Knee On Belly Positional Concepts
Posted by Corey Kuropas on
The knee on belly position is one of my favorite positions in Jiu Jitsu. It is often referred to as the ego killer, as anybody who thinks they are a tough guy, becomes weak when you dig your shin into his gut. It is an uncomfortable position that gives its user an awesome set of attacks while giving you the ability to essentially body surf on his mid section. Because of the movement, this can seem like a difficult position to master. But if you can follow these concepts, then your knee on belly will be top notch.
Learn to “surf”
While the knee on belly is an uncomfortable, even painful position, it is much more of a floating position, rather than a pressure position. So, if you want to play with it, you will need to learn how to “surf”. By “surf”, I mean you will need to know how to keep your balance while an opponent shrimps, bridges and pushes you. You can do this a couple of ways. The first is to drill with a training partner. You need to drill with resistance, so that you get use to the movements. You can also work on this by balancing on a yoga ball. The movement of the ball will make sure that your balance is killer.
Train your grips
Knee on belly does not just use your lower body. You will also need to train your grips. The main grips that you will have to use in the gi are collar, lapel, sleeve and pant grips. In no gi, you have to get proficient at using wrist grabs, neck grabs and under hooks. Do not neglect any of these. If you can become strong with these grips, your knee on belly will become even more dangerous.
Practice your submissions
Unlike bottom positions in Jiu Jitsu, the knee on belly is really just a submitting position. There are no real sweeps from there. When it comes to gi training, there are some really awesome submissions available. Arm bars, both near side and spinning are prominent there. The triangle choke almost always is able to be hit. And the baseball bat choke is also there is a couple different forms. So this is a position where you really have to drill and practice your submissions.
The knee on belly position also works great when you go against big guys. As a guy that trains with dudes who are bigger and stronger than me, it is hard to play side control. The big guys can always bench press you off. But they can’t do that with knee on belly. You’ll be able to beat up the big guys from here. If you want to work this position more and want to see it in an instructional form, then check out…
Lucas Lepri’s Knee On Belly DVD set. Click here!
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