Float Like a Butterfly

Shout out to all the little guys!

Over the last week or so I’ve read a lot of stuff about little guy BJJ.

Being 5’6” and ~70kg (155lbs) puts me in the little guy category in my academy for sure. There are a few of us there, but we’re definitely out numbered by the big folk. Our gym seems to have it’s fair share of big men. Because of this I have had to be very aware of the kind of game I play when sparring.

Don’t let them get a hold of you- Float like a butterfly

This may sound odd at first. I mean, we’re grappling. We literally hug each other for the vast majority of techniques. That’s taken into account when this rule was established. So, I’ll explain.

Often, from head-to-head I’ll start in a seated guard position (see Marcelo Garcia for an amazing example of a seated guard). While here, I am in grip fighting mode. If someone grabs a foot I rip it away. If someone grabs a collar I rip it away. If someone pushes my shoulders I scoot to deflect the pressure. I scoot in and test the hooks. I fish for arm drags and underhooks. I scoot away if I’m not getting what I’m after… breathe… I scoot to the left. I scoot to the right. I jump up to combat stance. Fish, hook, shoot a single, grip fight, sit back down, scoot, pull, push… you get the idea. Basically, I never stop moving. Why? Because I can’t let bigger opponent’s dictate where the game takes place. I can’t let them get a hold of a leg or a collar or a sleeve. If they do, I’m stuck.

It’s the same in closed guard. I attack an arm, I attack a collar, I attempt a sweep, I attack another arm, I arm drag, I scoot to create a new angle, I attempt another sweep, I push on a hip, I pull on an arm, I push on a shoulder, and most importantly, I never let my opponent get comfortable when in my guard. I move and move and move and move… breathe… and move and move and move. Why? Because if I just close my legs and hold on I lock myself into their game. I give them permission to dictate how the fight goes. As the smaller fighter (most of the time) I will lose that fight. But, if they can’t catch me, they can’t beat me.

When passing the guard I never settle for one pass. Rule #1 for me is to never let an opponent close his legs around my back. That’s not safe for me. Big men can muscle sweeps on little men. I can’t allow that. I keep moving. I grab a leg. I push on a hip. I hold an arm. I move back. I stand up. I step in. I step away. I shoot a knee through. I pull back and get double underhooks. I push knees to the ground. If I get stopped in a pass I give up on it and reset, or transition to another pass. Pull the legs, push them, shoot around, grab a collar, overhook a knee, push a hip, stand up, kneel, combat stance, stand up again, step through… breathe… never stop moving. Never stop testing. Never just get stuck on one pass. If they get a hook I fight it. If they grab a collar I fight it. If they sit up I push forward, or kneel, or think about doing a front flip over their head but decide not to because I would probably break my neck. I never stop moving. Why? Because if they get a hold of me I lose my advantage. They can’t attack what they can’t catch. They can’t pin down what they can’t get a hold of. It’s my game (which might be the most important attitude for little guy BJJ).

When in side control I test submissions. If I don’t have what I need I transition to mount. No mount? Kneeride. If that’s not there I go to north-south. If I can isolate an arm I go to side control to attack. Mount? Kneeride? Rinse, repeat. I don’t stop and hold someone down and slowly work on an arm, or hold on tight to their head. That locks me into them and allows them to use their weight and size. My game is constant movement. When I stop moving I am playing their game.

From mount I tend to stay very light. I ride mount rather than hunker down and hold mount. I lift my legs. I throw out baits. I attack collars. I attack arms. I turn. I twist. If I lose position I bail quickly. If I get one deep collar grip and need them to move an arm to get the other I just let them roll me. If they roll me they usually don’t defend their collar at the same time. I’d rather finish a collar choke than hold mount. Mount is full attack mode. One after another after another after another… breathe… after another. My game isn’t holding on for dear life. That’s them. My game is changing angles and attacks. If they’re having to defend they’re not escaping, are they?

Underneath it’s the same. From side control I’m always looking to escape. If a big man decides to just hunker down, and I know I’m safe from submissions, I’ll take that time to rest. But, once he moves, I attempt an escape. I shoot for a mile with every inch he allows. If he’s moving I’m moving. He doesn’t get to rest up there. He doesn’t just get to apply weight.

I don’t stop moving. That’s not to say that everything is super speed. I can take it nice and slow. I can inch my way along. But, my natural game is fast and flowing. I don’t stop moving.

