the staying in side mount is just bad advice i think, specially if were talking gi here. having a strong mount game is great. at first i i hated mount because my game was weak and guys had a fairly good chance at escaping my mount or bridging me over to reverse the position to where i was then on bottom with them in my open guard. i worked with my teacher a little bit on the sublties of the position and 8 months later my mount game is strong, when i mount you you have a very slim chance for escape and its just a matter of time before the choke comes. i wouldnt give that position up for side control ever if it were up to me.
i think the dude who told you to stay in side control is like how i was before i made my mount game strong, he doesnt want to mount because he will soon be reversed and he has a better chance at side control subs. there is a time and a place for everything but you really need to focus on maintaining a good mount even though its very hard in the beggining, and trust me, you will hit it and be reversed constantly, but then you'll discover the little things to fix that too with time.
that being said you need to learn how to get comfortable with knee on belly, because if you just go for mount on someone whos been there for even just a month chances are he will catch that leg coming over with theirs and put you in half guard. i always hit knee on belly and it makes it alot more difficult for them to catch that leg, even start attacking the neck from knee on belly to get them to defend and bring up the arms and you can push em up to have everything cleared. i you have so much stuff to learn right now and it will be overwhelming all the information you recieve, just focus on what your teacher is telling you. i hope this helps a little.
