In our level 1 basics course we learned about different angles of holding side-control to deal with the opponent’s bridging and bucking. In our level 2 fundamentals, we’re going to be learning the details of controlling the pin in each side-control variation & how to modify our escapes to fit the type of side-control pin our opponent is putting us in.

Our first examples are when the opponent uses their knee to block our guard, or is using their shoulder-smash (often in a conjoined-hands seatbelt side-control pin), to crush down our frame and put it into their Americana Shoulder-lock (Ude Garami). When this is happening, we need to know how to do a Belly-down Underhook Escape to a single leg.

It’s just about seeing how the situation is changing and recognizing that we need to move on, and zoning to the next move. In this case, we are trying to bring our bottom leg through to do our basic shrimping elbow-knee escape/guard recovery from fundamentals 1, but the opponent’s knee is blocking our leg from coming through – so we make that knee the target and go to it instead.