As a smaller fighter I would say that this is the biggest reason that I’m able to compete with bigger opponents. Movement, and lots of it. On the days when I don’t move, I tap a lot more often.

So, if you’re small and you find yourself constantly stuck against bigger opponents I would suggest spending a couple session in constant movement. See how it feels. See how they react. See how things open up.

Float like a butterfly.

Mount-ober: Session four

My last training session didn’t actually bring with it any specific lessons. Mostly, I just found that I was still making the same mistakes, although slightly less. It’s progress, but I won’t be fully satisfied until I’m not making those mistakes at all.

If you’re wondering what I’m going on about read this, this, and this to see the lessons I’ve picked up so far in my training focus on the mount.

In today’s blog I would simply like to make an observation, or two.

My focus is attacking from the mount position during sparring. I’ll lay out my current game plan and make note of the things that I find interesting.

From Head to Head the Arm Drag is what I’m looking for from standing/kneeling starts. From standing I would likely look for a single leg as my second option. From kneeling I usually look to (1) Arm Drag, (2) Pull Guard, or (3) Collar/Neck Drag. This is where those usually lead to:
Arm Drag to Back/Turtle Top/Guard Top
Pull Guard to Guard/Half Guard
Collar/Neck Drag to Turtle Top/Back

From Guard Top I look to pass the guard (obviously).

From Turtle Top I look to pull over and attack the Back.

From the Back I look to scoot around to Mount.

From Closed Guard I look to sweep into Mount (Scissors Sweep, Hip Bump Sweep), or scoot around onto the Back.

From Open Guard I look to sweep (Hooks Sweep, X Guard Sweep). Usually I end up either in Side Control or Guard Top.

From Half Guard I have been looking to get deep and scoot out the back door to the Back.

From Side Control I either look to switch base and Mount or transition to North/South.

From North/South I look to take the Back, or go to the other side into Side Control.

Now, that all looks pretty simple and straight forward. Here’s what I’ve observed from this game plan.

I have developed a Guard to Mount game.

I would say that I’m in one or the other 80% of the time, if not more. I believe a lot of this has to do with the previous month I spent working in Guard. It didn’t make me some amazing guard player, but it did get me very comfortable there. It also made me confident in my ability to get back to top once I am in guard. The previous month was spent on escapes, so I’m still rather confident getting out of trouble once I’m there.

When I do get to Mount I am not worried about getting rolled back into Guard. So, if I get a deep collar grip and have to give up the upa in order to get the other grip in, I’m happy to do that, and finish it from Guard. I’m comfortable and confident there.

In fact, in my last four sessions I have only finished once in Mount. All my other taps have come from a setup in Mount and a finish in Guard. Triangles, Armbars, Guillotines, and Cross Collar Chokes. All are set up in the Mount position initially. In order to lock them in I have been allowing the opponent to roll over into Guard. If they’re turning me, they’re not protecting their necks or arms.

If I don’t get the finish I let go and look to sweep back to Mount, or climb around to the Back.

Back to Mount. Mount attack. Finish in Guard OR restart.

This was not expected, but it has become welcome. It’s part of learning to embrace my natural game.

Mount-ober: Session three

More lessons from a month of mount-ing attacks.

I’m into my second week of mount month. Again, this month’s game plan revolves around gaining the mount position, and finishing the opponent from there. Technical training focus is on submissions from the mount, and transitions to get there. I’m also working on balance, and quickness in transition. 

for lessons 1-2 click here

for lessons 3-4 click here

Lesson 5: Attack like you would if you were striking

The two main attacks I’m going after while in mount are the Cross Collar Choke and the Armbar from mount. One thing I’ve noticed is that I tend to get them only when I don’t force them. I have to think of it in the same way I think about striking.

When striking with an opponent you can’t just insist on the right cross, stand in front of the opponent without moving, and continuously throw it. By ‘continuously’ I mean, literally just throwing the right cross without pulling it back. It gets blocked so you just keep pushing it forward, from the same spot, towards the same spot. Why wouldn’t you do that? Well, because it would be really easy to defend.

So, why do I do that with my submissions?

Instead, I need to send in the first grip for the choke, then I need to treat the second as if I’m trying to find a home for the right cross.

Picture my right hand deep inside the right collar of the opponent.

I just try bringing the left hand over and in on the shoulder. The opponent blocks. I bring it back.

