maintaining mount??

flipspeed

Yellow Belt
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I was able to gain mount on my opponent last weekend's tourny but had a hard time keeping it. He was being super active and i had a hard time keeping him there. I guess my question is what would be a good way to keep mount when the guy at hte bottom is actively shrimping and pushing down on your leg to get half guard atleast.

and what do you usually end up using when you're stuck at the bottom? Bridging or the shrimping method of trying to get half guard first?

I lost the match by the way, just trying to analyze some of the things i need to work on. thanks!
 
grapevine his legs and flatten him out or go for a high mount and work chokes/submissions from there.

keep your weight and center of gravity down so you won't get bucked off
 
Set those grapevines in and establish your base. Once he's worn out trying to get you off of him, grab the arm and spin to the side. If you want to work a higher mount you could go for the lapels and squeeze, as previously mentioned.
 

Those, and I also dig the Roy Dean foot scoop stuff, where you use your feet to drag their feet into your half-guard (or at least quarter guard). It works most of the time unless they are VERY conscious of their foot positioning to keep them flat.
 
Maintaining mount is a skill that needs to be drilled and practiced regularly. There is no single thing to do to maintain it. It depends on how he's escaping. If he's shrimping out one side, you can transition to "technical mount" or you can put on a hard cross-face and drive his head in the opposite direction. If he's getting his hips out too easily, I find that the arm around the head position works well, because it locks him in place relative to you.
 
What about that crazy "superman" mount? Where you open both of his legs with your feet or something. I can't quite explain it, but someone must have heard something like that. It's really good for me, especially when you catch the guy unprepared and spread his legs wide so he'll have a hard time trapping you.
 
What about that crazy "superman" mount? Where you open both of his legs with your feet or something. I can't quite explain it, but someone must have heard something like that. It's really good for me, especially when you catch the guy unprepared and spread his legs wide so he'll have a hard time trapping you.

Sounds like a grapevine to me. Good for maintaining, not much for attacking. I prefer an attacking mount.
 
I don't like grapevining, at least not for long at a time. If you know how to escape grapevines, securing a foot-drag is pretty easy once you free the first foot, seeing as the legs are stretched and exposed. I prefer to tuck my feet under my opponent's butt and spread my knees, thereby lowering my hips and making them super heavy. Add heavy shoulder pressure, and his life is pretty miserable.
 
I think maintaining mount is a skill that takes time... it has to do with reading/feeling your opponent and knowing what potential movement will remove you from your position.

Took me a long time to be decent at it. Just drill it for 10 minutes once or twice a week.

As much as I love the top game, I hardly get to use it against some people... I end up getting destroyed!
 
Sounds like a grapevine to me. Good for maintaining, not much for attacking. I prefer an attacking mount.

Thanks, noted. You also pretty much nailed it; I always thought it could just be me being a white belt, but I never managed to attack anyone from it, but it was always a handy tool to maintain mount to me, so long as I didn't overdo it and try to hold like crazy.
 
I don't like to bridge because I've been burned with it too many times especially against higher belts. I'll bridge and he'll cross his ankles or put his feet together under my back, then it's extremely difficult to elbow escape and I'm trapped for long periods of time that end when I get submitted. For the same reason, I like when people bridge because I put my feet under them.

Cross facing is a great way to stop elbow escapes before they start, like others said. Just keep in mind that he may try to roll you towards your cross facing side which is still possible especially if he's bigger than you, so watch out for it.
 
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