Jiujitsu Made Simple: Mount Control
I’m sorry, Back. You used to be my favorite position but I’m no longer in love with you. My heart belongs to the mount position.
And it wasn’t always like this…
I used to hate the mount.
I remember challenging myself to figure out WHY I hated the mount so much and I couldn’t get passed the (old school) rationale that the mount, for me, was simply a way to get to the more dominant back position.
It wasn’t until I forced myself to study the mount position better by copping one of Danaher’s instructionals on the mount position. He reiterated that old school idea that the mount has hither-to been an effective way to bait the back position but that, if done right, the mount could be much more dominant.
I only made it halfway through the instructional (I think I got past the arm triangle) but immediately, noting a brand new method of controlling the position, I’ve had much more success and to be honest, I never even go to the back anymore.
I’ve gotten so good at controlling the mount that most of my students and training partners are unable to get out unless I make a mistake (intentionally or not).
So what am I doing?
I’m glad you asked.
I’ve simply learned how to control the position better. And what that means is, I’ve learned how to prevent my opponent from escaping so that I can work my way into submission attempts more methodically. Interestingly, I’ve had better success with the mount than the back (maybe I’ll work on that next?) and have gone to the back ONLY when my opponent has made a critical mistake that gives me the back.
Roger Agrees
A few months after watching some of the Danaher instructional, I listened to a podcast with Roger Gracie and Lex Fridman where Lex asked Roger which position was more dominant: Mount or back.
Roger said the mount. Lex was surprised.
In the same podcast, Lex mentioned Roger’s ability to get to the mount and choke his training partners with ease, noting it's simplicity.
Roger rebutted that there’s NOTHING simple about his mount. It was complex.
And he’s right. There’s a lot of complexity in how he controls the mount. It’s not complicated though —it’s pretty easy. You just have to know the avenues of your opponents’ escapes and you need to know how to anticipate them and shut them down.
Enter today’s article.
Today we’re going to take some of this complexity and simplify it as much as possible so that you, too, can have a powerful mount. It will take time and practice to be able to implement effectively BUT, the goal is after today, you’ll be much better about maintaining the mount position so that it leads to more efficient submissions.
After the paywall, you’ll get details like
How to shut down avenues of your opponent’s escape
Why your head position matters to keep your balance
The correct way to connect to your opponent (higher is not always better)
And a few more!
Next week, we’ll talk about attacking the mount (made simple) but today, we punish our training partners with excruciating mount control.
Let’s dive in!
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