Improving on bad habits - Escaping side control

Being laid up with an injury is no fun. Having been out of action for almost two months with a trapped nerve in my shoulder, I have, frustratingly, had untold time to reflect on the aspects of my Jiu Jitsu that could do with a nip and tuck.

Unsurprisingly, these are basic nuts and bolts techniques. Bread and Butter concepts.
I’ve realised that throughout my time on the mat, I appear to have picked up some less-than-desirable habits in certain positions, which have left me wide open to attack.

I'm no stranger to mistakes – I make many. At home, in training and invariably, at work. The differences being that at home I have a girlfriend to politely point out my errors.
At work I have 34 pupils eager to revel in my misfortune, en masse.

On the mat, namely in competition, I simply have my opponent. The one person who is in no way keen to lend a helping hand or give a guiding nudge. Unless you count a rear naked choke as a polite pointer.

Evidently I do as little as possible to give an opponent any advantage. Or at least I used to.

These days I’m overly keen to wave a free arm about, half-heartedly shoot for a takedown and give up my back, or explore the rich possibilities of getting choked out after kindly letting an opponent pass my guard.

I’ve noticed several things in this vein which I continue to do even though I’m apparently fully aware of the dangers.
The first of these is in trying to escape an indefinite sentence in side control. Once or twice, I’ve instinctively worked to free my near-side arm from under my foe’s torso, skilfully snaking the offending limb out between their shoulder and head, into perfect position for a head and arm triangle. On myself.

Lord only knows why.

I have successfully managed to apply this technique twice in smaller competitions, to be swiftly and thoroughly tapped with said submission. Bloodshot eyes and spots around the T-zone from a lack of oxygen are fine post-match reminders of this particular foolish move.
The results are illustrated perfectly above - in a shot of Jay Furness expertly exposing my BJJ faux pas.

Thanks Jay.

Having discussed this little cavity in my game, Factory BJJ’s Adam Adshead advised some pointers, some of which are relevant from many positions. These are his wise words:

1. Escape the hips but also the shoulders

Creating distance with your hips is great for trying to retain guard, but canny grapplers will find 1001 different ways to block your hip, stopping you from doing this.

So if you are going to play an escaping the hip game, make sure you're aware of how much people will kill your escape with said hip control.

To supercharge your side control escape, also look at escaping your shoulders as well. The majority of failed side control escapes aren't because of a bad hip escape. Instead they fail because people escape their hips, but then then an opponent just sucks you back in as they have control of your upper body - it's like breaking free from the shackles and trying to escape when you're still handcuffed, you're not going to get too far!

Look at it this way, escaping side control in my view is a two part movement and most people only ever work the first part (hips), so will only get it with brute strength or only manage to capitalise on the mistakes of the person on top. They try again and again and again, inefficiently wasting energy and time when patiently escaping your hips and shoulders will get you out, more successfully.

2. Using head control and the V's of elbows to aid your escape.

Escaping side control can be the hardest part of grappling so although step one is good you'll need some trusty accomplices to help you along the way and this is where head and elbow control come in.

Head control

Using the Galvao bridge, where you place your forearm under their head to one - stop you getting side choked and two - to trigger the bridge escape. Remember work a diagonal bridge with your heels spring loaded close to your backside, then once you've pushed their head across your body, make sure you capitalise by stuffing it away and into the mat if possible.

The benefits of using head control are that it limits their sight, weakens their posture/structure and allows you the space and time to make your escape.

Elbow Control

Using the V's of your hand in the V of someone’s elbow is a great way to take away their ability to pin or regain their control over your upper body.As simple as catching a rat with a forked twig (actually it's a lot easier) you want to ideally pin their arms to their body but as long it's not controlling you, it's all good and will help you escape side control.

Recap

· Keep on your side
· Escape your hips
· Escape your shoulders
· Aid your escape with head control and elbow control
· All can be worked conceptually in no set order and mixing them up will stop you building a predictable escaping game.

I've also been running through this, from Aesopian's instructional section.
Admittedly in my head, as I've been injured, but still..............

http://www.aesopian.com/73/heel-drag-side-control-escape/

The art of limb control - an introduction to Invisible Game.

I am a relatively-new blue belt in BJJ, training under the grappling machine that is Factory BJJ, found in Manchester, England.

I have started this blog as a statement of my own intent to improve my functional understanding of the Rubiks Cube that is BJJ. (Adam’s marvellous metaphor, not mine.)

I make no claim to be knowledgeable about grappling in any way, but hope that this blog will serve as a record of sorts – a working notepad on which to document my problem-solving and supposed increasing understanding of grappling.

In some ways it will be my statement of intent – to get better, crack some of the aspects of BJJ that have so far eluded me, and keep track of it.

It'll be a slow process, but if you see anything you like along the way, feel free to magpie it.

I chose the name of this blog as a passing nod to the “invisible” aspects of BJJ – the subtle nuances that can make the difference between success and struggle in the grappling arts.

There are countless variations in the use of the word "invisible" in Jiu Jitsu, but most focus on what goes on during the actual act of grappling and the slight details in techniques which often cannot be seen.

However, when I use the term “Invisible Game,” I refer merely to my own definition.
On any given day this can constitute anything from my own indecision and confusion on which facets of my game need most attention (all of them, apparently) to a genuine wonderment at how simply moving my right elbow an inch to the left can be the difference between success and failure with a chosen sweep.

Add to this the toil and labour of actually making it to training while trying to resist the lures and pitfalls of real life, and you have some idea of the invisible forces which slow down many a grappler's progress (particularly mine) both on and off the mat.
Such is the world of BJJ.

This is in no way an instructional or solely helpful journal - it is as much an outlet as training itself, and as such will probably document in equal measure both my "eureka" moments in Jiu Jitsu as well as musings about the realities of trying to train as often as I'd like. I'm sure many can relate to the latter.

If you're looking for a slightly more informative outlook on the concepts underpinning the ground game, head over to Conceptual BJJ or Aesopian

When I’m not battling the elements, the public transport system or my own failing limbs in an attempt to get to training, I can be found teaching children and generally trying to impart borrowed wisdom to smaller people.

I have been training in grappling forms on and off for around three years and hope some day to be in full control of my own arms and legs, in a gi, on a mat.

Leroy.