I use my right elbow to make room underneath my forearm to sneak through to the collar. He blocks that. I bring it back.

I push the arm he’s using to block up and bring my leg up towards his head. That creats a different angle, and isolates an arm a bit more. That makes him think about the Armbar. I attack the arm. He pulls it out. I go straight after the left collar.

You get the point. See, I’m changing angles. I’m attacking from up high. I’m attacking from down below. I’m throwing the jab (attacking the arm) to make room for the cross (left hand collar grip). I just keep switching it up until I can get through.

It’s the same with the armbar. Most opponents are very aware of the armbar when mounted. That makes it hard to get. I’m no where near strong enough to just force an armbar. Even when I get an underhook I still have to get my body into place in order to attack with the armbar. I have to change angles. I have to attack, and let go, and re-attack.

I have gotten the armbar most from people trying to escape. Usually people start thrashing when the cross collar choke is semi-deep. Pressue on the collar, they push, I trap and go into the armbar.

Other than that, it’s usually too predictable to pull off.

Submit like you’d strike.

Mount-ober:Session two

Wednesday was my second session in October, where attacking in the mount is my focus. Here are some more lessons I’ve learned.

For lessons 1-2 click here

Lesson #3- 100% of the shots that you don’t take, won’t go in
I’ve quickly realised that I’m not willing to pull the trigger on submissions. For example, I got into mount and worked into a deep cross collar grip on my opponent. From there, I reached over to grab a palm-down grip on the other shoulder to put on the choke. However, I only went towards the shoulder at 30% pace. I was thinking, “Surely, he’s going to stop this”. Sure enough, he did. Would he have stopped it if I’d gone at full pace, with full determination? I don’t know. But I do know that he was able to easily stop the 30% attempt. I didn’t actually take the shot.

He brought an arm up to defend, so I grabbed the elbow, pushed it across into the underhook, moved my legs halfway into place and thought, “Surely, he’s going to stop this”. So, what happened? Well, my prophecy came true. He stopped it. Would he have stopped it if I’d gone at it 100%? I don’t know. I didn’t take the shot.

So, can a shot that’s never taken hit a target?

The answer is, no. It can’t. Because it never left the gun.

This links into lesson 4

Lesson #4- Don’t be scared to jump… especially when you know how to land
I rolled with my coach last night. He let me pass his guard (he rewards proper technique. If you try to muscle through a pass he’ll shut you down and sweep you. If you use proper technique he’ll allow it, even though he knows full well how to stop it. It’s quite nice of him, really). I get into side control, switch base to face his legs, and pull his far knee towards me so that I can switch to mount.

Then I just froze. I sat there looking at his legs.

After a few seconds he says, “So… are you going to go to mount, or what?”

I froze because I was thinking, “He’s setting me up for something. He’s going to put me right back into guard if I try to go to mount”. But, let me think about it for a minute. I’m in side control without an underhook, and not a ton of control over the bigger, stronger, more technical, more experienced opponent. Would I actually rather stay there than attempt a switch to mount and maybe get caught in half-guard (which I have always been confident in passing)?

Risk vs Reward

If I stay in side control until I know I can get mount (when would I know that anyway?).

Risk = losing side control and ending up in full guard. Being swept would probably be the worst case scenario. Considering I’m pretty comfortable on the bottom, and confident in being able to sweep, I’d say this ins’t a huge risk. But, just staying there till mount presents itself would give me:
Reward = absolutely nothing, since I didn’t have a controlling side control anyway. I’m not attacking from there, so there’s no insentive.

Now, what if I’d just taken the chance and attempted mount?

Risk = getting caught in half-guard on the way through. I’ve always been confident in my ability to pass the half-guard. Esspecially if I get caught coming through from side control because I tend to be able to gain some kind of head/shoulder control in transition.

Reward = mount…

Risk vs Reward points (overwhelmingly) to attempting mount instead of just sitting there.

Finally, I’m comfortable on the bottom because of my last two months of work (escapes in August and guard in September). So, attacking on the top shouldn’t worry me at all. I should be attacking liberally when I’m up there.

My fear of jumping into transition and submission isn’t rational.

And that is the glory of being able to fight off your back. It frees your top game up to be fast, flowing, and attacking.

So, I will be doing a lot more of that for the rest of the month.

Mount-ober:Session one

October for me, in my BJJ life, is known as “Mount-ober”. Get it?

