31/10/2022 - Teaching | Mount | Heel drag escape

Teaching #Evening
Artemis BJJ (7 Easton Rd), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 31/10/2022




Short Version:

• Get one leg flat on the floor, other knee raised
• Turn slightly on your side, just lifting your shoulder
• Step your raised-knee leg over both your flat leg and their leg
• Using your elbow to help pry their leg up, drag their foot over your leg with your heel, also bringing your flat leg knee up
• Turn your hips out to the flat leg side: you can then go to half guard, or shrimp to full guard

Full Version: My personal favourite mount escape is the heel drag, by far the highest percentage way for me to get out from under mount. It's also quite simple, another reason I like it so much. You're in mount, your elbows in a good place for defence, down by their knees. For this escape to work, you need to have one of your legs out flat, just like before. Again, you also need to get on your side: a slight bridging motion will help.



The big danger at this point is that the person on top will switch to technical mount. I recommend just lifting your shoulder slightly, rather than turning all the way on your side: that prevents exposing your back too much. Make sure that your neck is safe if you mess up and they do manage to start turning to technical mount. You also don't want to let them settle into technical mount: immediately prepare your frames to start escaping before they secure the position. You may even be able to disrupt them as they try to shift, using that window of opportunity as they're adjusting their base to enter into your escape.

If they don't get to technical mount (or you're able to work back to the previous position where you'll slightly on your side), wedge an elbow inside their knee. You can either make a frame against their hips, or if you're concerned about your neck, adjust so that you can still pry your elbow under their knee while protecting your collar with your hands (I prefer the latter). As well as chokes, you also need to be wary of their cross-face. If they can control your head, they can flatten you back out, which will make the escape less effective. Use a combination of your elbow and shrimping to shove their knee backwards, on your flat leg side.



Bring your other foot over both your flat leg and the leg they have next to it. That means you can use the heel of that foot to drag their leg over your flat leg. As soon as you get it over, lock half guard and shrimp towards their trapped leg. In half guard, you want to get onto your side as quickly as possible: if you stay flat on your back, you've already done their work for them, as they will want to flatten you out in order to pass half guard. If you're comfortable in half guard, you could stay there and work your attacks.

Alternatively, keep shrimping in the other direction, in order to free your other leg, just like you would with an elbow escape. It's also worth noting that some people, like Roy Dean, recommend just pinching your knees rather than fully triangling your legs around theirs, so that's worth trying too. To help recover full guard, you can also bring your arm across to their opposite shoulder, impeding their movement while aiding yours. Emily Kwok has a handy tip too: if their foot is too flat, making it hard to get your heel in for a drag, slide your flat leg outside to roll their heel up. That will create the space you need in order to insert your heel between their foot and the mat.



A very similar escape, which I don't use much, is the foot lift. Dean shows these two escapes in sequence on his excellent Blue Belt Requirements. The foot lift is for when they have some space underneath their in-step. People won't often do that, in my experience, but if they do, this time just step over your flat leg. Use your foot to hook underneath their instep and lift it over, then as before lock up half guard (your legs are already in position), or shrimp to recover full guard.

Make sure that you pay particular attention to shoving on their knee with this variation, as it is easier for them to slip free (though if that happens, you can always switch to the heel drag). With both escapes, it is important to get the knee of their trapped leg back behind your legs. If they still have their knee past your legs, it makes it much easier for them to move straight into a half guard pass, by driving their knee to the mat and sliding through.


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Teaching Notes: I can't think of anything I forgot. Emphasising the leverage of the three motions (elbow under knee, knee to elbow and push down on ankle) is handy, I think that's a good one to keep highlighting.

19/10/2022 - Teaching | Mount | Low to high mount

Teaching #Evening
Artemis BJJ (7 Easton Rd), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 19/10/2022




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: I think I got everything, this class is coming together well. As I forgot it until Rob mentioned it in daytime class, remember elbow hook and walk! Most important one. ;)

17/10/2022 - Teaching | Mount | Maintaining low mount

Teaching #Evening
Artemis BJJ (7 Easton Rd), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 17/10/2022




There are two basic types of mount to choose from, which I call low and high. Once you've achieved mount, I find that low mount provides the most control. First off, you want to immobilise their hips, as their main method of making space is to bridge up forcefully.



