Is there a way to practice base?

[BobSacamano]

I am starting to get side-mount every once in a while now. I even get side on a blue for like 10 seconds,lol.

But now that I am starting to pass guard a bit, I am noticing I have no base in side. Is there a way to practice that? Or just keep passing and the base will come?

What is happeing, is they are easily restting my guard or sometimes worse.

I know I am not supposed to be using strength but I think I am trying to hard to use gravity and keep my ass down, and it feels like I just don't have enough pressure on them, and they are easily escaping. Should I use some strength, like "squeeze them and push down"?

Is there a way to work on holding side? Or it just comes the more frequent I get side?

 

[blanko]

you are #1) giving them too much space so they can move their hips and retain guard

#2) too high up on them if you are getting rolled over.

The best way is to ask your instructor.

 

[Jimmy Cerra]

You could drill holding the pin/escaping the pin. That is, sparring near 100% with the goal only to pin your partner or to escape the pin. That's how I got better at it.

 

[franz_grinder]

I'll answer this here as well:

"Be careful not to give power to intangible "base". Simply saying so and so has ridiculous base doesn't really cover what he's doing. It's technique.

Make sure to stop any posting arms on your opponent they confuse your balance - if he gets one limb in between you and him he can stop you. Side control is'nt as dominant as some would like to think. Your still grip fighting even when in side-control. Think about trying to hold down someone that's having a temper tantrum. You have to eliminate their hand that are pushing you back.

Take control of the higher parts of his torso; but not his head or shoulders. If you direct your weight , as best as possible, right into your opponents sternum and not his abdomen or shoulders you'll feel heavier. His center of gravity must stay underneath you and you have to move with it.

Play with a small medicine ball underneath your body. Circle and roll over it while trying to keep it's weight pressed underneath you. If you let it slip to a side or out from underneath you that's when someone has a chance to escape. keep the balls weight centered underneath and gradually move faster and more explosively adding in front rolls right over the ball once your able. This will all help to build neccessary muscle memory. And it will help you understand what 'base' really is.


PM me if any of this sparks your interest and i can give you some more tips. I'm a lanky 5'10' and had to really work on base."

 

[Chinaboxer]

get head and arm control, near side knee under his armpit, far side knee on his hip, and most important part is to block his inside hip with your arm. if you don't do this, he'll just recompose guard on you.

there are other ways to help maintain side control such as wrapping his lapel around his bicep but like the others have said, have an instructor show you .

if you have mat time, get a higher belt and try and hold side control while he tries to get half or full guard on you. once he escapes, recompose side control and start over.

 

[Chinaboxer]

double.

 

[ILGrappler]

Play with a small medicine ball underneath your body. Circle and roll over it while trying to keep it's weight pressed underneath you. If you let it slip to a side or out from underneath you that's when someone has a chance to escape. keep the balls weight centered underneath and gradually move faster and more explosively adding in front rolls right over the ball once your able. This will all help to build neccessary muscle memory. And it will help you understand what 'base' really is.

You could also try this with a rubber bladder and when you're done have your intern Darring throw it out the window.

 

[el_cazador]

get head and arm control, near side knee under his armpit, far side knee on his hip, and most important part is to block his inside hip with your arm. if you don't do this, he'll just recompose guard on you.

If you're on your knees you can't keep much weight on your opponent. I sprawl out out on my toes, keeping my hips nice and low. Puts a lot more pressure on the guy than if you're on your knees.

Grab a bethroom scale and rest your forearm or elbow on it, and try different positions to see which registers the most weight, ie. start on your knees, then sprawl out on your toes, shift your hips up/down, adjust the angle of your upper body, etc and watch how it changes. Should give you a good idea of what position will apply the most pressure.

 

[codemonkey76]

When I hold side, I always keep one knee forward and one knee back that way i can keep my hips attached to the ground, preferably i will keep one him attached to his hip and the other sprawled back. Also you want to make your opponent look away from you, if his face is turned away he can't turn his hips towards you to try to return to guard, if you get one arm under his head and grab his far lapel or armpit and pull it towards you and drive your shoulder into his jaw to keep him looking away.

Another point to note is it is not a static position, if he starts escaping, transition, switch to N/S or side control on the other side, if he bridges, that's the perfect time to step over to the mount.

 

[Spoonman7]

just remember that hip position is the single greatest contributer to strong base, keeping your hips low and heavy is what makes some guys feel like they weight 500 pounds when they are 180.