Anyway, Mount-ober is the month where I will be soley focused on obtaining mount, and finishing from there. So, my solo drills will revolve around escape paths to mount, mount transition movements, and balance while in mount. I’ll also have my normal strenth and flexibility training.

My visualisation training will mostly be around submissions from the mount position.

Rules are simple. In sparring I’m only allowed to finish from the mount position.

I just had my first training session with this focus. I’d like to share the lessons that I’ve already learned.

Mount-ober: Lesson #1- Patience

Mount is not a position you can force against any level of practitioner. Tonight I tried to force it. I obtained it twice. Once from a sweep from guard. The other time from a guard pass. Both were sloppy, forced, and took way too much strength (you know something takes too much strength when you either have to hold your breath and close your eyes, or grunt in a way that would embarass you in every convievable situation).

In the future I am going to deal with whatever is in front of me. If I’m in someone’s guard I will worry about passing the guard FIRST. If I’m in side control I will worry about that position before I try some wild transition into mount. I just can’t force mount.

I’m going to make a wild assumption that the next time I roll, with the attitude of using proper technique in order to patiently obtain mount I’m going to find it much easier to come by, and much more of a solid position once I get there.

My gameplan will be simple. I will plan all the best case scenarios, like using guard passes that can lead straight to mount, but if they don’t come, I won’t force. I will take what’s given to me, patiently waiting and working towards the mount position instead of acting like a two year old child that’s simply decided that he wants a blue hat and will do nothing else until that blue hat is resting securely on his head. I’ll earn my blue hat, thank you very much.

Which brings me to lesson #2

Mount-ober: Lesson #2- Establish

When I finally get that blue hat that I’ve worked so hard for, I’m going to ensure that it’s tight enough to not blow off before I start running around willy-nilly yelling about how amazing my wonderful blue hat is.

There was one time that I got to mount tonight only to get immediatly rolled off. Why? Because I jummped straight into a submission. I didn’t establish the position first.

Position over Submission

That doesn’t just apply to where you go for submissions. It also applies to when you go for submissions.

I’m light compared to most of the guys I roll with. Therefore, I’m not hard to bump off when I’m on top. That means, I have to have balance, and movement when I’m in mount. I can’t just lock myself into a guy.

For example: When I go for a cross lapel choke I have to post out the leg on the side of my attacking arm. That way, they can’t just grab the arm, trap the foot, and roll me over. In order to do that I first have to get to a place in the mount where I can comfortably post out that leg and reach in that hand. The position has to be well established if I’m to do this. If I go too early with the arm, I get rolled. If I go too early with the leg I give away double underhooks on the legs, which leads to a simple reversal, and complete loss of the position.

So, establishment of the position that I’ve so patiently earned comes before the submission attempt.

In the same way that the two year old kid really should tighten that treasured blue hat on his head before he runs across the bridge. Many a tears would be avoided.

 

Next Post

I lost my keys one week. I kept having to borrow my wife’s. Every morning I would say, ‘Bah, don’t where my keys are.” I would then grab my wife’s off the table and go to work. Every morning my wife would say, “Have you looked for them?” to which I would respond, “No.”

That’s simple, isn’t it? Of course I haven’t found something that I’m not looking for. Sure enough, once I actually looked for them it took me about 5 minutes to find them. 

A couple of months ago I decided to do a study on the guillotine choke. Now, if I were to ask you where a guillotine choke is put on from most would probably say from guard. That’s not a wrong answer, but it’s not an accurate one either.

The mechanics of the technique allow it to be done from almost any position. But, if I believe that it can only be found from guard what is the likelihood that I will find it in other places?

Minimal.

Why? Because I’m not looking for it in other positions. If I’m not looking for something am I likely to find it?

No.

If I never look for the keys that I’ve lost it doesn’t mean that they’re not there. They could be right in the middle of the lounge floor. But, if I have come to believe that you can only find missing keys in the cushions of a couch, I will only look there. I won’t look in the middle of the lounge floor.

So, what if I decided that I wanted to find a certain submission from every position? I learned the mechanics of the technique, understood what was needed to make it work, and just went hunting.

From that ‘couple of months ago’ the guillotine has became my go-to submission. If I just really want to tap someone, I go to the guillotine. It’s become quite reliable. In the past month here’s where I’ve gotten them from.

