Side Control

Position map

What leads here, and where this position leads.

Key principles

• Chest-to-chest contact is the position; if daylight appears between your sternum and theirs, they are already escaping.
• Kill the near arm and the far hip: the near elbow is what frames you off, the far hip is what shrimps away.
• Your knees and toes drive the pressure — the more of your weight rides on them and not on your hands, the heavier you feel.
• Switch grips instead of switching positions: cross-face plus the far underhook, both arms on the near side (cross-face plus a hip or knee block), and the transitional grips for north-south or knee-on-belly cover most escapes.
• Change position for a reason: either answering their escape or applying pressure to force a reaction — knee-on-belly, north-south and mount are tools, not aimless wandering.

Common mistakes

Submission

• Americanawhite
• Arm Triangle from Side Controlblue

Sweep

• Balloon Sweepblue
• Butterfly Sweepblue