Artemis BJJ (MYGYM Bristol), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 09/05/2018
In order to progress from low to high mount, the main barrier is going to be their elbows. There are several ways you can remove that barrier. There is the brute force method, yanking their elbows out of the way and driving your knees up into their armpits. I wouldn't recommend that method, though it can work. A more reliable option, with greater finesse, is to put your hands on their shoulders. Keeping you arms straight, lean forwards to put all your weight through your arms. That should lift their elbows, enabling you to slide right up into high mount.
The ezequiel choke is another way to get them to lift their elbows: as soon as they give you that space in their attempt to defend, shove your knee into the gap. To really fire the leg forward, you can push off your toes. Another option is to simply keep walking your feet up their sides, as if you were climbing up a wall. Every time you see a gap, fill it, until eventually you're up really high and their bridge is nullified.
Grabbing the top of their head and driving your hips forwards is another possibility, using that leverage to raise their elbows. To further help that motion, you could try hooking an elbow and 'spider-walking' your fingers up the mat, aiming to bring their elbows away from their body. Once you have gotten up into high mount, make sure they can't wriggle back out by blocking their shoulders. You could do that with your elbows on the mat, grabbing their head or indeed the cross-face.
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Teaching Notes: Seymour's tip about going at a 45 degree angle is handy. I have been doing the whole spider hand walk thing for a long time, but I'm not sure when (or if?) I was taught it. Seymour has a structured system for it, making things far more effective. Using the cross face and switching to side to side is important, some people weren't doing that. Also, going up as high as you can with your knee.
On a non-technical note, I have not yet managed to get a good camera angle on maintaining high mount lessons. I end up pointing the camera too low, so it cuts off the stuff I'm doing upright. Same was true to a certain extent on the north south kimura lessons. Next time, experiment with pointing the camera more up, or possibly even going portrait (perhaps with a wide angle lens?)
I had a lovely surprise later on in class, when my old friend and training partner Tony suddenly appeared. I haven't seen him in years, to it was wonderful to catch up. He's an important figure for Artemis BJJ, as Tony was the other person Donal and I spoke to when we were first talking about setting up a club in late 2013. Artemis BJJ wouldn't be what it is without Tony: meant a lot to me to see him today. :D
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