Head to Head, Closed Guard Bottom, Open Guard Bottom, Turtle Top, Side Control, Half Guard Top, Mount, and Knee Ride. I also have figured out how to transition into them from Side Control Bottom, Mount Bottom, and Back Control.

That’s not counting the same mechanics used from north-south (north-south choke) and the back (gable grip rear naked choke).

My favourite place to get the guillotine is from half guard on top. But, I never would have found out that you could do it from there if I believed that it was just a guard submission.

I didn’t just open my eyes and look around the house when I couldn’t find my keys. I thought about it. I started looking in the places where I know they could have ended up. The couch, desks, tables, chairs. The top of the fridge, behind my bedside dresser, gym bag. Places that they would have likely been.  I used analytical thinking to determine the places it could have been.

It’s the same with the guillotine, and just about every other technique in BJJ. Pick and technique and start seeking it out from everywhere.

John Will writes about this in an ebook he has about luck. It’s a great read. Check out my blogroll for John’s blog.

All Roads Lead to Rome

I’m still exploring escapes in my rolling. This week I came to a new revelation. It has to do with a concept that I like to call “Mission Control”.

One BJJ session a while ago my instructor was going over some attacks from side control with an underhook. He talked about how side control with an underhook is his “top position mission control”. What he meant was that he defaults to that spot if he ever gets into trouble.  He feels comfortable there. He likes to attack from there, and is comfortable keeping the position.

That got me thinking about where I most want to be. Where is my mission control? The answer to that will be different for everyone.

Think of Marcelo Garcia for instance. Watch him roll with guys at his academy. You’ll notice that his mission control is the seated butterfly guard. If he gets his guard passed he escapes back to there. If he loses control in mount he goes back to there. If he misses a submission he just goes back to there. All roads lead back to the seated butterfly guard. Then, you start going through his moves and you realise why he defaults back to the seated butterfly guard. He has a great game from that spot.

So, where am I good? Am I good from the combat position going head to head with my opponent? Am I a guard player that loves to be in closed guard? Do I love taking the back? Do I love side control? Where am I best? Where am I the most comfortable?

The answer will help me determine what escapes I use.

In my study of escapes I’ve realise that there are many, many escapes from each position. So, how do you pick which ones to use? Well, understand my mission control spot, and the escapes are picked for me.

There’s a guy that I roll with at the club that always looks to get back to his knees. He loves fighting from there. So, he’s always escaping to his knees, then retreating to reset the fight. There’s another guy that always wants to get back to guard. He’s a guard player, so that’s where he wants to be. He pulls guard from the start. He understands that he wants to be there. Another guy loves being on top, so he generally only uses escapes that give him top position.

This logic not only applies to escapes. It also applies to sweeps, submissions, passes, and takedowns. Know where you like to be, and design your game around getting to there. If you love keeping mount, you’re not going to be an armbar guy. If you love keeping side control you’ll likely be a figure 4/kimura fighter. If you’re a sweep player your top game will be very fluid and attacking because you’re more than happy to reset with a sweep from the bottom if you miss.

With escapes you prioritize. If you love attacking the back you’ll prioritize escapes that put you on the back of the opponent. If you’re a guard player you’ll want to prioritize escapes that put the opponent back into guard. Better yet, if you’re happy in both places you will happily combine escapes to the back with escapes to guard.

Understand where you want to be. Design your escapes (and your entire game) around that.

Or, think of it like this. If you’re in Rome, you’re where you want to be. If you’re not, design a game where all roads lead back to Rome.

A greater understanding

For me, I use things that I have learned about. If I have a question about something, I look for information on it. I try to understand it better. I dig into the mechanics of it, the history, the tradition, the current uses, the science, the experiences of others, and so on. That’s what lead me to BJJ in the first place. Research lead to understanding which lead to action.

In BJJ, when I am learning a new technique, I learn the mechanics of it. That way, I can understand how something works, why it works, and what ways to go about applying it.

For example: Side Control Escape to Guard

This technique is based on creating enough space to bring your knee through, under the opponent in order to recapture guard. The mechanics of it include a bridge, an arm brace, a hip escape, and a hip in with a leading knee.

The bridge creates space for space. It bumps the person up. This is actually, by itself, eliminating space. You’re getting closer to the opponent. But, in the entire scheme of the move, it creates space for the creation of space.

The arm brace fills space. If you’re escaping with your arms in a good defensive posture you are able to use them to brace the opponent. You created space for space with the bridge, then as you hip out you fill that created space with a bracing structure of your arms. Again, this in itself is not an escape. If you stop here you’ll likely get yourself into trouble.

