Book your free trial class today — call +91-9717956687

Side Control Escapes, Part 2: Attack from the Bottom

Professor Binish SukhijaProfessor Binish Sukhija · 4 min read

Attack from the bottom.

No-Gi class at Knots & Collar, New Delhi — Professor Binish Sukhija. Full video: 7:58.

Usually an escape from bottom side control is all survival. In this part of the class, Professor Binish changes the goal. Every escape here comes through a submission. You finish it, or you walk away into a better position.

This is Part 2 of 3. Part 1 is Side Control Escapes, Part 1: Stop the Head Control, Find the Elbow, and it explains the armbar pressure that everything here is built on. Part 3 is Side Control Escapes, Part 3: When he switches.

1. The overhand head control

People take head control in different ways. The arm can go under, or it can come over the top. The class starts with over, “like an overhand in boxing”: a punch from top to down.

A common problem from the warm-up: when you try to hip escape, the top person sits his hip through to block your knee, and still takes the head control.

2. Swim through and hold his wrist

In Part 1, the bottom hand swam outside. This time the right hand stays where it is and the left goes for his wrist. Professor Binish calls it his “watch”.

Now the bottom arm swims through. Move your head inwards as you do it. You find the elbow again, but you don’t stop there. You pass it through and hold on to his wrist.

“None of the things that we’ll be doing is for position control. It’s all submission oriented.” You are finding your escapes via submission.

3. Finish or walk away

How do you submit from here? Push his wrist against his own shoulder. Now he has to relieve the pressure. If he doesn’t, he taps.

You can also mix the two. Walk your feet away and you find the top position. If needed, walk your hip back and keep pushing into his shoulder. And if he exposes his elbow, that’s an armbar.

“These are all attacking escapes today.” Professor Binish is honest about it: not worrying about survival is a bad strategy. But once in a while you need this in your arsenal. When you’re running out of time and see a big opportunity, you have to be snappy.

4. Into the shoulder, not the hip

A correction from the drilling. Some people were pushing his wrist against his hip. That’s bad. He can pull his elbow out, and you get frustrated attacking him.

Pushing into his pocket (his hip) can work, but it’s too much work for you. He can also run his shoulder into your chin. Keep it in check at the shoulder instead.

“The more he moves forward, easier the finish.”

5. Hip escape: lead with the pocket

When you do hip escape, use your left pocket against whatever he has posted there: his palm or his forearm. Lead with the pocket. Catch, push his wrist into his shoulder, and you will find your position.

6. The Americana from the bottom

Catch the arm, and your other arm goes under. Then start putting pressure on, and use it to get up. This is the Americana.

It’s normally a shoulder lock done from on top. Here it comes from the bottom, where you shouldn’t open your arms too much and should be focused on survival. But “a lot of times we survive so much that we forget that partner is giving so much opportunity to us.” This drill is about seeing those openings.

7. The karate block

The last chapter shows how to meet his arm. Hold your arm thumb down, pinky up, like a karate block, as he punches in.

Block, go under, and catch your own wrist. Then push his wrist into his own shoulder. Getting straight up may be tough, so keep pressing and keep walking away.

What to take away

  1. Escape via submission. Nothing here is about position control.
  2. Swim through, pass the elbow and hold his wrist.
  3. Push his wrist into his own shoulder. He relieves the pressure or taps.
  4. Shoulder, not hip. The more he moves forward, the easier the finish.
  5. Lead with the pocket on the hip escape.
  6. Block like karate, go under, catch your own wrist. Then keep walking away.

Next, watch Side Control Escapes, Part 3, for what to do when he switches his base, hides his arm or drops his hip on your face. If you are new to escaping from underneath, start with Part 1, and our back mount escape class covers the same idea from the worst position in the sport.

Train with us

Knots & Collar, New Delhi.

दिल्ली में ब्राज़ीलियन जिउ-जित्सु (BJJ) सीखें — Knots & Collar में आपकी पहली क्लास फ्री है।

Filmed at Knots & Collar, New Delhi. Head instructor: Professor Binish Sukhija. Intro music licensed from Epidemic Sound: “Limitless” (LONELY.ROBOT).