Bring your feet right back, threading them around their legs to establish two hooks: this is known as a grapevine. Alternatively, you can also cross your feet underneath (or just near, depending on your flexibility and leg length) their bum, which has the advantage of making it much harder for them to push your hooks off. Your knees are ideally off the ground, to generate maximum pressure. How far off the ground they are depends on your dimensions: the key is getting loads of hip pressure. Another option, which I learned from Rob Stevens at Gracie Barra Birmingham, is to put the soles of your feet together and then bring your knees right off the floor.



Whichever option you're going for, thrust those hips into them. It's important to get into a position where you can thrust your hips down, rather than getting bunched up so your bum starts going into the air. Use your hands for base, where again you have a couple of options. Either have both arms out, or put one under the head (remember, you can always remove it for base if you're really getting thrown hard to that side) while the other goes out wide for base.



Try to grip the gi material by their opposite shoulder, or even better, by the opposite armpit. Keep your head on the basing arm side, loading up your weight there. If they're bridging hard, you can switch from side to side, lifting their head slightly and bringing your other arm under, meaning your remaining arm bases out to the other side.



To do the trap and roll/upa escape, they will need to get control of your arm. So, don't let them grab it and crush your arm to their side. Instead, swim your arm through, like Ryron and Rener demonstrate in the third slice of the third lesson in Gracie Combatives. Be sure to do it one at a time, or you may get both arms squashed to your sides.




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Teaching Notes: Next time, add tech mount switch back in, as a reaction to elbow escape. Too brief without.

09/12/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Escape from technical mount to deep half

Teaching #922
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 09/12/2019

Deep half can be a bit tricky for beginners to get their head around, so I will often show a simple method to get there from under technical mount. This can work as a technical mount escape too. From technical mount, reach your arm behind their leg. Bump, while at the same time pushing their ankle with your other hand to trap their leg between yours.

Protect your neck with your 'bottom' hand, as otherwise they'll have a clear route to choke you. Alternative option to the above is to work on widening any space between the back of their knee and your torso, inserting your top arm into that space. Once you can get your arm through into the gap behind their knee, reach in and grab your gi trousers, by your knee. Start moving your legs towards your head, until there is an opportunity to shove their leg between yours and switch to deep half guard, controlling that leg with both of your own.



Your aim is to get your entire body underneath their leg, accomplished by your swivelling motion. You may need to push off their hip with your other hand, to help that wriggle underneath them. Once you've swivelled, reach your first hand around the outside of their leg, gripping the inside of their knee. You other hand tucks underneath their leg, so they can't grab it.

Finally, your legs are trapping their one leg. Make sure at least one of your legs is hooked over the top, so they can't just remove their leg and pass. Your other leg could be locking your other, or some people prefer to hook under their opponent's leg, meaning they can lift.

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Teaching Notes: The technical mount intro is definitely easier, so I think that works as a simple method for showing deep half. People weren't always staying tight enough, maybe show more of a pass at the end? Though the important part is getting them used to deep half. I could talk more about keeping the legs tight: Faria triangles his legs and squeezes, to prevent them pulling their leg out.

18/09/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Heel drag escape

Teaching #906
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 18/09/2019



Short Version:

• Get one leg flat on the floor, other knee raised
• Turn slightly on your side, just lifting your shoulder
• Step your raised-knee leg over both your flat leg and their leg
• Using your elbow to help pry their leg up, drag their foot over your leg with your heel, also bringing your flat leg knee up
• Turn your hips out to the flat leg side: you can then go to half guard, or shrimp to full guard

Full Version: My personal favourite mount escape is the heel drag, by far the highest percentage way for me to get out from under mount. It's also quite simple, another reason I like it so much. You're in mount, your elbows in a good place for defence, down by their knees. For this escape to work, you need to have one of your legs out flat, just like before. Again, you also need to get on your side: a slight bridging motion will help.



The big danger at this point is that the person on top will switch to technical mount. I recommend just lifting your shoulder slightly, rather than turning all the way on your side: that prevents exposing your back too much. Make sure that your neck is safe if you mess up and they do manage to start turning to technical mount. You also don't want to let them settle into technical mount: immediately prepare your frames to start escaping before they secure the position. You may even be able to disrupt them as they try to shift, using that window of opportunity as they're adjusting their base to enter into your escape.

