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Techniques, Tutorials and Gear for BJJ, MMA and Submission Grappling

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Home » Escapes

Escapes

Mount to Deep Half Guard Escape

February 18, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

Mount escape to deep half guard

Here is one of my favorite  ways to escape the mount position. It relies on briefly achieving quarter guard which is essentially the mount position where you have one of his feet trapped between your legs and then transitioning to the deep half guard. This wouldn't necessarily be the first escape you would use in an MMA or self defense situation (since it exposes your face to punches) but in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Deep Half Guard, Escapes, Mount Escape, Techniques, Video

How to Escape Side Control

January 14, 2020 by Stephan Kesting

How to Escape Side Control

Being stuck under side control (aka 'side mount,' or '100 kilos') is one of the great challenges in jiu-jitsu.  Here your opponent is able to put a TON of weight onto you, crush your face, attack your arms and neck, and advance his position by getting to the mount or taking your back. In short, being on the bottom of side control sucks, and you have to have some good ways to escape … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Escapes, Sidemount, Techniques, Thomas Lisboa, Video

How to Get Great at BJJ Defense

December 10, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

submission defense

Want to tap out less? Let's take a look at how to get really good at defending against submission attacks. Today I mostly want to talk about training methodology, not specific techniques per se. Of course there are definitely many specific defenses that you can use to prevent, defend, and counter any possible submission. But too many people think that they just have to learn the defense … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Training Tagged With: BJJ, Erik Paulson, Escapes, Guard Passes, Guard Retention, Leglocks, Napoleon, Submission, Submission Grappling, Training

The Cheat Code for BJJ Turtle Escapes

November 14, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

BJJ turtle escape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmz1ID3VgGU The turtle is a terrible position! Being on all fours is an invitation for your opponent to apply the clock choke, take your back and choke you out, or attack you with other submissions. And if you're talking about an MMA or self defense situation it's even worse.  Now your opponent can elbow, knee and hammerfist you into oblivion without even … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Escapes, Guard Retention, Half Granby, No Gi, Positions, Rory Van Vliet, Sparring, Turtle Position, Video

A Powerful Heel Hook Leglock Escape

June 25, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

Heel hook escape

Many grapplers treat leglocks as the black magic of jiu-jitsu. They fear leglocks and never use them.  Consequently never learn how to properly escape them either. The problem is that if you're doing any form of no gi grappling you will inevitably run into ankle locks, heel hooks, kneebars and toeholds - sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich and ignoring them is no longer an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Berimbolo, Escapes, Grapplearts DVDs, Heel Hook, Leglocks, Modern Jiu-Jitsu, No Gi

Defending and Escaping When Someone is On Your Back!

June 7, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

strong side back escape 4

Having someone on your back in rear mount is an absolutely terrible situation. It doesn't matter if you're doing BJJ, no gi submission grappling, MMA, or are in a self defense situation.  When someone is behind you with the hooks in and his arms locked in the seatbelt position then you're really very close to getting choked into a drooling mess. There's a reason that being caught in rear … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Mixed Martial Arts, Self Defense Tagged With: BJJ, Burton Richardson, Chokes, Escapes, Rear Mount, Techniques, Video

How to Escape Cross Side Mount

May 25, 2019 by Stephan Kesting

heavy pressure and crossface from top of cross side mount

Getting crushed on the bottom of the cross-side mount is one of the most terrible feelings in jiu-jitsu. In the worst case situation his weight is heavy upon your chest making it hard to breathe.  Your limbs are completely out of position making it impossible for you to frame or push him away.  And his arm is anchored under your head allowing him to drive his shoulder into your jaw with a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Uncategorized Tagged With: BJJ, Concepts, Escapes, Rob Biernacki, Sidemount, Strategy, Techniques, Video

The Strong and Weak Sides of the Guillotine Choke (And How to Use Them for Offense and Defense)

October 23, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

OK, today we're going to talk about something that's both very simple and incredibly important. I've explained this to SO many grapplers over the years it's not even funny, and most of the time the reaction is a "Doh! I should have known that!!!" Here's what I'm talking about... The guillotine choke has a strong side and a weak side. Attacking with a strong sided guillotine is MUCH … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Chokes, Drills, Escapes, Guillotine Choke, No Gi, Submission, Techniques, Video

Some High Percentage Pin Escapes from the North South Position

October 11, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

One of the most common questions I get asked is "how do I escape from north south?" It's a totally understandable question, because the north south position is a TERRIBLE place to be stuck in! On the bottom your arms are dangling out ripe for armlocking, your neck is just waiting to be choked, and the whole time your opponent is smashing you with heavy pressure from the top. Some of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Escapes, Gi, No Gi, North-South, Rob Biernacki, Techniques, Video

How to Defend and Escape the Kimura from Side Control

October 7, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

7 Defending and escaping the Kimura when you're on the bottom of side control is always difficult.  There are several different reason for this... First of all, the figure four grip used in the Kimura is very powerful control.  It creates a natural handle that your opponent can use to manipulate your entire body, both in gi or no gi. And once your opponent has secured this grip it's a real … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Escapes, iPhone, Kimura, Sidemount, Submission, Techniques, Video

