The Mount

[Great Sage]

I have a question regarding the full mount. Do most people prefer the basic straddle, or grapes in? Also, how far up should your knees be posiitioned. I've been rolling with a guy that has more experience and size and it seems as though my mount isn't as stable as I would like. Unfortunately, this guy is very protective of his techniques (he wants to continually beat me) so I need some advice on how to keep a guy down.

[doubleouch]

The mount is actually one of the hardest offensive positions to hold. If you are having trouble just keep at it. You have to relax and feel your opponents energy. As soon as you get stiff he will throw you. The best position is to have your knees as far up under his armpits as possible. This keeps you off of his hips and takes away his oopa. Also squeeze your knees together and don't let your but rest on his chest. Use your hands to pull and push his arms as he tries the shrimp. Don't be afraid to abandon the mount and get into the cross body or knee mount if you are starting to loose position.

[Ha_ari]

FWIW, I was at a seminar this past weekend with Bas Rutten, and he said that he hated the full mount position, that he thought it was difficult to control in a real fight or in the ring, and that the side mount was a much better position to be in.

[Szczepankiewicz]

As soon as you get stiff he will throw you.

One can only hope...

Sage, if he's so tuned in to dislodging your mount, use it to set him up somehow. He will probably use the same or a similar pattern to get you out of the mount. Once you determine what he does, work to develop a counter that hopefully leads into a submission.

As for how to do this and what to do, we'd need more information from you...

[Kilo5518]

I seldom take mount anymore. The guys in my class are pretty advanced and are good at escaping the mount. I think side or north south control is a far better position to be in, at least for me against my competition.

To hold the mount, you have to be able to ride him and control his hands. If he pushes on your knees to shrimp, scoop his hands off (no thumbs) from the outside. If you just lock in and grapevine his legs, he will most likely roll you if he knows what he is doing. You have to be able to ride, shift your weight, extend a leg, or move up or down on him if need be. As mentioned before, try and get high on him and control his hands, don't let him lock down one of your sides or push off on you. Keep ripping his hands off and moving up. Time when he is going to you buck you, and drive your pelvis roughly into him and scoot up more, squeezing you knees and be aware of him holding one of your sides to throw you. If you remain static you will get thrown. Don't submit him until he is worn out.

I like to get into mount and then apply a choke while moving to side control. The combination of choking the guy and changing positions sometimes throws him off. I move from position to position a lot- mount, to side to knee, back to side. It wears the guy out and gives you a lot of openings.

If you are knew and in a position to take mount, instead go cross body, with your arm across his face and your elbow locking in against his far ear. Keep your knees in tight against his chest and waist. Your other hand must stay on the near side in his waist (closest to your hips) and on the floor. Stay tight, chest to chest leaning all your weight on him to cut off his air supply. When he moves, move with him. If you keep your near hand on the floor and against his waist, he can't go to guard. You can apply pressure against his neck with your elbow. Wear him out then tap him out with a c-clamp choke or a far side arm coil or kamora.