If they don't get to technical mount (or you're able to work back to the previous position where you'll slightly on your side), wedge an elbow inside their knee. You can either make a frame against their hips, or if you're concerned about your neck, adjust so that you can still pry your elbow under their knee while protecting your collar with your hands (I prefer the latter). As well as chokes, you also need to be wary of their cross-face. If they can control your head, they can flatten you back out, which will make the escape less effective. Use a combination of your elbow and shrimping to shove their knee backwards, on your flat leg side.



Bring your other foot over both your flat leg and the leg they have next to it. That means you can use the heel of that foot to drag their leg over your flat leg. As soon as you get it over, lock half guard and shrimp towards their trapped leg. In half guard, you want to get onto your side as quickly as possible: if you stay flat on your back, you've already done their work for them, as they will want to flatten you out in order to pass half guard. If you're comfortable in half guard, you could stay there and work your attacks.

Alternatively, keep shrimping in the other direction, in order to free your other leg, just like you would with an elbow escape. It's also worth noting that some people, like Roy Dean, recommend just pinching your knees rather than fully triangling your legs around theirs, so that's worth trying too. To help recover full guard, you can also bring your arm across to their opposite shoulder, impeding their movement while aiding yours. Emily Kwok has a handy tip too: if their foot is too flat, making it hard to get your heel in for a drag, slide your flat leg outside to roll their heel up. That will create the space you need in order to insert your heel between their foot and the mat.



A very similar escape, which I don't use much, is the foot lift. Dean shows these two escapes in sequence on his excellent Blue Belt Requirements. The foot lift is for when they have some space underneath their in-step. People won't often do that, in my experience, but if they do, this time just step over your flat leg. Use your foot to hook underneath their instep and lift it over, then as before lock up half guard (your legs are already in position), or shrimp to recover full guard.

Make sure that you pay particular attention to shoving on their knee with this variation, as it is easier for them to slip free (though if that happens, you can always switch to the heel drag). With both escapes, it is important to get the knee of their trapped leg back behind your legs. If they still have their knee past your legs, it makes it much easier for them to move straight into a half guard pass, by driving their knee to the mat and sliding through.


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Teaching Notes: Still not sure if that half guard to full guard part is too complex for beginners. Simple way to think about it is elbow under leg, push between. Something to keep practicing, particularly with beginners.

16/09/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Trap & roll

Teaching #905
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 16/09/2019

Short Version:

• Bump to knock their weight forwards
• Secure their arm to your chest
• Push their trapped-arm side knee back with your elbow
• Step your same-side foot over that leg, slide it towards your other bum cheek
• Bridge up and into them to roll, then immediately posture up

Full Version: For the trap and roll escape (commonly called the 'upa', which presumably means something in Portuguese), a typical starting point would be when they try to establish their first grip on your collar (or your neck, if you aren't wearing a gi) for a choke. That provides you with a chance to trap their arm. The usual grip would be to grab their wrist with your opposite hand, then just above their elbow with your other hand. This is the preferred grip on Gracie Combatives. The reasoning is that this grip prevents your opponent from drawing back their arm for a punch.

There are various other possibilities, such as the option I first learned, which was gripping their wrist with your same side hand, then grabbing the crook of their elbow with your opposite hand. That has the advantage of helping you wedge your elbow and arm into their chest, which provides additional leverage when rolling them over. Having said that, you can still use your elbow with the Gracie Combatives grip, it's just slightly less effective as your arm starts further away from their torso.

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Whatever grip you choose, you then need to trap their leg on that same side. Otherwise, they will be able to use their leg for base as you attempt to roll them. In order to prevent that, step your same side foot over their lower leg, hooking it in tightly to your bum. This means they are now like a chair with two of its legs missing. If you aren't too flexible and therefore can't easily bring your leg back, push it back with your other leg. For some extra control, slide your controlling foot horizontally across towards your bum, which should eat up some more space. If you aren't flexible, you could try pushing it in place with your other foot (a tip I learned from my student Jim the first time I taught this to him, as he's had part of his hamstring removed).

Even if they can't post with their leg, they might be able to use their knee, so you want to have their leg as tightly locked to your body as possible. Also, be careful that you don't end up hooking both their feet, or leave your other leg in range of their hook. It is possible for the person on top to defend this escape by securing a hook with their free leg, under your non-trapping leg. Therefore, try to keep the leg they might be able to control out of range.