 

[Chinaboxer]

When I hold side, I always keep one knee forward and one knee back that way i can keep my hips attached to the ground, preferably i will keep one him attached to his hip and the other sprawled back. Also you want to make your opponent look away from you, if his face is turned away he can't turn his hips towards you to try to return to guard, if you get one arm under his head and grab his far lapel or armpit and pull it towards you and drive your shoulder into his jaw to keep him looking away.

Another point to note is it is not a static position, if he starts escaping, transition, switch to N/S or side control on the other side, if he bridges, that's the perfect time to step over to the mount.

good stuff..i'm gonna try it tonight!

 

[QingTian]

just remember that hip position is the single greatest contributer to strong base, keeping your hips low and heavy is what makes some guys feel like they weight 500 pounds when they are 180.

or feel like 180 lbs when they are 180?

 

[Art Vandelay]

You could also try this with a rubber bladder and when you're done have your intern Darring throw it out the window.

Darren is going away for a long long time.

 

[SMillard]

This is one of those things your instructor has probably already covered and you need to just practice the basics and it will eventually sink in.

One thing I've done to help me keep pressure during transitions is train with an ab ball (the big ball that people do crunches on) there are a couple of demonstrations on youtube and I believe someone has a thread about it.

I also practice on an old duffle bag/sandbag transitioning from one side mount to the other side, also very good for practicing knee on belly, transition to north south and mount. Or you can not be a cheap ass like me and buy a grappling dummy or find a friend to practice on.

 

[lethalazn]

find someone a LOT bigger than you who was on the wrestling team and go at it for 20 minutes. Any little mistake in your base will force you to topple and you'll learn from that mistake

it'll translate to BJJ just fine, people will wonder why you're so damn hard to sweep all of a sudden

 

[ozarkdt]

Find a good Judoka and let them show you a clock drill, start out in kesa-gatame, transition to Kata-gatame,then to kami-shiho-gatame, muni-gatame, yoko-shiho-gatame, tate-shiho-gatame, kata and back to kesa. Basicly you start out in side control, transition clockwise around the body till you end up were you started. Start out with no resistence from the bottom, get your movment down and start bringing in resistence, then start submitions from each position. As a Judo player i dont Know why other grappling arts dont start with your basic hold downs first. Position before sub is a hard rule of grappling, pins are not as glamorous as flying arm locks, but a good pin is a lot harder to escape than choke or lock.

 

[ahcshon]

i say surf more, it helps your base

 

[FLMikeATT]

Go to other variations of side control.

I'm not a fan of the classic head and arm control position. I like modified scarf hold, twister side control, and the side control where you hold behind his head and the same side leg. If a guy knows what he's doing, he might try Saulo's running escape on you, but it's a very stable position.

If you feel like he's making space and is about to escape, switch to N/S, mount, or knee on belly. You shouldn't be static. If you stay in one position for too long, there's a good chance your opponent will escape. You must learn how to flow between various side control postions, N/S, mount, and knee on belly.

I've been practicing my transitions lately, and I've been getting a ton of kimuras from N/S when someone turns into me to escape.

 

[codemonkey76]

Go to other variations of side control.

I'm not a fan of the classic head and arm control position. I like modified scarf hold, twister side control, and the side control where you hold behind his head and the same side leg. If a guy knows what he's doing, he might try Saulo's running escape on you, but it's a very stable position.

If you feel like he's making space and is about to escape, switch to N/S, mount, or knee on belly. You shouldn't be static. If you stay in one position for too long, there's a good chance your opponent will escape. You must learn how to flow between various side control postions, N/S, mount, and knee on belly.

I've been practicing my transitions lately, and I've been getting a ton of kimuras from N/S when someone turns into me to escape.

QTF.

If he is escaping, transition

 

[Jimmy Cerra]

Go to other variations of side control.

I'm not a fan of the classic head and arm control position. I like modified scarf hold, twister side control, and the side control where you hold behind his head and the same side leg. If a guy knows what he's doing, he might try Saulo's running escape on you, but it's a very stable position.

If you feel like he's making space and is about to escape, switch to N/S, mount, or knee on belly. You shouldn't be static. If you stay in one position for too long, there's a good chance your opponent will escape. You must learn how to flow between various side control postions, N/S, mount, and knee on belly.

I've been practicing my transitions lately, and I've been getting a ton of kimuras from N/S when someone turns into me to escape.

Work on your kesa gatame hold. A good judoka can hold you there really really well, and there are a lot of submissions I learned in CSW and BJJ there. Yes there are also a lot of escapes, but they can be countered too. I use this position a lot.