Last week we started a conversation about how to make yourself feel heavier while pinning your opponent. One way to do this is to take any weight you’re placing directly on the ground, and to place it on your opponent. An example will help illustrate this strategy.
Suppose that you have your opponent pinned in side control. You are on his right side, your left arm is going under his head, your right arm is going through his far (left) armpit and your hands are clasped. Your legs are bent and your knees are beside his body.
Let’s look at what parts of your body are touching the ground. The list probably includes:
- your left elbow
- your left hand/wrist
- your right elbow
- your right hand/wrist
- your left knee
- your left foot
- your right knee
- your right foot
It is important to realize that each time a part of your body rests on the floor it removes weight that could be placed on your opponent.
Suppose that you slightly lift your elbows and hands off the floor by pulling them towards your own body. You’re not trying to squeeze him with your arms, only to remove weight from the floor. Suppose you straighten your left leg out behind you so that only the ball of your left foot is making contact with the mat – you are also driving off left leg to pressure into your opponent.
In this scenario you’re only touching the mat with the following body parts:
- your left foot
- your right knee (placed at his hip to prevent reguarding)
- your right foot
With these changes your opponent now has to carry a great deal more weight. If you are doing it correctly most of the weight transfer will occur where your left shoulder is driving into his neck region, a most uncomfortable scenario for the guy on the bottom.
Now there are MANY variations of sidemount, and MANY different ways to make yourself heavier. I am giving you ONE example to illustrate what I am talking about; please don’t take it as the only possibility.
I realize that photos might make this explanation clearer, and those will have to wait until I write a full-fledged article on the topic. The exact placement of your hands and arms and feet and knees isn’t actually all that central to this discussion; the important thing is the principle of taking weight off the mat and putting it on your opponent. If you understand this principle you can invent your own limb placements and pinning positions.
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