A common problem is that you're having trouble trapping their foot, because it is too high up. If that happens, try using your elbow (or even your hand, if you need more reach, but that could leave your neck vulnerable) to shove their knee backwards, until their lower leg is in range. This is an advantage of the Gracie Combatives grip, as putting a hand behind their triceps puts your elbow in a good position for shoving back their knee.

Yet another option, if their arm is not in range, is to bridge enough to bump them forward, nudging them in the bum with your knee if you want more leverage. That should mean they are forced to post out their hands for balance, a difficult instinct to ignore. That puts their arm within reach. You can then wrap both of your arms around one of theirs, gable gripping your hands (palm to palm). Suck that arm into your chest, clamping it at the elbow.

To finish, you're going to bridge towards that trapped side. As with basic side control escapes, get your heels close to your bum first for maximum leverage. Bridge up and over your shoulder, turning to your knees: this puts you inside their guard. Make sure that you're bridging over your shoulder and not simply rolling over to your side. If you don't raise your hips properly, you may merely give up your back.

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If you find you need more leverage, most commonly if they are posting with their free hand to stop your roll, you could attempt to dislodge that by pushing their arm off the ground. Alternatively, Rickson Gracie has a great detail, which he demonstrated in a video a while ago. Simply angle your head away from the shoulder you're rolling over: this increases your range of motion.



When you've successfully rolled them over, that puts you in the guard position. Remember to posture up immediately as you reach that position: if you are leaning forwards, they can control your posture, putting you at risk of a submission.
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Teaching Notes: Forgot to do the bridging drills, that's important. Getting that angled bridge, could also emphasise it during the side control escape drills, noting how it's got broader applicability? Also, nice details by Matt Thornton: angling trapping leg out, shoulder towards hip.

11/09/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Ezequiel choke & gi tail variation

Teaching #904
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 11/09/2019



From the low mount, your attacking options are limited. I've found the most reliable is the ezequiel choke, which has the advantage of being low risk and also opening up a route to high mount even if you don't get the choke. To begin, you need to get one arm under their head. Many people will just give you that space as they try to escape, but if not, you can press into their neck to get them to raise their head.

Once you have an arm under the head, you can progress to the next stage. To get the choke, you need to block off both sides of their neck. For the first side, you're going to use your gi. With the hand you have under their head, grab your free sleeve. Pull it tight to the nearest side of their neck. Remember that it is the sleeve that is applying that half of the choke, not your hand. You therefore need to pull that sleeve across and into their neck. You may need to grip the sleeve with less fingers to increase your range, so that you are pulling gi material into their neck.



Curl your free hand in past their chin, moving it across their neck. Keep reaching, until you can make a chopping motion down into the other side of their neck. Make sure you're pressing into the side of their neck, not the throat (although crushing the windpipe may still get a tap, it isn't as efficient). To finish, pull on the sleeve as you chop. If you need to increase your leverage, raise up slightly (some people will even put a foot by the head to really drive). However, be aware that giving them more space could lead to an escape.

Obviously it isn't going to be that easy in sparring. They're going to be blocking you with their hand, trying to buck you off, disrupting your attack any way they can. To avoid that, there are a couple of options. One is to slip your arm inside their defending arm, pushing your arm through, then driving your elbow to the mat. You can then slide that arm back to trap their arm to their side, clearing the way for your choke attempt. Alternatively, they may give you the opportunity by pushing on your knee.



Fill up the space by sticking your head right next to theirs. Use this as both a means of control and a barrier against their efforts to get a hand back inside. Stay low, then gradually slip in your second hand. Again, they may give you the opportunity by bridging. If they are staying really tight, use your head to push into their skull, aiming to get them to turn it away. When that space appears, follow your head with your hand, then slip through for the choke.

Getting the ezequiel can be tricky due to the limited amount of material your sleeve provides. An alternative is to use the lapel instead. The first step is to get an arm under their head. Pull out either their gi lapel (preferable) or your own, then pass it to the hand you have under their head. This variation is similar to the lapel attack I like to do from side control, where you feed your gi to the hand you have under their head (something you can set up from mount too, dismounting to side control for the finish). Even more fun, if they are being super-defensive and crossing their arms to block a choke from mount, that's where the ezequiel variation comes in.



