to push with the heel of your
hand or the lower portion of your forearm You will need to push with the crook of
your elbow (antecubital fossa) The lower portion of your bicep and the upper por%
tion of your forearm (radial side) will need to do the work Additionally you will
need to start the pushing motion with the driving power of the hips!

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Lastly the purpose for the pushing motions with your arms is to create space be%
tween your head and shoulders and their head and shoulders When your opponent is
able to keep your head and shoulder directly over top of your head and shoulders he/
she can maintain a tremendous amount of control over your body When you create
space you take a lot of leverage away from them!

7. Hip movement

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Hip Movement

When your opponent is in control of your body from the side mount position it is
imperative that you create space between your hips and their hips However there
are times when it is impossible to create space between your hips and your opponents
hips When this occurs you must attempt to place your opponents hips directly un%
derneath yours and then off balance their body
To create space between your hips and the
hips you will need to place your foot on
the ground and move your hips away from
their hips
The purpose for moving my hips away from
my opponents hips is to create enough
space to insert the tip of my knee under%
neath his rib cage

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Video

Hip Movement

To off balance your opponent you will need to move your hips closer to theirs so that
their hips are directly over top of yours Once you do this you will have the leverage
you need to off balance them by bridge and rolling
Moving your hips helps to gain leverage
over your opponents body In general
move your hips away from the opponent
while simultaneously pushing on his body
Move your hips closer to the opponents
body to use your hips to off%balance them
(by bridging and rolling)

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Video

8. Head and shoulder movement

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Head / Shoulder
Movement

In addition to hip movement there also needs to be a lot of head and shoulder move%
ment This head and shoulder movement is related to the pushing motions discussed
earlier When you move your head and
shoulders away from your opponents head
and shoulders their ability to keep their
weight centered on your upper torso is de%
creased substantially
Additionally it forces the opponent to fully
extend his arm if he continues to pull his
weight on top of your upper torso This pre%
sents an awesome opportunity for an arm
lock

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Video

Notice I am pushing with

the heel of my hand!

Head / Shoulder
Movement

However just like with hip movement sometimes it is impossible to move your head
and shoulders away from the opponents head and shoulders In these instances you
will need to move your head and shoulders
closer to their body specifically their belly
button This will force them to transition
to another position (and it will be during
the transition that you will escape)
To move your head and shoulders away
from the opponents head and shoulders
you will need to turn onto your side FIRST
Yes I know it look like I am exposing my
arm However you have to trust me on this
one My arm is as safe as a new born baby
in the arms of an overprotective mother!

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Video

9. Turning onto your side

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Turn onto
your side

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Most of the basic escapes from the side mount position involve turning onto the side
of your body before you begin to push or move your hips The reason for doing this is
simple: the more of your body that is in contact with the mat the more friction there
is The less of your body that is in contact with the mat the less friction and the easier
it is to move your hips
Before your attempt to push (real hard)
and move your hips you need to make
sure you are on one side of your body
Your upper torso must be at a >0
angle perpendicular to the ground
This not only decreases the amount of
friction between you and the mat but
it also make sit easier for you to push
For example when you push on an
opponents body while your back is flat
on the ground you have to fight gravity because you have to push up off the ground
at >0 angle perpendicular to the ground This forces your arms to support all of your

Turn onto
your side

opponents weight When you turn onto your side you push on the opponents body
at less than a >0 angle which forces your opponent to catch his balance When he
places his hand or knee on the ground to catch his balance it decreases the amount of
weight your arms have to support
To turn onto your side you must first bridge
into the opponent to create enough space to
turn At the apex of your bridge you begin
to turn onto your side so that as soon as your
body hits the ground you will be on your side
ready to begin your escape

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Video

10. Formula for hold downs

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The Formula

Before I get into the specifics of each escape I would like you to understand the other
side of the coin When you understand the specific tasks your opponent must accom%
plish in order to hold you down you will be more equipped to understand what it is
that you have to do to escape
There are four (@) tasks your opponent must accomplish to hold you down:
- They must keep their weight centered on upper torso
3 They must maintain a constant pulling motion with their arms
/ They must monitor and control your hips
@ They must keep their head and butt down

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Their first task your opponent must accomplish (keeping their weight centered) is a
very important one Once the opponents weight is pushed alongside of your body
(left or right) below your groin or above your head you will find it easy to move
your hips The reason for this is simple: their weight is no longer pressing into and
driving onto your upper torso When the opponents weight is centered upon your
chest it causes friction between back / butt and the ground which in turn makes it

hard for you to push and move your hips

The Formula

The second task your opponent must accomplish is an equally important task Not
only must your opponent keep his weight centered on your upper torso he must
maintain a constant pulling motion with their arms This constant pulling motion is
what anchors his weight on your upper torso
The third task is important because it keep you from pulling your opponent into your
guard When your opponent monitors your hips he keep an arm or leg next to your
hip to prevent you from putting your knee underneath him When he controls your
hips he prevents you from moving your hips away from his
The fourth task (keeping your head and butt down) is not as important as the first
three However it can make a big difference when youre grappling an opponent
who is who is highly skilled or is simply much larger and stronger than you

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The purpose for keeping ones head down is simple: when you lift your head up it is
easy for your opponent to place his forearm underneath your throat and push you

weight off of his chest The purpose for keeping your butt down is to make it harder
for the opponent to bridge and roll

