Escaping the Mount. Rules vs Principles

Being at the bottom of the mount is a bad day at the office, irrespective of whether we're talking BJJ, no-gi submission wrestling, MMA or of course genuine self-defence. The physical elements (gravity, friction, reach, visibility, breathing and absorption to name a few) are not in your favour and neither are the psychological ones (claustrophobia, fear, uncertainty, anxiety and slowed reaction time). Whether you're worried about strikes raining on your head (MMA / self defence) or getting caught in a choke or a joint lock (BJJ / submission wrestling) some principles remain the same when addressing mount escapes:

1. Never allow the opponent to get fully settled on top of you.
2. Seek to control the relative distance between your hips and their hips.
3. Read and manipulate their weight distribution.
4. Utilise cumulative advantages. In other words every inch you gain from them is yours and you shall never give that back to them.

To demonstrate these principles, let's look at a fundamental escape technique (the elbow-knee) and see how the principles stay the same while circumstances dictate their expression. For the sake of this discussion, we will look at both the preparation stage of the technique and its execution.

The Preparation Stage:

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (and indeed all grappling) is an art. What this means is that we are constantly striving to be more efficient and fluid in out execution and nothing increases your efficiency than arriving prepared for the technique.

Picture 1

In the first picture, your opponent (person on top) has deep control over your lower body which in turn frees him to posture up, land his strikes, set up submissions or simply tire you out by posting against your thrashing attempts to throw him off. Never allow your opponent to get settled and attached like this in the mount.

Picture 2

In picture 2 you can see that even though the opponent is mounting on you they don't exert as much control and are constantly worried about their base. The player on the bottom realises the value of blocking the feet from hooking under the body/legs and anchoring. Their left elbow and knee are glued to the mat (hence the name of the technique).

The Technique Execution:

The above is an excellent example of how the principles that govern your lower body actions remain the same in BJJ, submission grappling, MMA or indeed self-defence. Never let your opponent settle on you.

Above you can see the execution of an elbow-knee escape where the player on the bottom is not worried about the opponent suddenly posturing up to strike so he uses his forearm as a wedge under the body to keep the weight off him.

In picture 3, however, the arm is used more to control the top player's posture in fear of them posturing suddenly for a few punches.

Picture 3

As you can see the preparation is identical and the principles are maintained (both players are controlling the distance, but in different ways).

It is important to understand your actions in these situations but more importantly the concepts and principles that lie behind these actions. Advanced practitioners will be able to bend (or even break) the rules (but that’s only because they fully understand the principles behind them. Until you reach that level of automation, devote your time to fundamental principles and watch your progress skyrocket!

I'd like to thank my friend and coach Martyn Cahill, BJJ black belt and head instructor at Fighting Fit Martial Arts, and the THLL production team for their assistance in this article.