Pull their gi lapel up and over their bent arm, feeding it to the hand you have under their head. Bring your other arm underneath that lapel, cutting the hand down by the side of their neck, like you would for a standard ezequiel. You can then finish the choke pretty much as normal. If you start off with the gi lapel slightly loose, it's easier to slip your other hand under, before tightening it right up.

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Teaching Notes: Make sure you get a turn of their head, which means you will probably need to switch your head back over theirs in order to expose the side of their neck. Grinding the skull across is useful for initially clearing a route for your hand, as well as then turning their head back the other way. Also, you can rotate your arms around their neck to get to the sides, should they have their head either turned in the wrong direction or be facing straight up.

On the gi tail, I could talk more about rising up for leverage, though it's important to note that people can also do this from a lower position, preferably due to less space. Saulo goes up on one foot, IIRC, which applies to the application of both versions. Worth checking that again before I teach this next time.

09/09/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Low to high mount

Teaching #903
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 09/09/2019



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: I think this format is just about where it should be now. Start with a very quick summary of low mount, then mention the caveperson arm rip, followed by another quick summary on ezequiel choke (just saying how you're trying to raise up that elbow). Still not sure if I should include that or not. Finally, the finesse one, leaning into shoulders. That's followed by tech mount switch, then using elbows, hand or cross face to keep them in high mount.

A number of people were asking for more details on ezequiel choke, but not too many. Should I cut it? I mean to every time, but it's a useful way to move up to high mount. Hmm. Or I should just teach ezequiel choke after the low mount maint class next time? That would also make sense.

04/09/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Maintaining Low Mount

Teaching #901
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 04/09/2019



There are two basic types of mount to choose from, which I call low and high. Once you've achieved mount, I find that low mount provides the most control. First off, you want to immobilise their hips, as their main method of making space is to bridge up forcefully.



Bring your feet right back, threading them around their legs to establish two hooks: this is known as a grapevine. Alternatively, you can also cross your feet underneath (or just near, depending on your flexibility and leg length) their bum, which has the advantage of making it much harder for them to push your hooks off. Your knees are ideally off the ground, to generate maximum pressure. How far off the ground they are depends on your dimensions: the key is getting loads of hip pressure. Another option, which I learned from Rob Stevens at Gracie Barra Birmingham, is to put the soles of your feet together and then bring your knees right off the floor.



Whichever option you're going for, thrust those hips into them. It's important to get into a position where you can thrust your hips down, rather than getting bunched up so your bum starts going into the air. Use your hands for base, where again you have a couple of options. Either have both arms out, or put one under the head (remember, you can always remove it for base if you're really getting thrown hard to that side) while the other goes out wide for base.



Try to grip the gi material by their opposite shoulder, or even better, by the opposite armpit. Keep your head on the basing arm side, loading up your weight there. If they're bridging hard, you can switch from side to side, lifting their head slightly and bringing your other arm under, meaning your remaining arm bases out to the other side.



To do the trap and roll/upa escape, they will need to get control of your arm. So, don't let them grab it and crush your arm to their side. Instead, swim your arm through, like Ryron and Rener demonstrate in the third slice of the third lesson in Gracie Combatives. Be sure to do it one at a time, or you may get both arms squashed to your sides.




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Teaching Notes: Feels solid. Talked about mount in general, went through control point theory, mentioned ezequiel but not in detail, also noted that "move up into their armpits" is the answer to a lot of questions. Worth adding in the both arms out wide option, along with the crossface switch I usually focus on.

I didn't put in technical mount switch this time, I think that may be better suited to the 'moving into high mount' class.

02/09/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Butterfly mount

Teaching #900
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 02/09/2019



Mount is usually a heavy, crushing position, where you are holding them in place and looking to gradually climb up towards their head in order to isolate arms and go for chokes. However, just as with side control, there is a mobile, floating version where you are constantly transferring your weight and shifting position.

