What do you consider the best "strike" to use on the ground?

[Ryu (non-working password]

I personally like headbutting on the ground, but the only problem is that you can cut yourself if you don't know how to do it properly. Heabutts though are probably the most lethal strike. Even the best boxers in the world fear that ONE accidental butt that can put them out of the entire fight.

Anyone else have any favorite strikes on the ground that you have used with good success? Elbows? Knees? Just mounting and punching?

Let's hear some suggestions.

[BIG BIRD]

I love using elbows. Doesn't matter if I am on top or bottom. Look at any Pele fight for testament to how you can use your elbows on the bottom. They don't break and wreak havoc on your advesary's face. Elbows are to striking what peanut butter is to jelly.

[Oldskulbus]

I'm with Big Bird on this one. A head butt can do some damage but it can also hurt you if done improperly. Elbows are great on the ground or standing and there is little chance of you getting hurt.

[Robbie]

I like using elbows when i'm in the mount position.I prefer using headbuts when I'm in the clinch though.When I'm in the guard I like to use punches to the ribs and elbows to the top of the head.

[Bau13]

Elbows...from top and bottom

[EJ]

Elbows... definately. Pat Smith vs. Scott Morris was an eye-opener for me.... a head opener for Morris.

[Karlinhos]

fom the top: elbows or open palm strikes to the ears (popping them) or to the nose (to bust it). open palm vs. closed fist because i don't wanna bust up my hand on some guy's hard noggin! closed fist to the ribs is a hum-dinger too.

from the bottom: heel kicks to the kidneys is cool. open palm (again) to the ear(s) while holding the back of the guy's head for control.

(hmmmmm... did i just make a "legitimate" post? *lol*)

[duchman]

people who never studied striking should shut up

[hounddog]

dutch people who have never grappled should get off the BJJ/MMA discussion forum.

elbows are good.

[Tony10]

Speaking as somebody who managed to dislocate their finger in a you-wouldn't-believe-it-if-you-saw-it stomach-churning way two weeks ago, I've gained new respect for trying to keep my little friends from any blunt trauma.

So those elbows are going to get the call, which I would have done anyway. EJ is right: Pat Smith practically provided a how-to at that UFC versus Ninjitsu man. You may also remember Don Frye using Bitetti as a thai pad for his elbows-from-the-mount clinic. Man, that was brutal.

I also specifically remember Mo Smith offering an interesting way to throw elbows from his back, lowering them onto I believe Coleman's head. I made a mental note of that technique, because that'll definitely wake somebody up.

Since we're on the topic of strikes, I can tell you one interesting guard pass you can employ, which was accidentally employed on me. I had a guy in my guard and he tried to get out by standing up. I shifted slightly and he fell back down--on the way down, his elbow came smack down on my thigh (right on the quadricep). Not only did that break my guard immediately, I limped for days as a result of that Mother of All Charlie Horses.

I've never seen anybody teach it, but if somebody has you in the closed guard, a couple of hammering elbows to the thigh should open the door for you. It hurts.

[Ryu (non-working password]

Great posts guys, and I thoroughly agree that elbows are a nasty tool. Especially on the ground. They can fly from lots of different angles (whereas a headbutt needs to come from on top) Anyone remember Goodridge's first appearance where he nailed that wrestler with about 8 huge elbows?
Makes your hair stand on end.
I do want to emphasize headbutting as a great G&P tool as well. It's not as versitle as an elbow, but if you learn to do it properly I feel it can be more devastating. Look at the first UFCs before they took the headbutt out. People hardly survive them. Even Mark Coleman claimed that if they allowed the headbutt again, he'd go right back to basic G&P. The good thing about a headbutt from the top is that you can pin your opponent's head to the floor with a forearm on his neck (wary of the classic defense of course) and throwing down 3 or 4 headbutts into his nose and face.
Very effective, in my opinion, and a move that sometimes shocks people into freezing up as well.

Ryu

[david a]

elbows on top or bottom.

knee drops to head when on top (eg. severn vs. taktarof 1)

[Tony10]

David: gawd I remember those, those were nasty.

[Underdog]

The guard opener mentioned by tony10 is the first one taught in Ruas Vale Tudo, during a week of intensive training two years ago i collected something as 30 bruises on my tights praticing it. If you find the right spot in the leg and dig the elbow deep, there's no way, apart an exceptional imperviousness to pain, in which your opponent ca mantain his closed guard.

As far as groundstriking goes, elbows are always on top list.

A share a nasty trick used alot in Brazil: when you are on your opponent guard and he grab you tight, holding his head tight against yours, try to dig the very tip of your chin in his eyesocket, or at least in his cheek. Very unconfortable. It was used by "Mestre Hulk" against Zane Frazier in a World Vale Tudo, also it was used in the same tournament by Michael Pacholick, a sparring partner of Tank Abbot, against a silly-looking Japanese guy (he tapped out after two punches...)

[Tony10]

Yeah, Underdog, that chin thing is a good one. I've had that done to me.

The guard opener I referred to--which apparently isn't a big secret--was actually striking the thigh with the elbow (raising then hammering), moreso than the "digging" thing. Unless that's what you meant.