The BJJ Position Where White Belts Go to Die

One of the most common messages I get from you guys, specifically the newer grapplers, is about something in the realm of White Belts having trouble with Side Control escapes.

Regardless of your prior grappling experience, White Belts of all backgrounds tend to struggle pretty often escaping side control and just feel stuck.

The tip that I am going to share with you in this video works for side control, mount, or any defensive position, but can be really useful for side control specifically.

This technique/idea made escaping side control way easier for me, and hopefully for you newer white belts watching, or anyone else, it can also be a useful idea that'll help your game too.

- Chewy
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If you’d ever like to train with the team and I. Check out my gym Derby City MMA in Louisville,KY.

[aibjj]

"they do all this stuff that the coach never told them"😂

[ConradCreel]

07:13 is where the ultimate wisdom lies. Relaxing and keeping things tight is important but "Adam" is key.

[tonykaze]

I'm 5 sessions in and this is gold, thank you. I'm exactly the white belt you're describing, and will try to keep this advice in my brain on the mat.

[yurisich]

I've been thinking a lot about this as a "budget" to help me prioritize low cost options in order to avoid gassing out. Frames are low cost, grips cost more.

[bradford]

This is one of the most important videos out there. And Adam's input at the end was great! 😊

[nathanbuhay]

When I'm on the bottom I usually wait for the guy in top to move first. It works better than moving right into the position they want you to move into. Instead they have to pick an attack and it's easier to defend an attack you can see coming rather than try and scramble and get caught in something you weren't expecting

[jeanlezak]

As a brand new white belt its quite nice seeing this, as this is exactly what we did yesterday at no gi

[jamestk]

After a rib injury, anytime anyone even got on my chest was an excruciating time for me even when doing nothing but staying tight. What really helped me out was that I changed my mentality in that I "decided" to never get flattened out in the first place where I have the worst time.

Forget about side control escapes altogether and just always be on my side even if that means I need to turn away or even turtle up. I find that even when I'm facing away, as long as I stay tight and don't give them access to a seat belt grip or a top hook, I'm not actually giving them my back, they're just behind me.

Even when they do get my back, I find that I have a much easier time defending it compared to flat side control since no one is on top of me (and I can breathe lol) especially if I'm diligent in not letting them get their hooks in. Besides, they usually have to pull me on top of themselves to try to get the choke so most of the time I'm on top of them and I can grind into them myself and make them work for it.

When my ribs heal, I'm not even sure I'll go back to how I used to do jiu jitsu since this has been less tiring for me.

[bryanfontez]

I'm a blue belt closing in on a purple and this helped me a lot. I still have issues with this position. It's my worst. I'm better than I was but it's still brutal and hell against huge guys.

The hand on the head defence is key, I need to incorporate that.

[UnskilledGrappler]

This goes right along with the four part video series from Rener and Ryron Gracie entitled Defend, Escape, Control, Submit. If you haven’t watched it, I can’t recommend it enough.

It’s my honest opinion that anyone who has not spent a great deal of time deliberately putting themselves in bad positions so that they can survive and escape has not really mastered the most important part of JiuJitsu.

[paxmarc]

My girl also tells me not to panic to last longer

[Harma]

Excellent advice! Keep up the good work. This helps us white belts a lot because most of the content on YouTube seems to be geared to more advanced grapplers.

[MartialMind]

Tainan Dalpra had Isaque Bahiense stuck in side control for almost 30 minutes. It is a very tough position to deal with even amongst the absolute best grapplers alive.

[FR-tyvn]

Such great 👍🏼 advice - and you can breathe so much better with those frames, which allows you to relax even more…Thanks ❤

[chandrajensen]

I've gone to 3 different jiu jitsu schools in my area and not once did any professor teach me frames, had to learn it from YouTube 😂 I wish they had drilled like you mentioned, being in bottom position and seeing how long you can go without getting subbed, instead of just teaching subs...I got upset with my last coach because they would always coach other students through subs on me and never coach me through any movements, I mentioned it and he said, "There's no subs from bottom". Super frustrating when I'm trying to learn better defense. Thanks so much for your videos, they have really helped encourage me and strengthen my mindset! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

[RicoMnc]

I rarely get submitted in side control, I frustrate them by doing what you showed, and make them work for better positions.

A lot of little things add up. Get to your side, maintain frames with structure not muscle, disrupt and influence them in multiple places, establish strong base with the ground, get your knee or thigh in close, get one elbow inside their elbow, the other planted on the ground and against their other hip.

They usually respond by adjust in a way that creates space and opportunities to execute an escape or sweep.

[Guitarial_arts]

This is great!!! I feel like you’ve been watching me train and made this for me! Thanks chewy!

[Fede-xwzz]

Hello. I started bjj about two months ago... i got on sode control and then mounted by my coach... he made me panic i completely freaked out and started doing all the wrong things... felt i was dying... begged the coach to get off from top of me... he was trying to show me exactly what you are showing here only that he is a kind of rought teachings guy... and im a ... rough teachings learner... really helped me to feel what a panic attack is like... i had never had one

[rolandfisher]

Did Adam take a class on how to look like a sociopath? Deadpan stare. Slow, infrequent blinking. Total predator.

[NocoYeti]

This was an excellent video! Hope you put more stuff out like this!