It is most commonly called butterfly mount, as your are hooking in much the same way as you would from butterfly guard. You hook their inner thigh with your insteps, so for mount that means flicking your legs back to achieve those hooks. You may find that you go straight to butterfly mount from the orthodox variations, or another typical entry is when they have started to escape to half guard. Once they trap your leg, but they haven't yet managed to get an underhook and move to their side, you can flick your free leg back to pry open space. You trapped leg slides free, putting you in butterfly mount (you can also naturally switch to other mounts from there too).



Butterfly mount is great for transitions. As your weight is floating rather than heavy and crushing, it means you can 'ride' their movements. When they attempt to turn, due to your weight being through your knees, you can swivel to knee on belly, then back again. Similarly, you can switch right across to the other side in knee on belly.



You might want to not just switch sides, but go to positions like reverse knee on belly, backsteps, 'cowboy' mount (a sort of s mount variation that results off a back step from reverse knee on belly), etc. It is very much like breakdancing, an extremely useful skill for BJJ. In breakdancing, you need to have excellent balance and weight distribution, which transfers perfectly to things like butterfly mount.



My friend Charles Harriott is a great resource on the topic, as he is both an experienced b-boy as well as a black belt. :D
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Teaching Notes: Felt pretty good about butterfly mount. Emphasise supporting foot out and leg bent in knee on belly. Hooking around their ribs when they turn, think of a good way for people to remember which leg. Leg on same side they are turning towards? Something to think about.

03/05/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Pressing armbar

Teaching #858
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 03/05/2019

From low mount, hook their elbow and walk your hand up (spider crawling your fingers). Keep doing that until you can lock their arm to their head with your cross facing hand. At this point, their arm might be drifting across, which sets you up for an arm triangle or a back take. If the arm stays on the outside of your head, you can instead go for an armbar.

Alternatively, you can drive your head by their forearm to push it into place, if like me you prefer the armbar. Once you have it to the outside of your head, keep your forehead on the ground to prevent them getting their arm free. Keep your arm tight, then move upwards until you can get the back of your head to their wrist, your arm/s just below their elbow.

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A post shared by Artemis BJJ (@artemisbjj) on May 6, 2019 at 10:23pm PDT

The goal here is to lock their arm by the elbow and the wrist. That then means you can get a pressing armbar. In this situation, you're going to pull your arms inwards, while pushing your head outwards. Due to the back of your head jamming against the back of their wrist, you can hopefully prevent them twisting their arm as they attempt to relieve the pressure. If you haven't got the pressure right, you can simply adjust and try again: this is a fairly low risk attack, as long as you keep everything tight.

With your feet, press the soles against their sides. This should enable you to control their lower body while you set up and then apply the submission.
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Teaching Notes: Keep forehead on the mat, tight from the start, their wrist on the back of your head. Thanks to goatfury for this one: check out his BJJPath.com website. :D

01/05/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Heel drag escape

Teaching #857
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 01/05/2019

Short Version:

• Get one leg flat on the floor, other knee raised
• Turn slightly on your side, just lifting your shoulder
• Step your raised-knee leg over both your flat leg and their leg
• Using your elbow to help pry their leg up, drag their foot over your leg with your heel, also bringing your flat leg knee up
• Turn your hips out to the flat leg side: you can then go to half guard, or shrimp to full guard

Full Version: My personal favourite mount escape is the heel drag, by far the highest percentage way for me to get out from under mount. It's also quite simple, another reason I like it so much. You're in mount, your elbows in a good place for defence, down by their knees. For this escape to work, you need to have one of your legs out flat, just like before. Again, you also need to get on your side: a slight bridging motion will help.

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The big danger at this point is that the person on top will switch to technical mount. I recommend just lifting your shoulder slightly, rather than turning all the way on your side: that prevents exposing your back too much. Make sure that your neck is safe if you mess up and they do manage to start turning to technical mount. You also don't want to let them settle into technical mount: immediately prepare your frames to start escaping before they secure the position. You may even be able to disrupt them as they try to shift, using that window of opportunity as they're adjusting their base to enter into your escape.

If they don't get to technical mount (or you're able to work back to the previous position where you'll slightly on your side), wedge an elbow inside their knee. You can either make a frame against their hips, or if you're concerned about your neck, adjust so that you can still pry your elbow under their knee while protecting your collar with your hands (I prefer the latter). As well as chokes, you also need to be wary of their cross-face. If they can control your head, they can flatten you back out, which will make the escape less effective. Use a combination of your elbow and shrimping to shove their knee backwards, on your flat leg side.

