TFS#85: Moving Mountains & Saving Your Back

Last week, I shared a survey to see whether or not people were interested in receiving a free course in a Shoulder Lift Back Take Pass I use regularly.

I don’t have a good name for it so it’s obnoxiously long right now.

Others have emailed in with a few questions so I thought I’d provide a few more details on what you’d be getting when you sign up for the course…

1. It’s part of my Deep Dive series where I focus on one particular position/technique/idea. Deep Dive is for you to explore beyond what your gym offers.

2. Each Deep Dive series will be emailed to you through ~7 Lessons over the span of 2 weeks, though you can study them at your own pace. The idea behind this is to avoid overwhelming you and help you develop a sustainable studying technique for your busy schedule.

3. This Deep Dive will be ready early next year and it’ll only be FREE for TFS readers, like you!

So if you haven’t responded, you can let me know now and I’ll add you to the list.

Now on to this week’s study…

Moving Mountains

As soon as you’re mounted, you should immediately begin your attempt to escape.

If you push off the hips, you leave your neck exposed. If you defend your neck, they’ll climb up to high mount.

Just like any escape, the best time to attempt one is during their transitions.

As the defender, you’ll want to bump and give them a hard time stabilizing the position.

As the attacker, they’ll be distracted trying to maintain their balance…so there will be openings for you to attempt your escape.

Remember: they are strongest when you are still.

This topic might seem too elementary for upper belts, but I wanted to round up this year with solid foundations before moving onto more “exciting” topics next year.

So for now, here’s 3 options you can explore.

1) If their posture is high - Arm Trap

To set this up, you’ll need their arms to post above your head.

The best way to do this is to constantly bump them in various directions to force their hands to adjust.

Once you see their hands post above your head, it’s the perfect time to snag it with a gable grip.

2) If their posture is low - Elbow Escape

If you’re constantly bumping and giving your opponent a hard time, they may try to flatten themself out on top of you.

They’ll also wrap their legs around yours, creating the grapevines.

From here, you’ll want to kill their grapevines. And because their posture is so low, you can use your hands to help free your leg.

🔑 Key detail: Because their weight is more distributed over your body, their is less weight on their legs, making it easier to move their legs. Understand this concept as it will apply to other positions.

3) If they have the high mount - Back Door

I personally don’t like this one as much because I know not everyone is flexible enough to invert all the way.

But it is worth a try, and maybe it’s worth investing into your flexibility.

This is more of a last ditch effort for me since you don’t want to end up in the high mount to begin with.

You’ll use your hands to push on their armpits while you bring your legs over. (You’re also exposing your arms in this position so be careful!)

Replace your hands with your feet and push off, allowing yourself to escape through the back door.

Summary

These are basic escapes and trust me, you’re going to try them out at the gym and probably fail a lot.

And it’s not because the technique doesn’t work but because the timing is probably off, so pay attention to your timing.

Recognize what type of situation you’re in.

This is actually a great place to specific spar with your partner.

Your goal would be to replace your guard while your opponent is trying to submit or get to the back.

Save Your Back

Escaping the mounted position isn’t the only place where you’ll be using bridges.

Developing a strong hip thrust is a crucial move in Jiu-Jitsu and if you don’t do them properly, you can end up hurting your back in the long run.

🔑 Key detail: Make sure to tuck your tailbone in before bridging.

The Hip Thrust is a great exercise you can use at home or in the gym to develop a better bridge.

A few tips to keep in mind when performing Hip Thrust:

• Do full reps without overextending

• Drive through your heels

• Maintain a stable core

You can do this on a bench with no weights, a kettlebell, or a barbell.

It’s up to you how intense you want to develop that strength.

Watch this quick video to learn the proper form.

More Resources

👉 Make 2024 a strong year by committing to strength training and injury prevention. (link)

🥋 Here are 8 pointers for fresh blue belts entering the new year. (link)

🥋 If you’ve manage to hit #2 escape from the study above, you’ll probably find yourself in Half Guard. And when you do, try this interesting back attack. (link)

🥋 How Jozef Chen is changing BJJ. (link)

*Links with 👉 emoji is an ad or affiliate link.
Book your slot here.

Avoid Playing Catch Up

Getting to purple belt isn’t the promised land.

There’s no guaranteed smooth sailing after that point.

Your challenges will become different, and I’d argue even more challenging.

That’s because all the things you’ve neglected will start haunting you.

The stress comes from a neglect of certain aspects of your game.

By purple belt, rounds becomes very technical.

If you’ve gotten through your blue belt by using brute force, that smaller person who’s been developing their technique will now be a tough roll for you.

Then you’re going to feel like you inadequate or undeserving of your purple belt.

And now you have to play catch up.

You’ll have to review basics and fundamentals while your peers are expanding their game.

That’s not even to mention how neglecting basics can increase chances of injury.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but I want you to be aware of how you’re approaching your training.

Use the holidays to reflect and understand what you’re trying to accomplish in Jiu-Jitsu.

…But not at the cost of hanging out with your family and friends.

Let it go of the stress for a few days if you must and start the new year right!

Merry Christmas,

Wayne

P.S. An interesting take on stress.