Side Control Hell

[Gray]

I personally turtle and go for a leg or stand up. I'd much rather be stuck in front headlock than side control for the most part. (This has gotten me in some super shitty positions competing against guys who turned out to be excellent wrestlers however) There's a definite learning curve to this approach, you're going to get a lot of guys who go for your back/guillotine/d'arce, but I find it works well for me. Generally speaking, this is probably the number one way I reverse guys who are better than me.

[mattnicosia]

Thank you all for the feedback. I'll be experimenting with all of your suggestions for the next couple of months. I'll post what works best.

[Mike Nall]

I personally turtle and go for a leg or stand up. I'd much rather be stuck in front headlock than side control for the most part. (This has gotten me in some super shitty positions competing against guys who turned out to be excellent wrestlers however) There's a definite learning curve to this approach, you're going to get a lot of guys who go for your back/guillotine/d'arce, but I find it works well for me. Generally speaking, this is probably the number one way I reverse guys who are better than me.

I pretty much do the same thing. I also turn away a lot and end up going to turtle to go onto a single or stand. Or I go through the turtle and sit back to butterfly or deep half. I know that turning away is supposedly a cardinal sin, but there's a way to do it pretty safely. Like you said there's a learning curve involved. If someone passes to your right (they have side control with their right knees up against you), you take your right hand and put it up by the left side of your neck to block incoming choke or seat belt attempts as you turn away, and you reach your left leg down as you turn away to their make a check on their left thigh right above their knee to make it harder for them to thread a nearside hook in as you turn away.

Like you said you get your back taken a darce and guillotine choked a lot when you start off, but it's a solid side control escape. I used to do the jailbreak to re-guard back to butterfly all the damn time and I keep wanting to try it again but I always forget to try in the middle of rolling.

Thank you all for the feedback. I'll be experimenting with all of your suggestions for the next couple of months. I'll post what works best.

Another cool thing is to go out from under the car. I'm surprised more people don't do it. it's like when someone is on those boards with wheels working underneath a car and then they push on the car when they're finished and they slide out from under it. It's very similar to the Ghost escape series but not as circular.

You can do cool reversals like this. Keep in mind Jeff Glover is starting off with more space. So you'd have to create some of this space yourself. https://instagram.com/p/_8GqX6JtR_/

[Gray]

Mike, that is a crucial detail that I missed. When I grab the leg by turtling, I usually sit back to half and then finish the sequence from there. Trying to single leg exclusively from turtle is going to let guys really sprawl like crazy

[kevinculp]

Framing is awesome! I use the Heisman in Gi and nogi. Look up Marcelo Garcia side control escape and have fun. If you can't get that then shrimp your ass off or block the knee and recover 1/2 guard.

[FRANK BARCA]

Are you regularly hitting your warm ups?

[Brent Smith]

The majority of my time against equally skilled or better opponents is spent in side control. I can rarely escape. I'm 5'7" 160lbs. Can anyone recommend something that works well? Jail Break? I train gi and no-gi. Thanks!

Personally I would get obsessed with escaping side control. Even against white belts let them pass and work your escape . Live there. Your frames are really important. Something I do, when I know someone is going to pass I make sure I'm not flat on my back. I'm fully on my side. My top arm is glued to my stomach as if I had a stomach ache to prevent the darce. My bottom arm is up as if I'm tipping my hat, to block the cross face. If you get cross faced you will most likely get flattened out which will make the escape difficult. If they flatten you out , work to get your frames , make space, and shrimp. Basic I know but sometimes basic is the best.