In this video Clay Burwell, Jiu Jitsu Inc strength and conditioning coach, demonstrates the kettle bell swing. The kettle bell swing is great for improving your balance and base for bjj. It also strengthens your legs hips and back.
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.
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.)
Here is a flashy but effective finish shown by Josh Griffiths at Jiu Jitsu Inc. First the guy passing is pushed away, when he enters again he is elevated and then caught in an oma plata.
Here is another way to get to the triangle choke from the open guard as shown by Jiu JItsu Inc Instructor Josh Griffiths. From this set you can easily transition to the arm bar as seen a few weeks ago.
Start in your opponents butterfly guard. You are pinning their feet and back down, and have your head on their chest and your arms holding their side. Your head is facing to the side you will pass towards. For this example face your left.
1. They try to extend their legs and sit up to attack. React by posting up on your toes and taking an underhook on the opposite side that your head is facing, so under hook with your right arm. (By posting onto your toes, you are very hard to sweep. You are a tripod and your head is pinning their chest down as well.)
2. Start your pass by dropping one of your hips, your right hip. This will lose the hook on that side.
3. Continue the pass by pushing down their remaining leg with your left hand, to avoid half-guard, as you walk your legs out towards the passing side.
4. Finish and establish side control.
Jiu Jitsu Inc Head Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Instructor, Josh Griffiths, shows a sweep into a guard pass.
Knee on belly is a good pressure position from which to launch attacks. To set up an attack, you’ll want to use get opponent into a vulnerable position by making them uncomfortable. First you’ll look for the armbar. If it’s not there then you’ll hit the kimura. (Start to the left of your opponent, your right knee in on their belly.)
Knee on Belly Position Basics:
Gi – Left hand grips the back of their lapel deep. Right hand grips their far pants leg at the knee.
No Gi – Left hand grips the back of their neck. Right hand pushes down on their far hip.
The Set-Up:
Knee moves to the top of the sternum.
Gi – Left hand pulls. Right hand pulls. Think bow and arrow.
No Gi – Left hand pulls. Right hand pushes down on their far hip.
The Attacks:
1. Armbar – If your opponent moves their far elbow away from their body reach in and grab the back of their tricep and pull it tighly towards your chest. Try to touch their elbow on your sternum and your elbow to your own hip.
1a. Kimura – If your opponent DOES NOT move their elbow away from their body, then pin down their wrist against their body (you want your thumb pointing towards their hips)
2. Spin to North South. Put your free hand on their back and pull up to get them up onto their side. When they are on their side, pinch your knees together hard to keep them on their side. *If they are grabbing your pants leg. kick your knee-riding ankle over their wrist before you spin to staple their wrist and break the grip.
3. Finishing the armbar – keep the tricep grib. Grab their wrist with your other hand. Step close to their armpit and rock back to finish. Keeping your hips as close to their armpit as you can.
3a. – Finishing the Kimura – When they are on their side, lean down and get the Kimura grib, make sure to bend your motorcycle grip on your own wrist forward. Pop-pop-Right to break any protective grip they have. Finish by rotating, keeping all angles close to 90 degrees.
**If you are short and are having trouble breaking the grip step up ont your foot (the leg behind their back). This will help you elevate. Then torque your hips and rotate your torso forcefully up and out toward the direction their body is facing. Once you break the grip rotate back the other way for the finish.
