This week we worked on positional control from mount, starting with the body fold takedown.
You need to get a clinch to do the body fold takedown. Once you have it, it’s a pretty small move to pull your opponent a little off their feet – you don’t need to actually pick them up, just break their stance – then fold over while still holding them in a clinch. They go down and you take mount before they can recover.
This lesson is about staying in control, once you have mount.
“The number one most important thing to do is our hip pressure,” head instructor Scott Ewen explained. “I get low and I get my hooks and I drive my hips in, my knees are wide. This alone is pretty much making me 20 kg heavier than I normally feel.”
When your opponent switches direction, your arms switch places. The whole time, hips are heavy and knees are barely touching the ground.
Scott demonstrated what he called the Superman drill, where he held both hands behind his back and used only his hip pressure to keep his opponent from getting up.
Using your arms to maintain control is essential, however. When the bad guy pushes to one side, your arm goes out to stop the roll. Your other arm hugs your opponent’s neck to keep your torso in line with theirs. If you slide off to one side it becomes much easier for your opponent to throw you.
“When I feel him relax and begin to go the other way, immediately my hand switches – a straight stiff arm to stop his power,” Ryron Gracie explained in an online demonstration.
The next step is to let go of one of your leg hooks to brace against the direction they’re trying to roll. Much like what you’re doing with your hands, but with your knees. You just need to be fast enough to reverse this when they try to roll in the opposite direction.
“Always lead with your hips, then your hands,” Scott said.
In the lesson we started by learning to brace with our hands first, but in an actual fight – whether you’re sparring or worse – your knees go out first because they provide a stronger base.
Your opponent might try to push you up and off, like doing a bench press with your body. This is a significant threat if you’re fighting someone a lot bigger or stronger than you. If this happens, you need to swim your shoulders through their grasp and basically just collapse your weight back onto them.
The idea is to wear your opponent out so that they exhaust themselves trying to struggle free while you simply ride it out. Once they stop struggling you can go for a submission.
See www.coastmartialarts.com and stay tuned for more of the Green Grappler.
