A few weeks ago I was in a roll with a pretty slick fighter with good mobility. He got mount and I was unable to upa or bump him off, well for a little while. I found myself pushing him up and off me, straightening my arms in the process to make space giving him ample opportunity to arm bar me. A beginner white belt mistake.I’ve been in Stoll’s shoes before, both as an advanced white belt and as a brand, spanking-new blue. I’ve got a bump/upa move I call the “pole vault” because of the hand positioning that is very effective against the mount—at least when it is very effective. Other times, unfortunately, it is almost worthless. And I have found myself bumping and bumping pathetically under the mount of a larger or more advance opponent, wasting energy instead of focusing on the specific techniques that will allow me to improve my position.
After class, Professor pulled me aside asked me to take top mount on him. He escaped like butter. I mounted high on his chest, got my hooks in from a low position, postured up from a middle position and pressed down on his hips; each time nothing would stop him from escaping with simplicity. He then mounted me and asked me to escape. I was tired after the rolls, but that is no excuse; my mount escapes were weak, useless, and almost non-existent.
I love my Upa, but that only works when the conditions are in line. Professor then told me that someone who cannot escape from mount should not have a blue belt around their waist. I agreed. I was embarrassed and ashamed that there was such a gaping hole in my game. But it was what it was and needed to be fixed.
The key to escaping the mount, so it seems, is a combination of bumping and escaping the hips. One approach by itself is not likely to work against a talented opponent. So in the same way that we need to push and pull to get a sense of our opponent’s (path of least) resistance, so do we need to raise our hips and move them from side to side to create space for an escape attack.
I suspect for most people with mount escape difficulties, the problem isn’t the bump, or the bump ‘n’ roll, it’s in escaping the hips. I know that’s the case with me. One problem I have in general with jiu jitsu is that I tend to give up after trying a given technique instead of fighting to make a certain technique work and then only giving up when it is clear to me that the technique will not work AND I’ve figured out something else, something better to do.
This is one of the things I love about watching that Werdum v. Lindland ADCC match from years ago. You can see exactly what set of techniques Werdum has decided to use against Lindland. First the double armbar/windmill sweep combination. Then after a number of attempt to catch Lindland with the submission or the sweep, Werdum switches to a “King Crimson” strategy of kimuras and crossover sweeps. In the process, Werdum sees an opportunity to take Lindland’s back. From there, it is RNC and rear mount armlock until Werdum gets the finish with the latter.
So I need to attack with the bump, but also to attack with the elbow escape—in both directions—when mounted.
Another key is similar to the fundamental rule when in the half-guard: get on your side. Getting on your side makes it possible to bring up a knee—top knee or bottom knee—and wedge it up between your hips and your opponent’s hips. There are both butterfly/Cobra guard recoveries (if you bring out the top leg first) and half-guard/closed guard recoveries (if you bring out the bottom leg first). So it is probably good practice to train bringing both the top and the bottom legs first.
The hip escape moves are especially worthwhile if the guy on top has his legs relatively wide to defend against your bump/upa. If he’s tight with his thighs pressing your legs together, then the bump is a better bet—or even the bump-to-butterfly move. As you can see, the bump can help create space for the hip escape, and if he tightens up to close off space you can transition back to the bump ...
In part 2, I'll show some Roy Harris videos that I came across on You Tube that describe some interesting mount escape options.
