Thanks to my recent injuries, I’ve had more time to hit up BJJ forums. In my e-travels, I’ve written a few lengthy answers to questions that forum-goers asked me, and I want to share them here.

In this first Q&A, I’m covering two common problems—not getting smashed in half guard and escaping side control—so I think this advise will help many of you.

Smashed in Half Guard

One area I need work on is the “really bad half guard” area. This is when you managed to get half guard, but your opponent is pinning you really tightly either with the shoulder of justice, a crossface pass, or his body is across your’s and really high up in your armpits. All of these positions are really really bad for me in the bottom, so I could use some help returning to a good posture in half guard from them, or sweeping/mounting some kind of offense from that position. I have a few ideas, but when I fall into the bad position it has just been killing me lately.

I know everyone’s usual advice for half guard is get the underhook, get on your side, take the back, et cetera. I’m sure you’ve heard that countless times. That’s all well and fine, since it’s a good way to play half guard, but it can be nearly impossible to do in situations like the ones you’re describing.

I’ve never been good at getting the underhook from half guard against someone who stays tight and maintains a lot of upper body pressure. Without the underhook it’s both extremely difficult and meaningless to try to get on my side, since I’m not going to be able to take their back or generate the leverage for a sweep. Maybe others can but I never have.

The solution I was taught by my instructor, which he was taught by Jean Jacques, which Eddie also teaches in his latest book, and which seems to have become the de facto standard, is to start putting butterfly hooks in.

When someone is that intent on flattening you out, your chances of winning the pummeling battle from the bottom are low. You’re much better off sneaking a hook in and using it to create space. This is often pretty easy if they’re intent on keeping pressure like the shoulder of justice, since they’ll often raise their hips to drive in, giving you space to work the lower body.

My first tutorial ever covers a situation like this:

www.mmalibrary.com/tech_display.asp?id=174

Pay particular attention to the details on getting the hook in: monkey feet, hipping in and out, wiggling the toes.

Bjarni shows another way of getting the hook in that’s similar to Bravo’s “stomp”:

www.aesopian.com/86/a-part-of-bjarnis-half-guard-game/

Once I’ve got the butterfly hook and the overhook on the arm, I’ll play a game like this:

www.aesopian.com/19/playing-butterfly-with-an-overhook/

But any butterfly or half butterfly game can work. Bravo shows good options from here in his book.

If they are sitting out and turning towards your legs to pass (like Saulo and Marcelo teach) then it can be harder to work this butterfly hook, since they can often kick over it, but it still has its uses. I recommend checking out Kesting’s latest DVD for how he addresses this. I’m still working on this situation but what he shows has worked best for me.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I just wanted to get you to start thinking of putting the hook in and creating space in general, since I think it’ll work for a lot of the grips and positions that are bugging you. But if you have a very specific problem with a certain way of being held down, let me know and I’ll see what I can come up with.

Escaping Side Control

I need some options from the bottom of side mount. I’m a pretty small/weak guy (125 lbs), so whenever I get on the bottom of sidemount, its all over. No matter what position my arm is in, they grab a hold on my wrist, drag it out, and do whatever they want with it (kimura, americana, armbar using the arms). Arm submissions from bottom of sidemount is what I tap out to the most. The most annoying thing is, I can’t do it since I’m not strong enough to drag other people’s arms out when I get them in sidemount.

At 150 lbs. I’m no hulk either so I used to suffer from the same problems. I found solved this with four main points:

1) Drilling side control escapes a ton.
2) Focusing on proper posture under side control.
3) Having my escape and posture ready before they settle in.
4) Developing guard retention skills.

You should know a few basic escapes that involve either returning to guard, turning to your knees or rolling them over. I’d prioritize ones where you return to guard since that will work best for you as a smaller guy. Drill these escapes a ton.

By “drill” I mean to get in a ton of static reps but that’s not all. You can also get “reps against resistance” if you understand functional training methods. This is where I developed much of my skill in side control escape.

Let me pull out something I wrote a while back that explains what I mean:

This is where finding a good training partner really pays off.

If you want to learn more about smart training methods that will help you develop specific skills, check these out:

www.aesopian.com/66/5-1-stages-of-resistance/
www.aesopian.com/51/inquiry-method/

As I’ve mentioned several times already, proper posture under side control is of the utmost importance. Getting your arms pried out and cranked is what I consider the most illustrative example of what happens when your arms are taken out of posture.

It seems like you already know where your arms should be, so just keep working on it and it’ll come to you eventually. In case anyone doesn’t know what I mean by “proper posture”, I basically mean that you keep your elbows in and your hands by your neck/face, like you’re in a boxing stance. This is so you can protect your neck, arms and elbows from submissions and not get locked down. If you’re reaching all over the place and hugging over their back and headlocking them, you’re just screwing yourself.

Stephan Kesting’s latest tip of the week talks about posture in positions other than in guard:

www.grapplearts.com/2007/01/posture-outside-of-guard.htm

The last point is a combination of the other two with a dash of another new concept mixed in: Awareness.

What I mean is that once you’ve got your escapes and proper posture down, you need to learn to be aware of when you’re losing position (usually as you’re getting your guard passed) and be ready to have proper posture and start escaping early, before they really have a chance to sink in.

I hate when people tell you the counter is to just not give them a chance to do it in the first place. But it’s usually true. It’s like a boxer asking how to avoid the last punch that hit him in the face—it’s already too late. You need to just not get punched.

If a heavy mofo has a chance crush me under side control, I’m kidding myself if I think this is going to be a breeze to escape. After all, it’s called a “dominant position” for a reason.

Being drilled in my escapes and having proper posture will certainly help but I’m still in serious danger. I am far better off by never allowing myself to be put in such a bad spot in the first place. Easier said than done but it is how I solve most problems like this.

Awareness and being able to foresee and avoid nasty situations before they happen comes from experience. Luckily you can quickly rack up this valuable experience in specific positions and situations if you put in the time to do the drilling and isolation described above.

The last point of guard retention refers to the ability to defend against and counter guard passes as they happen and return to offensive guard positions. The specific techniques vary widely depending on what guards you use and how they try to pass, so you’ll have to figure this out on your own. But once you have, I think you find that guard retention and side control escapes (and escapes from any bottom position) complement each other nicely, and are often one and the same.

For more on side control escapes, check out this:

www.aesopian.com/84/fundamental-five-of-escapes/

I hope that helps.