Articles in the escape Category
Posture is key when escaping a closed Triangle Choke. Here is a series of counters to escape, based on how tight the triangle is and where your body is.
Escaping the Loosely Closed Triangle:
If your opponent has just shot the triangle (perhaps you were just in their closed guard) the first thing to do is get posture by pointing your head up, and scooting your hips forward. You should be your head and hips should be in a striagh line and perpendicular to the floor. Form this safe position, you can open the triangle by grabbing your opponents front knee or their front hip with both hands and pushing out to open.
Escaping the Tighter Triangle:
If the triangle is tighter and your head is lower and closer to their hips you’re in more danger. From here, if your opponent is pulling on your head, remove their grips off the back of your head with your free arm and then work to frame your arms. (Framing your amrs means you are sliding your trapped arm’s forearm across your opponents hips and clasping your hands and pushing down to create space. Structurally, this is like a “frame” and provides a brace for you against your opponents hips. )
To Frame:
Push the their grips off the back of your head (mentioned previously above.) Next, before they can get the grips back, hold their bicep on the side of your free arm. Pull your trapped arm across. Let go of the bicep, frame, and immediately posture.If you can frame and make distance, then go for the escape above,
If You Cannot Frame:
It’s not over yet. Push off the grip. hold their bicep. on the bicep side, reach you foot forward to pin that arm, placing your foot in their armpit. Flop onto your hip on that side. kick your other leg over as you arch back to break the triangle. Now that those feet are in your face, maybe hit a leg lock?
Survival Secrets from the Griffiths Files:
From the Triangle Master come these little known tips for survival in the face of a tight and menacing triangle. This insight has mainly to do with breathing and maintaining enough space to breath. If you’re in a really tight triangle, and your arm is flat across your neck, this trapped arm will be putting pressure on your neck, making it hard to breath. The more this arm is flexed, the more pressure it will exert on your neck. So, relax the trapped arm and turn your head to face your elbow. If you’re relaxed with your head turned, it will be very hard for the guy to finish you. From this stall position, try to get lock hands and slide your framing forearm across your opponents hops so you can start to fight for posture. Once your arms are in the proper position to push up to frame, the triangle may still be very tight. Again, try to relax the trapped arm and this time turn your head towards you trapped shoulder as you attempt to push up to frame.
Triangle, escape »
When you are under side control your opponent may “backturn.” Especially if you are pressuring under their neck. If this is the case your escape may involve you sitting up.
(If you time it right you can just sit right up and completely reverse your opponent. This is not a high-percentage move and usually works best with a lighter opponent. You hit this reversal by keeping your fett very close to your butt and as your opponent backturns, your kick and swing your hips out. Think pommel horse in gymnastics, or breakdancing, depending where you hail from. )
If you are like the rest of us, then this second alternative will likely work better.
1) Start with your opponent in side control on your right. Free your inside arm. Keep your elbow down and your hand on your opponents hips to keep them from rotating into north/south.
2) After they back turn move your free hand into their armpit outstretch and lock your arm. This keeps them low on your body and off your chest and allows you to work on freeing your other arm. Rock from hip to hip to free your outside arm. (Try turning towards the outside, but be careful not to give up the back.)
3) Now that both arms are free it’s time for them to get off of you. Put both your left hand in their armpit and your right hand on their hips, but don’t extend your arms fully. Now prepare to bridge by scooting your feet towards close to your butt.
4) explosively bridge up. Go for height. Next, before your drop forcefully extend your arms shoving your opponent away from you as your body drops. As you drop, scoot your hips as far back as possible.
5) Now that you are sitting up, grab your opponents belt with your left hand (this is like the conter to a single-leg.) Keep pressure down on their neck with your elbow.
6)Take the back by continuing to scoot your hips out and trying to kick out the near knee and grabbing the far armpit with your right hand, rolling your opponent towards you backwards.
7) End in back control.
Gi, Side Control, Taking the Back, escape, sweep »
The second part of escaping side control is re-establishing yourself in a more dominant position. You will aim to put your opponent into your guard. But depending on their reaction, you may end up sweeping and landing in side control.
Picking up where the last post left off, you’ve just bridged away escaping your hips aways from your opponent. Now we’ll focus on closing the distance back in and re-establishing. (In general you usually want a lot of space or to be very close to your opponent. When you are neither close nor far don’t hang out there.)
Start hip escaped out. You are on your right hip. Your right hand is fully outstretched, pushing against your opponents left hip, maintaining your distance.
Getting to Guard:
IF your opponents right arm is not planted on the mat (which would block your legs when you moved in to get guard)
THEN go for guard. – Grab the back of your opponents right tricep with your left arm (overhook). Next, take a big step in with your top leg, your left leg and plant it next to your opponents hips. Start to place your guard by sliding your right (bottom leg) knee in, over your arm that’s posting on their hip. End with your ankle between their legs. Next swing your left leg up onto your opponents back. Now underhook your opponents left arm with your right arm. Now flop onto your left hip by pressing down with your left heel on their back and locking your hands and applying pressure behind your opponents left arm with under hook. Slide your right foot out and lock your legs to complete guard.
