Path to Blue – Stripe 4
Escapes:
1. Elbow Escape
2. Knee-ride Escape to Knees
3. Side Control Escape to Knees
4. Headlock Escape to Back
5. Headlock Escape to Knees
6. Rolling Headlock Escape
7. ½ Guard Escape
8. Standing Guard Pass
3. Escape Side Control to our Knees: Starting stuck in side control we first make attempts to secure the underhook – With our partner on our right side our underhook would be our left hand under their right arm. – While we attempt to get the underhook at the same time we use the bucking and bridging motion to turn on our side to face our partner, effectively pre-empting the escape. Once we secure the underhook we then continue to hip out until our head ends up under our partners belly and we a lying face down in front of them. We then drive our legs into our body and get under their base.
4. Headlock Escape to Back
Scenario: Your opponent has you on the ground in a headlock. They’re in switch-base side control, which means they are facing in the direction of your head.
With a right-arm head control:
- their right leg is extended in the same direction as your head
- their left leg is posting slightly behind them, foot flat, knee pointing toward the ceiling
For this first escape, your opponent has made the mistake of leaving their left leg close to your legs.
So you:
- suck your right arm close to your body, ensuring your opponent can’t grab it
- clamp their left bicep with your left hand, keeping your opponent attached to your body
- hook your left leg in front of their left thigh
- pull back with your left leg and drive forward with your hips to force them face down to the mat
- control their locking arm at the wrist with your right hand
- extricate your head and continue to control or finish
5. Headlock Escape to Knees
Scenario: Same as the example above, except this time your opponent’s legs are too far forward for you to snag.
So you:
- suck your right arm close to your body, ensuring your opponent can’t grab it
- clamp their left bicep with your left hand, keeping your opponent attached to your body
- shorten your neck, bringing your shoulders as close to your ears as humanly possible – this is to avoid cranking it as you…
- turn onto your knees
- turn your body to the left and start walking your knees in that direction, taking your opponent onto their left side
- bring your left forearm across their neck and hold your wrist with your right hand
- drive your head in the direction of their head to break their grip
6. Rolling Headlock Escape
In this scenario, your opponent now has control of your head and your right arm, negating the possibility of escaping using the previous two methods.
Also:
- their right leg is under your right shoulder, outstretched as an extension of your spine
- their headlocking arm is gripping the inside of their right knee
So you:
- grab your right wrist with your left hand
- change the angle of your head by moving your legs in toward your opponent*
- bridge your hips up
- roll to the left as your opponent’s weight shifts above your head
- if they’re still holding onto your head, break their grip as per the headlock escape to knees
*It’s important that your hips and head are offline in relation to their outstretched leg. Otherwise, this acts as an extension of your spine and it’ll be like bridging with a length of 4×2 sticking out of your collar.
Another important point:
For each of these escapes, it’s important that you pre-empt enough to turn onto your side toward your opponent as they’re grabbing your head. If you’re just lying flat on your back and they’ve grabbed your head, your neck is not going to appreciate the rest of your body trying to get to its knees. If you find yourself in this position, your first priority should be to make just enough space to shrink your neck and get onto your side.
8. Standing Guard Pass
- Establish an upright posture
- Grab both your partner’s lapels at the chest and lower down around the stomach
- Try and keep your rearmost elbow back, inside their thigh – you’ll need to suck it back if they open their legs
- Come up on your knee and drive forward with your hips
- Hop up onto both your feet
- Swing your hips forward, using momentum to help lift your partner up off the ground
- Lock your knees together underneath your partner to form a base for their weight
- Release your forward hand grip
Then:
- Bring your heels off the floor
- Drop your heels and…
- Drive down with your free hand on the inside of your partner’s knee, ‘encouraging’ their legs to open, dropping them to the floor
To pass:
- Pull the hand gripping their gi back to your hip, maintaining the grip
- Put your shoulder under their leg on your free hand side
- Get a thumb in collar grip with your free hand on their opposite collar
- Drive forward with both legs
- Walk around, shrug their leg off and take side control
