questions for side control

[Jesse_Fairburn]

hey guys, i have a few questions for side control and was hoping to get some feedback if possible.

is it better to be on your knees in SC or prone with ur hips low. i find whenever im on my knees im put back into guard/halfguard right away. now im finding if i keep my legs stretched and my hips low, it puts lots of weight on the opponent, and if they try sneaking their legs under i block with my hips, like a sprawl. i just find i dont get as many sub attempts when i do this. any ideas?

[AJ Camacho]

I had/have the same problem. I try to keep my side mount as dynamic as possible often switching between standard side, scarf hold, and twister side depending on where their inside arm and hips are.

[Tyler Timmermans]

here is a drill from another thread

[stlnl]

I block the hips with the knee and drop the hip closest to their head to the floor. When I walk around to the other side, I tend to put both hips on the floor.

IMO the only time you should be on both knees in side control is after securing complete control of the near side arm (trapping it near the guy's head with your hip and pulling him up onto you a bit) and that is damn near impossible to do to someone who is even in grappling ability with you. I dont count transitions to mount, since they are not control positions as much as transitions.

[Chris Herzog]

On the knees for sure, sprawled out is too easy to replace 1/2 guard and its very difficult to transition to submissions from side control when your sprawled out.

Couple of pointers that should help:

1)You job should be to eliminate space(the person escaping should be attempting to create space), like vacuum sealing some frozen veggies, no gaps.

2)Knees tight to their body, I prefer one in their ear, the other tight to their hip. Sit you butt back over your heels.

3)Chest pressure should be constant. You pressure should start on the near side of their body and press down and across to the far side (think of kneading dough with a rolling pin), but never driving across to the far side, make sure you keep your hips down, with your butt back over your heels.

4)"Destroy the near arm". Take away his power base, and he won't be able to create space to replace his guard. There are a number of methods to do this. A common one I teach: Switch your hips to scarf hold when he pushes off your hip to create space, then scissor your legs bringing you knee under his arm up to his ear transitioning back to side control with his arm now over his head, like he's raising his arm to ask a question. It is very difficult to create space to escape once you’ve destroyed the arm.

Hope these help.

[Mike Noronowicz]

my ribs and chest are sore from doing something like this in our open mat ,,,uh i thought i had cracked ribs or something ,.
any tips on strengthening a rib cage ???

[Jim Allen]

I will absolutely be borrowing the "vacuum seal the frozen veggies" analogy in the future. I like the way you put that.

[AndyK5]

Chris Herzog +1
This is what we are being taught too, great advice.

[Harry Evans]

I was just getting advice on this from one of our brown belts yesterday. First of all, it depends on your body type. If you are short and stout, you can just be on both knees and be really heavy. I am tall and lanky, so Heidi (brown belt) suggested I spend more time with a hip connection then knee. In other words, either plant the hip near their head on your opponent's shoulder/neck line and face the legs (like TSC), or plant your lower hip on their hip to stop the guard-recovery and face their head (like Judo side control or scarf position, except with the far side underhook, and pulling up on the close arm). Makes you way heavier, especially where they want to replace their guard. You just have to remember that on your knees is a more threatening spot, with more attacks, while on your side is better for being heavy, making life miserable, and maintaining position. I try to go to my side, wait until the guy stops bucking, and then go to my knees to attack.

[Harry Evans]

also, especially for the "on both knees" side control, Chris Herzog +1. Says it all.

@ Chris, thanks for the part on sitting your butt back on your heels, that's definitely what has been causing me problems. If you are lanky, how do you maintain chest pressure and keep your weight from going to far over at the same time? I feel like the farther back I sit, the lighter I feel