It’s always a good time to revisit the basics. I had the pleasure of going through the details of the mount and refining it, as it’s one of the usual positions you often run into (or roll into) in Jiu-Jitsu.
How to Secure and Maintain the Mount
Upper Body
Lift their head up from the mat so they cannot post their head on the mat and build base for the bridge. Coach Cory once taught me, imagine they have a wallet full of money under their head, so you try to lift their head to take that wallet. Make a strong cross-face by grabbing their cross-side armpit and putting your weight into your shoulder, pressing onto their face. Switch the cross-face often, depending on the side they are framing against, to kill their momentum.
Lower Body
You don’t need to always pressure and stick to their hips with your hips; you only need to feel when they are about to move their hip, then apply pressure down. You can cross your legs or use a grapevine, lifting their feet off the mat so they can’t post with their feet and bridge.
When they try to bridge or hip escape, move to a combat base. Post one foot up while keeping your heel sticky to their hip; the other knee should still maintain contact with the mat.
Armbar from Mount
To perform an armbar from mount, advance to high mount, bringing both their arms up above their head. (If they try to circle their legs in to defend, keep your arm close to your body and hand fight, weaving.) Bring one of their arms over, press down on their elbow with your chest, and place the same-side knee under their shoulder—this will be the side you perform the armbar from. With your other foot, move up to the S-mount position, keeping everything tight. Gather their arm, and before executing the armbar, post your other hand on the mat next to their hip to limit their mobility as you fall to the mat and secure the armbar.
You can threaten them with the ezekiel choke so that they bring their hands up to defend and you can start setting up the armbar from there.
Arm Triangle Detail
From the top mount position, get an underhook of their arm, crawling your fingers on the mat (spider walk) to lift their arm up over their head. Once their elbow is higher than their shoulder, make a grip and place it under their shoulder. Use your head to post on the mat and apply pressure into them, trying to keep your head under their shoulder as well. Windshield wiper off from the mount position and walk your body until it is perpendicular to theirs, keeping your body as flat to the mat as possible.
Super fun class today, I was drenched in sweat afterwards, coach Drew is super attentive and have these little details that are super practical and easy to apply.