The hip out creates space between you and your opponent. It’s extra space because you bridged. It’s filled space because you’re bracing. The further you hip away, the more space is created for you to fill with your leg as you bring it in to establish guard.

The hip in with the leading knee refills the created space with what you want instead of what they want.

When I understand all that, even in its most basic explanation, I can start to put the move into action. That understanding should drive me to action that reflects the information I have about it. This helps me to see what I’ve missed when the move doesn’t work. Sometimes I doing bridge, or hip-out, or bring my knee back in. Sometimes the opponent blocks a key element of the move. That doesn’t delegitimize the move, it simply presents a problem to be solved, which is why other moves are created.

The vast majority of my submissions lately have come in the form of the cross lapel choke. The reason is because I have developed an understanding of the mechanics of it. That understanding lead to action. That action lead to experience, which lead to problems, which lead to analytical thinking, which lead to new strategy based on the original understanding of the mechanics.

So, if you struggle with a technique, go away and do your homework. Learn why a move works, I bet (not that I’m a gambling man) you’ll see it in a whole new light.

Posture in Position

I’m still working to become a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu escape artist. This means that in my training, I am spending a lot of time underneath. I’m not fighting too hard to keep guard. I’m not looking to sweep or attack too much either. If I end up on top I usually give away sweeps like they’re the gross pieces of candy that always end up at the bottom of the bag becasue nobody wants to eat them.

My new revelation from this method is this:

Any position is only as strong as the posture that holds it.

My instructor teaches that BJJ is like realestate. The key is location, location, location. So, thinking about that- Who cares how good location is if you just put up poorly built house. In BJJ we want a solid building, not something like what’s pictured above.

One of the distictives of BJJ is the ability to fight from any position. Not only posture from the top, but posture from the bottom.

My posture is the most important aspect of my escapes.

When someone passes my guard and ends up in side control I need to ensure that my posture keeps me safe. After all, you can’t attempt to escape if you’re dead.

My ideal is that before they get an established control I am on my side, chin tucked, bottom arm tight, and in contact with my bottom knee. My top arm tucked across my abdomen.

If they catch me flat I tuck my far arm across my abdomen, as deep as I can get it. If I give up the underhook, they can attack. If they attack, I have to defend. If I’m defending my escapes are delayed and limited.

I block the cross face with my other arm. If they control my head, they control my upper body to a good degree. If I’m too late for that, I block the hip.

I put the near side knee in the opponent’s hip. This blocks the knee-ride and mount. However, I was very lazy on this last class. Got caught a few times giving up mount.

This posture allows me to be safe while underneath side control. Therefore, the opponent has to transition to another position, which opens space for an escape. Or, the opponent has to sit up to try to get the hidden arm. That, obviously opens up a ton of space for escapes.

It’s the same in mount. Posture dictates survival, which dictates the ability to escape. I turn onto my side, block their hips with tight, protected arms. I open up one side of my collar, but completely block the other side. I’m relatively safe with my posture. That makes the oppenent have to take a risk to make something happen.

Basically, in any position, know what your opponent needs to attack, and hide it or protect it. Also, know what transitions your oppoent has available, and prevent the more dangerous ones. I’m happy for someone to transition to north-south, but I’m not happy for them to take knee-ride, mount, or the back.

So, position is only as good as the posture you take while in it.

Establishing roots

After gaining an overall understanding of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, which tends to be the recognition received when a first stripe is given, I have now decided to focus my training a bit more. I am starting from the bottom.

My focus over the next weeks, or perhaps months, will be to solidify my place with my back stuck on the mat. I want to become an escape artist. I will go about that in a few ways.

1- I will be studying escapes. YouTube, books, articles, instructors, and whatever else I can find.
2- I will be drilling escape movements every day. When breaking down a specific escape you’ll start to notice certain movements. Bridges, hip-outs, sit-outs, pushing with the arms, and stuff like that.
3- In sparring I will pull guard with no intention to keep it. I feel that one of the most important parts of being an escape artist is anticipation. It’s almost a matter of escaping before control is even established. So, I’ll let the guys blow past my guard and work my escapes from there.
4- Map my escapes so as to create depth as well as width within my game. There’s a great Roy Dean video that shows how to base a game plan around the ‘what ifs’.

Wish me luck.