The Formula

Once you understand the specific tasks an opponent must accomplish to hold you
down you will know how to counter his efforts and be more prepared to escape
When I allow someone to pass my guard because I want to work on my side mount
escapes the first thing I do to escape is to push their weight off of the center of my
chest and place it along side of me Since I know how important it is for an opponent
to keep his weight centered on me thats the first things I try to do

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Sometimes I will not be able to off%center an opponents weight because he has too
firm of a grip and is very balanced When this happens I must use the momentum of
his weight driving forward and down onto me to off%balance him When I can cause
my opponent to catch his balance with his right arm I know that for a short period of
time his right arm can no longer anchor his weight on my chest This gives me an
opportunity to get under him and bridge and roll him or push and move my hips

11. Different Methods of Escape

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There are (@) four methods of escape:

Methods
of Escape

- The Basic:
3 The Intermediate:
/ The Advanced:
@ The Highly Advanced:

bridge & roll (BAR) push & move your hips

swing your legs (BAR) push & move your hips
leg entanglement swing your legs PAMH
the use ploys to force transitions

Most students are familiar with the basic escapes However Im not sure how in%
depth each student knowledge is of each escape It is one thing to HAVE A GENERAL
IDEA of how to do a basic escapes it is quite another thing to KNOW the basic es%
capes and yet quite another to HAVE A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING of the basic
escapes and still quite another to HAVE MASTERY over the basic escapes

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The basic escapes involve bridging and rolling (BAR) as well as pushing and moving
your hips (PAMH) I think the basics are a great place to start However once an
opponent learns how to counter these basic escapes one must learn more complex
escapes

Methods
of Escape

The intermediate level escapes involve putting the basics together into simple two%
technique and three technique combinations as well as adding a powerful compo%
nent called momentum This powerful component has the ability to move dead
weight around You need to create and use momentum when an opponent has passed
your guard and decided to hold you down until time runs out because he is one point
ahead of you
You must use momentum to assist the pushing motions with your arms to create
enough space to move where and when you want to move
The advanced level escapes involve leg and arm entanglement as well as the use of
the basic and intermediate escapes Leg and arm entanglements are used to go from
the side mount position to the half guard and then finally into the full guard or some
other position Leg and arm entanglements can also be used as ploys

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12. The use of space and weight

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Space &
Weight

To effectively and efficiently escape from the side mount position you must learn
how to use space and weight to your advantage
First you must understand how space and weight are used against you Once you
understand this you will successfully escape more often!
Space
Space: When you find yourself being side mounted your opponent is trying to de%
crease the amount of space between your body and his body He is also trying to
decrease the amount of space between your hips and his hips as well as his head and
shoulders and yours
What you will need to do is to create as much space as possible between your chest
and your opponents chest You can create this space by pushing with your forearms
or your hands The main areas you need to push on are:

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- The front side and top of the head

3 The front of the throat
/ The front side and back of the shoulder

Space &
Weight

@ The front and back of the upper arm (bicep and tricep)
. The front of the rib cage (next to the floating ribs)
F The front and side of the hips
G The front side and back of the knee
You should be able to push with any portion of your anatomy (eg head shoulder
bicep forearm hand etc) Obviously some portions of your anatomy are better to
push with than others However you must learn how to push with each and every
portion of your body!
Weight
Weight: When your opponent has you side mounted he needs to keep his weight
centered on your upper torso to maintain control over your body
Your goal will be to off%center his weight There are four (@) directions you can push
an opponents weight to off%center it:

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- Down towards your feet

3 To your left

Space &
Weight

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@ To your right
. Over the top of your head
When you attempt to push your opponents weight off of your body you will need
the assistance of momentum To use momentum push into the opponents body to
force him to push back into you When he pushes his weight into your body you can
then follow this pressure by pushing in the same direction as he is pushing

13. Techniques

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Escape from hold down H3 % place in guard

Techniques

- place your hands in posture (your right

forearm against opponents throat left fore%
arm against opponents right hip your left
knee against the opponents left hip)
3 move your hips to the right just enough
to place your left knee on top of the
opponents left thigh

Video

/ push your arms and left knee to full

extension
@ hook your left foot on the inside of your opponents right leg
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. pull your right knee to your chest and place the opponent into your guard

Heres a close up of the same technique:

Techniques

Notice how my hip moves just enough to

my right so that I can insert my knee be%
tween the top of his thigh and the bottom
of his floating rib
Also notice that after I insert my left knee
I push on the opponents hips with it I will
then extend my left leg before I insert my
right foot This will give me the space I
need to insert my foot

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The purpose for inserting my right foot un%

derneath the opponents left thigh is to
prevent him from walking around to his
right and countering my attempts to place
him in my guard

Video

Escape from hold down H3 % sit up

Techniques

- place your hands in posture (your right

forearm against opponents throat left
forearm against opponents right hip your
left knee against the opponents left hip)
3 move your hips to the right just enough
to place your left knee on top of the
opponents left thigh When you do this the

Video

opponent will counter by placing his left hand on

the ground next to your hip This will prevent your
knee from coming underneath him When he does
this you will:

/ lift your right foot into the air and swing it downward
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@ as your leg goes down you sit up free your left hand and push his head away

Heres a close up of the same technique:

Techniques

Notice how I create momentum with my

right leg!
I will discuss the use of and the creation of
momentum in much greater detail in an%
other issue of the on%line instructionals
Video

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