How to Defend and Escape the Armbar from Guard

October 7, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

If you've been grappling for any length of time then you know that anytime you're in the closed guard you've got to watch out for the armbar from guard. It's one of the most common and highest percentage submissions in all of BJJ, submission grappling and MMA. So if we're going to be running into a technique like the armbar from guard this frequently then we HAVE to have some good answers for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Armbar, Closed Guard, Escapes, iPhone, Submission, Techniques, Video

How to Defend and Escape the Rear Naked Choke

October 7, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

Stephan defending and escaping the rear naked choke

In the video above and in the article below we're going to talk about how to defend and escape the Rear Naked Choke. There's a reason that the Rear Naked Choke (or RNC) has finished so many matches in MMA, BJJ and submission grappling: it's a very powerful and super-difficult to escape submission! This effectiveness is the main reason that we've devoted so much time to this choke on Grapplearts … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Self Defense Tagged With: Android, Escapes, iPhone, Rear Mount, Rear Naked Choke, Submission

Standing Guillotine Choke Escapes

June 25, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

guillotine choke escape

Standing guillotine chokes are really tough to escape, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to get out! I recently met up with my friend Ando Mierzwa, and we shot something on the topic of guillotine prevention and escape for his martial arts oriented Youtube channel. It's a video in 3 parts... The first part of the video is about guillotine prevention.   It's always easier to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques, Self Defense Tagged With: Ando Mierzwa, Clinching, Escapes, Guillotine Choke, Self Defense, Techniques, Video

My Favourite Omoplata Escape

June 15, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

omoplata escape

The omoplata is one of my very favourite techniques - it's a submission, a sweep, and a setup for other sweeps and submissions.  That's why I've got a ton of articles about this technique on Grappearts! But much as I love the omoplata I absolutely HATE getting caught in it myself. I want to show you my favourite omoplata escapes right now... First of all though, let's talk about the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Counter, Escapes, Omoplata, Submission, Techniques, Video

Podcast Episode 113 – A Close Call, and Avoiding Injuries!

June 14, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

The other day I almost tore a partner’s ACL off the bone, which would have required him to have surgery and many months of rehabilitation. What happened exactly? I was more experienced and a bit bigger than my training partner that day and we were doing some no gi sparring. Because of the experience discrepancy I was hyper-focusing on a couple of very specific positions, namely Ashi … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Podcasts, Self Defense, Training Tagged With: BJJ, Chokes, Escapes, Grapplearts, Injuries, Leglocks, Open Guard, Stephan Kesting, Techniques, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Triangle Choke

Crucifix Defences for BJJ and Submission Grappling

April 6, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

BJJ crucifix with harness

The crucifix is a TERRIBLE position to get caught in, and once you're in it then it's really hard to get out of. But if you stay resolute, study these defences, and get a little lucky then maybe, just maybe, you can escape and prevent yourself from getting armlocked, choked or neck cranked. First, here’s a video of on how to escape several variations of the Crucifix. Or scroll down to see … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: BJJ, Crucifix Position, Escapes, MMA, No Gi, Ritchie Yip, Techniques, Video

A Simple Adjustment That Shuts Down the Kimura from Guard

March 31, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: Closed Guard, Escapes, Half Guard, Kimura, Roy Harris, Video

The 10 Second Rule for Effective Choking

March 15, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

10 second rule for chokes

How many times have you been trying to choke out a training partner, straining and straining, then give up in disgust only to have him say, "Man, I was SO close to tapping out!!" Or what about those times when you've been caught in a choke, see no way out, and your only defense is to hunker down and hope that your opponent will give up before you run out of air or blood to the brain? The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques, Mixed Martial Arts Tagged With: Anaconda Choke, Chokes, Clock Choke, Collar Chokes, Elliott Bayev, Escapes, Rear Naked Choke, Sleeve Choke, Triangle Choke

How Vinny Magalhães Survived Fabrício Werdum’s Armbar to Win ADCC

March 11, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

Armbar Defense Vinny Magalhaes vs Fabricio Werdum

In the heaviest weight class of the 2011 ADCC submission fighting championships there was a fascinating matchup between accomplished grappler and MMA fighter Vinny Magalhães and the two time ADCC champion, Fabrício Werdum. After an initial exchange on the feet Vinny caught Fabrício in an omoplata sweep and got ahead on points. Fabrício escapes, they get back to the feet, there's another … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Grappling Techniques Tagged With: ADCC, Armbar, BJJ, Competition, Escapes, Fabricio Werdum, Marcus Buchecha Almeida, No Gi, Physical Attributes, Rob Biernacki, Roger Gracie, Submission, Techniques, Video, Vinny Magalhaes

BJJ Breathing Tricks When You’re On the Bottom, Getting Crushed by Your Opponent

February 24, 2018 by Stephan Kesting

bouncing on the stomach to help learn how to breathe under pressure

One of the very worst things is to be trapped on the bottom with all your opponent's weight on top of you and be unable to breathe.  This is usually followed by exhaustion, panic and surrender. But it doesn't need to be like this - there are several approaches to breathing in BJJ that can make sure air gets into your lungs, oxygen into your blood, and keep you in the game, even when you're … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Beginners, Grappling Techniques, Podcasts, Training Tagged With: Breathing, Carlos Machado, Chokes, Escapes, Judo, Sidemount, The Mental Aspect, The Strenuous Life BJJ Podcast with Stephan Kesting, Training, Video, Walter Lanz

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