An Ounce of Prevention with Lachlan Giles

 

Getting your back taken can be a BJJ death sentence if you’re on the other end of an exchange with a proficient player. The back is often touted as the best position in BJJ and this is for good reason. With all of our defenses out in front of our bodies it can be incredibly difficult to defend an onslaught from the rear, as opposed to being stuck in other dominant positions where we have the use of our limbs available and we’re facing our training partners and opponents. At the highest levels, the back is king. We see athletes like Gordon Ryan, Nicky Rodriguez, and Mikey Musemeci, consistently hunt for the back position with intense focus and once they achieve it, it's usually the end of the line. 

There’s plenty of content and instruction on escaping the back position. Most often, the goal is to connect our head and back to the floor to scrape the person off but this isn't always an easy process. We know that if we let someone that's highly skilled take our back, this is quite often the end of the match, or we may spend the rest of the match only surviving. Survival is great but escaping and becoming offensive is better.

What about the in-between? That time where the back take is coming but we still have some precious seconds to stop it before it becomes a reality. This is the better time to escape and stop a full back take from materializing. Positions like the turtle, the front headlock (read more Front Headlock Submission Mastery by Corey Guitard), etc, put the aggressor in close proximity to the back. What steps can we be taking and what movement can we put on our radar to make sure we recognize when the back take process is starting to begin?

Lachlan GIles is known for compiling some of the most dense and detail oriented instructional materials in the history of BJJ digital content. He thinks of everything we need to know and shares it all with the masses. His newest instructional dealing in escapes is no different. Giles has released another massive 8 volume library of fundamental escape concepts with Fundamentals of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Escapes Gi and No Gi. This instructional covers all of the dominant positions and their unique challenges. With Giles’s insights derived from years of experience and intense study, combined with his phenomenal ability to teach, this is sure to be the ultimate guide to fundamental escaping procedures. 

So, back to this back taking problem… Lachlan GIles has a simple idea for you. This particular video addresses the front headlock scenario. With a chin strap and control of the tricep, Giles’s training partner is ever so close to moving into the back position but Giles has some important movement that will put a stop to this process. This is a must see! 

 

OK, so let’s take stock of the first important theme here. With this type of control, it's highly likely  that the top player will initiate the back take by moving to the side opposite of the head lock. This takes one variable off of the table. So, if Giles circles in the opposite direction, this makes it difficult for his partner to take the back but not impossible. It's likely at some point the top player will win the race. Now adding backward motion to the list of essential movements, Giles demonstrates how this too will slow down the attack but ultimately will not stop it. 

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The winning formula here is to combine these two movements to create a scenario where the back is incredibly hard to attain and in doing so will likely produce mistakes from the top player. Notice how Giles begins to circle and back up at the same time, causing his partner to follow but not acquire the position. In this case, Giles shoots an under hook when the opportunity presents itself to stop the exchange and eliminate the threat. 

With some words on mobility to finish up, Giles reminds us that we will probably be in the process of defending our necks as all of this is occuring, so we may only be working with one hand. As Giles demonstrates, athletic movement isn't best performed from the elbows and in this case and you may need to tripod yourself, using one hand to stay mobile as you move in this fashion. 

This is a bit of a scramble but if we’ve allowed ourselves to get into this much danger, it's time to do what's necessary to stop the top player from advancing into much worse territory. 

This is one of the things I love about Giles’s instruction. He presents us with information that deals with the subtleties between the big moments of a BJJ exchange. These kinds of concepts can be incredibly helpful in prevention, rather than always needing a cure for the big problems. Great stuff from one of the best instructors on the planet! 

Fundamentals of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Escapes Gi &No-Gi By Lachlan Giles contains 8 volumes of ESCAPES! Lachlan shows you how to escape from some of Jiu-Jitsu’s BEST positions. Check it out today!

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