Taking the sweep to side control:
IF your opponents right arm IS planted on the mat
THEN go for the sweep. – Kick your right leg under you so your hips are facing down. Reach inside and under your opponent and grab their pants behind the knees. Base up onto your knees , pulling yourself in tight to your opponent. Keep your head low and tight into your opponents knees. Pop your head out to one, stepping up with that leg as your pull your opponents knees up to that side and push with your head to sweep. Land in side control. After you establish side control, let go of the knees.
Main, Side Control, escape »
Being under side control is a drag…. Let’s discuss how to get out of this unfavorable position by breaking it down into 2 categories: 1 – The Bridge, and 2- Re-Establishing (a better position for yourself). In the following example, your opponent is on your right, on top of you.
The Bridge:
You will be bridging twice, once to get your opponent off of you and a second time to create more space for yourself. There are 3 options, depending on where your outside arm is: Underhooking your opponent, Inside your opponents underhook, and finally inside your opponents underhook and pinned by your opponents head
1st Bridge:
One important purpose of the first bridge is to get your inside arm elbow down on the mat. If your opponent has this arm up off the mat, you must maneuver until it’s free and touching the mat. Once the inside hand is free, cup your opponents bicep and block their top arm from reaching around the back of your neck. When you’re under side control is really starts to be awful when your opponent traps your neck and immobilizes you and makes you uncomfortable.
IF you have an underhook that is great. You may be able to heave them forward so far that you can take the back. Often, however, your opponent will be tight on you, pinning your under hook very close to your side. Instead of trying to lift them up with your bridge, start your bridge moving your arm out to your side (like you’re making a jiu jitsu snow angel).
IF you are underhooked then bridge up and crossface the top of their head. Hitting their head at the top will give you the most leverage to direct their head and body away from you.
IF you are underhooked and your arm is being pinned and they are keeping their head down tight to your body (they may be back-turned at this point) then grab their collar and edge your elbow under their chin and then bridge by throwing the elbow up, pushing their head away and over your shoulders.
2nd Bridge:
After you’ve moved their weight a bit, follow with another bridge to get enough space to re establish. Straighten your inside arm and push your opponents hip as you bridge again and scoot your hips back a second time. (There can be more bridges, but it’s good if you can do this fast, so 2 is a good target number. If you can do it in one, even better.)
Side Control, escape »
Being under the mount sucks and it’s not a good way to win a match. Here are a few escapes from different variation of the mount.
Low mount:
When your opponent is low in the mount, it’s easier to move them because the are closer to your hips. Here’s what to do if they start to attack:
If they are low and are attacking with a cross collar grip.
then immediately grab their gripping arm at the elbow with your cross arm and pull their elbow out away from your neck. This stops the threat of a choke or neck pressure.
Next, reach up and grab behind their attacking arm with your free arm.
Grab the cloth behind their shoulder or armpit if you can.
Buck them hard up over you as you turn your head facing the side of their gripping arm.
Look up over your shoulder on that side as your roll them over you and end on top in their guard.
Sagging Smother mount:
Sometimes people will mount and then try to psychologically wear on you by sagging on you, which has a smothering effect. Here is what to do in that situation:
If low-mounted and trying to smother you
then frame your arms.
Remember to keep your elbows close to your sides as you block their hips with one of your forearms and put your hands on top of eachother on their hip.
Buck up (Upa) as you push their hips down.
As you come down, put them into your half guard and hip escape away from them.
From here, depending on how much space you’ve create,d you can attack any near arms, or proceed to put them into guard.
High mount:
If someone has the high mount, you can roll them over your body and come out behind them on top.
If they have a high mount
then grab the cloth in their armpits with both arms
Push them up and and extend your arms as you kick your legs up under their arms and hook them one at a time
roll backwards over one shoulder
when their knee is bent, grab a leg around the ankle and guillotine
(this is called the boston crab)
rock back to get the submission
Mount, escape »
When you are mounted, your opponent is vulnerable to being swept. Your hips are very powerful and when you bridge and immobilize one side of your opponent body, it’s not to difficult to sweep them in that direction.
Gi.
You are mounted. Your opponent is setting up for some type of collar choke. They have one grip across your lapel.
1. Grab the back of their elbow on their gripping arm. And pull it out away from your neck. (They are gripping your left collar, reaching across your body with their left hand. Grab inside their left elbow with your left hand and pull it out away from you.)
2.Grab the cloth of their left shoulder with your right hand.
3.Trap their left foot against your hip by posting your right heel on the other side of their foot, sandwiching it between your right foot and your hip.
4. Bridge up into them on your right shoulder as you turn your head and look over your right shoulder to the place you are trying to throw them.
5. Roll into the bridge and land on top, in their guard.
No Gi.
(more simple, less grabbing) You are mounted. Your opponent is on top of you.
IF they have an under hook on one side, THEN
1. Clamp down on that arm and wing lock it.
2.Trap their foot against your hip by posting your heel on that side, sandwiching their foot between your foot and your hip.
3. Bridge up into them on that side as you turn your head and look over your shoulder to the place you are trying to throw them.
IF they DON’T have an under hook, THEN
1. Underhook their closest arm and try to flatten it onto your chest.
Go to step 2 and 3 above.
* it is better for you to have the underhook. If they have the under hook, you are vulnerable to the head arm choke if they are Zoran strong.