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Bring your other foot over both your flat leg and the leg they have next to it. That means you can use the heel of that foot to drag their leg over your flat leg. As soon as you get it over, lock half guard and shrimp towards their trapped leg. In half guard, you want to get onto your side as quickly as possible: if you stay flat on your back, you've already done their work for them, as they will want to flatten you out in order to pass half guard. If you're comfortable in half guard, you could stay there and work your attacks.

Alternatively, keep shrimping in the other direction, in order to free your other leg, just like you would with an elbow escape. It's also worth noting that some people, like Roy Dean, recommend just pinching your knees rather than fully triangling your legs around theirs, so that's worth trying too. To help recover full guard, you can also bring your arm across to their opposite shoulder, impeding their movement while aiding yours. Emily Kwok has a handy tip too: if their foot is too flat, making it hard to get your heel in for a drag, slide your flat leg outside to roll their heel up. That will create the space you need in order to insert your heel between their foot and the mat.

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A very similar escape, which I don't use much, is the foot lift. Dean shows these two escapes in sequence on his excellent Blue Belt Requirements. The foot lift is for when they have some space underneath their in-step. People won't often do that, in my experience, but if they do, this time just step over your flat leg. Use your foot to hook underneath their instep and lift it over, then as before lock up half guard (your legs are already in position), or shrimp to recover full guard.

Make sure that you pay particular attention to shoving on their knee with this variation, as it is easier for them to slip free (though if that happens, you can always switch to the heel drag). With both escapes, it is important to get the knee of their trapped leg back behind your legs. If they still have their knee past your legs, it makes it much easier for them to move straight into a half guard pass, by driving their knee to the mat and sliding through.

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Teaching Notes: Technically it is now into side control month, but I wanted to make sure I'd covered the heel drag escape from mount given we've had lots of new members recently (I think mainly due to the new venue). Elbow under leg, push between.

29/04/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Trap & roll escape (upa)

Teaching #856
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 29/04/2019

Short Version:

• Bump to knock their weight forwards
• Secure their arm to your chest
• Push their trapped-arm side knee back with your elbow
• Step your same-side foot over that leg, slide it towards your other bum cheek
• Bridge up and into them to roll, then immediately posture up

Full Version: For the trap and roll escape (commonly called the 'upa', which presumably means something in Portuguese), a typical starting point would be when they try to establish their first grip on your collar (or your neck, if you aren't wearing a gi) for a choke. That provides you with a chance to trap their arm. The usual grip would be to grab their wrist with your opposite hand, then just above their elbow with your other hand. This is the preferred grip on Gracie Combatives. The reasoning is that this grip prevents your opponent from drawing back their arm for a punch.

There are various other possibilities, such as the option I first learned, which was gripping their wrist with your same side hand, then grabbing the crook of their elbow with your opposite hand. That has the advantage of helping you wedge your elbow and arm into their chest, which provides additional leverage when rolling them over. Having said that, you can still use your elbow with the Gracie Combatives grip, it's just slightly less effective as your arm starts further away from their torso.

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Whatever grip you choose, you then need to trap their leg on that same side. Otherwise, they will be able to use their leg for base as you attempt to roll them. In order to prevent that, step your same side foot over their lower leg, hooking it in tightly to your bum. This means they are now like a chair with two of its legs missing. If you aren't too flexible and therefore can't easily bring your leg back, push it back with your other leg. For some extra control, slide your controlling foot horizontally across towards your bum, which should eat up some more space. If you aren't flexible, you could try pushing it in place with your other foot (a tip I learned from my student Jim the first time I taught this to him, as he's had part of his hamstring removed).

Even if they can't post with their leg, they might be able to use their knee, so you want to have their leg as tightly locked to your body as possible. Also, be careful that you don't end up hooking both their feet, or leave your other leg in range of their hook. It is possible for the person on top to defend this escape by securing a hook with their free leg, under your non-trapping leg. Therefore, try to keep the leg they might be able to control out of range.

A common problem is that you're having trouble trapping their foot, because it is too high up. If that happens, try using your elbow (or even your hand, if you need more reach, but that could leave your neck vulnerable) to shove their knee backwards, until their lower leg is in range. This is an advantage of the Gracie Combatives grip, as putting a hand behind their triceps puts your elbow in a good position for shoving back their knee.

