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 mount is at the very bottom of the BJJ hierarchy of positions (click here to download a PDF copy of The Roadmap for BJJ book that goes into detail about that positional hierarchy).
If the back is such a bad position then knowing how to escape it without getting choked or armlocked along the way is an absolutely critical skill.
How to Escape the Back (Video)
In this video BJJ black belt, longtime JKD teacher, and my friend Burton Richardson (JKDunlimited.com) shows you exactly how to escape three very common configurations of grips and limbs that people will use when they’re on your back.
Basically you get three techniques for the price of one!
What Are the Strong and Weak Sides of the Back?
The first thing to understand is that there are really two main variations of the back position: the strong and weak sides of mount. Your escapes will look quite different depending which side you find yourself in.
The core distinction is where your top arm – your choking arm – is positioned.
If the choking arm comes over the bottom shoulder then you’re on the strong side.
If the choking arm comes over the top shoulder then you’re on the weak side.
Here from The BJJ Formula is Rob Biernacki to further break down and explain the difference between these two positions for you!
Escaping the Weak Side of the Back
The first technique shown by Burton is against the so-called ‘weak side’ of the rearmount. That means his bottom arm comes under your armpit and his top arm comes over your shoulder.
This escape starts at about 1:55 of the first video at the top of this page!
You’re caught in the weak side of rearmount. Your opponent’s underhooking arm is on the bottom side of your body.
Keep your hips bridged up high and get your head to the ground. Then use the mat to scrape your opponent off of your back.
Inevitably once he realises the back is lost he will try to climb to mount. Prevent this by controlling his ankle with one hand and behind his knee with your other hand.
Lift his leg, slide down and spin out the back door to finish the escape.
Escaping the Strong Side of the Back
The second technique shown by Burton is against the so-called ‘strong side’ of the rearmount. That means his bottom arm comes over your shoulder and his top arm comes under your armpit.
This escape starts at about 3:57 of the first video at the top of this page!
This time you’re caught on the strong side of the rear mount. You either break his grips apart or recognise the moment when when opens his grip voluntarily to attack with the choke.
Controlling his arm pin his arm to the ground using your neck and head
Leaving his arm in place slide your head down so that it’s free of his right arm
Push behind his triceps with your right hand to make it slower for him to get to the top position
Keeping your body in the same position spin hard so that you end up face down in his guard.
Escaping Alternate Leg Positions
It’s critical to have solid escapes for the weak and the strong sides of the back. But it’s also important to have answers for the different variations you might run into. In this technique Burton shows an escape you can use if your opponent decides to use an alternate leg positioning to shut down your first escape attempt.
This escape technique starts at about 7:11 of the first video at the top of this page!
Your opponent’s on your back with his legs crossed over one of your legs, making it had to scrape him off as you did in the first technique
Gripfight to get your hands inside of his bottom arm
Control his wrist and pin his elbow to the floor with your other wrist or forearm
Turn to your knees slowing down his ability to follow you by keeping his arm pinned on the mat
Turn and face your opponent keeping your head in the middle of his chest to avoid chokes
More Back Attack and Back Escape Resources
If you have an Apple or Android smartphone or tablet then you can download a complete instructional about maintaining and attacking from the back right now for free!
It’s a very simple process…
Step 1: Download the BJJ Grapplearts Master App to your phone for free. If you’re on an Apple device then click here to get it from the App Store, and if you’re on an Android device then click here to get it from the Play Store.
On the Master App you get hundreds and hundreds of minutes of black belt instruction completely for free.
Step 2: Go into the BJJ Formula module within the app and look for the ‘Weak Side’ submodule.
Right there you’ll get an entire instructional on the back position for free. It could totally change your game, so grab the app right now!
Cheers
Stephan
Click Below to Download Now For Free
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