The North-South Escape…An Absolutely Essential Escape!

By Corey Kuropas, February 24, 2017

The north-south position can be a difficult nut to crack. Nobody ever just accidentally ends up there. Usually someone will get caught there due to a scramble, or possibly from a good, strong guard pass. But one thing is for sure. You do not want to end up there. If you stay there, because you think you’re safe, well then you are wrong. The top player of north-south can go for the north-south choke, a kimura lock and other devastating attacks. Knowing how to escape the position before your opponent can secure you completely is important. Having at least one escape that you can count on will save you. Check out this great north-south escape…

First thing that you will need to do is to get your arms on the inside. You never, ever want to flair your arms out. The majority of attacks from there happen when you flair our your elbows or when you try to reach around your opponent’s torso. Keep your arms tight, similar to the prayer position. This will create space and stop your opponent from gluing himself to you. The next step is to do a big bridge and push up with your arms. But do not lock your arms out. Keep a bend in them.

After you bridge to create more space, you need to get your butt off of the mat, and get both of your knees on the inside of his arms, to spread his arms apart. When you do that, your shins should be on his biceps. Once your knees are in, you can use your arms to grab his triceps for better control. Once controlled, you need to rock up onto your shoulders. After you do that, there are two major pathways you can take. You can roll forward and roll your opponent over and go for an arm lock. Or you can get your feet on the inside of his biceps and control his wrists to play inverted guard. The choice is yours.

Escapes are necessary for continued growth in Jiu Jitsu. If you only focus on attacks, then you truly only know half of the art. Jiu Jitsu is not only offense, but it is defense as well. And you need to know that defense for when you become vulnerable while competing. If you want to amp up your escape game then check out…

Bernardo Faria’s Escapes From Everywhere DVD set. Click here!