Yet another option, if their arm is not in range, is to bridge enough to bump them forward, nudging them in the bum with your knee if you want more leverage. That should mean they are forced to post out their hands for balance, a difficult instinct to ignore. That puts their arm within reach. You can then wrap both of your arms around one of theirs, gable gripping your hands (palm to palm). Suck that arm into your chest, clamping it at the elbow.

To finish, you're going to bridge towards that trapped side. As with basic side control escapes, get your heels close to your bum first for maximum leverage. Bridge up and over your shoulder, turning to your knees: this puts you inside their guard. Make sure that you're bridging over your shoulder and not simply rolling over to your side. If you don't raise your hips properly, you may merely give up your back.

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If you find you need more leverage, most commonly if they are posting with their free hand to stop your roll, you could attempt to dislodge that by pushing their arm off the ground. Alternatively, Rickson Gracie has a great detail, which he demonstrated in a video a while ago. Simply angle your head away from the shoulder you're rolling over: this increases your range of motion.



When you've successfully rolled them over, that puts you in the guard position. Remember to posture up immediately as you reach that position: if you are leaning forwards, they can control your posture, putting you at risk of a submission.
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Teaching Notes: Forgot to do the bridging drills, that's important. Getting that angled bridge, could also emphasise it during the side control escape drills, noting how it's got broader applicability? Also, nice details by Matt Thornton: angling trapping leg out, shoulder towards hip.

24/04/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Single Arm Cross Choke

Teaching #855
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 24/04/2019

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I first learned this choke from BJJ Library, demonstrated by Saulo himself. He calls it the Saulo choke, but in the interests of being descriptive, I'm currently going with single arm cross choke. From high mount, you start by feeding your hand into the opposite collar, an initial step common to most chokes from mount. For this one, insert your thumb so your hand is palm down.

As with any cross choke, Roger's tips apply. Open up their collar and slide your hand in, then jam your elbow into your same side hip. Use that addition leverage to power your knuckles right to the floor, then bring your elbow. This will press your forearm into the side of their neck. You need to turn their head a bit as you do that, in order to expose the side of the neck properly.

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At this point, you can also lower your head to the mat by your choking arm hand, to make sure you stay on the same side as your palm down grip. The more you bring your head away from your choking arm side, the easier it is for them to roll you over. To finish, bring your other hand underneath your own stomach, gripping low on their other collar. To finish, pull on that collar and twist your body away, rotating towards their legs.
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Teaching Notes: Head down, don't bend wrist.

22/04/2019 - Teaching | Mount | Cross choke (palm up palm down)

Teaching #854
Artemis BJJ (Easton Road), Can Sönmez, Bristol, UK - 22/04/2019

Starting from high mount, sitting on their organs not their hip bones (as Mike Bidwell puts it), I used the tip on getting your choke grip that Roger Gracie taught me. He advises that you pull open their collar low on their lapel (or at least lower than their elbows. You don't want to get stuck trying to yank out the collar from directly underneath their tightly crossed arms). You can then insert your hand, palm up.

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To provide extra leverage for pushing that hand past their defences, Roger told me to brace your own elbow against your hip. You can then wriggle forwards, driving your arm in front of you with the combined power of your hips, legs and arm. Also form your hand into a wedge, as this will help cut past their blocking arms. Drive your knuckles all the way down to the mat. A tip from Saulo is to keep your head by that hand. If your head goes towards the other side of their head, it will be easier for them to roll you over.

My preferred variation from this grip is the one I learned from Michel Verhoeven. After you've inserted your first hand, start to raise your partner towards you slightly (that should make it harder for them to roll you). Your second arm is free, so be ready to use that to maintain your base until the moment is right. You can then bring your second arm around to the other side of their head, then 'shave' back across their face to position that arm by their neck. You want this as tight to their neck as possible, like you've dropped on iron bar there. Grab a handful of gi by their shoulder, then drop your elbow so your forearm is pressing diagonally into their neck. This second arm doesn't move after that point: the choke comes from twisting the first hand and drawing that first elbow back.

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Teaching Notes: Palm up palm up classic, does going up into neck slightly help? What's the ideal angle of second hand entry? Remember one hand maintenance drill.