What Is The Worst Position To Be Stuck In!?

What is the worst position you can be stuck in during competition or live training?  What’s your opinion on this? What’s the worst position that you have been stuck in? Was is bottom side control?  Maybe it was in someone’s mount control, or maybe still it was someone’s back mount. There is certainly no shortage of bad positions that you can get wrapped up in while training Jiu Jitsu.  I think what I have learned about this is that the position I feel is the worst to get stuck in, is inevitably the position that I am the least experienced in and need the most work learning and drilling the escapes from.

I know this may seem obvious, but it took me some time to come to grips with this reality and really start focusing in on the areas that needed the most work.  I think it’s easy in training to continue to focus on the things we do well and somewhat ignore the areas that need the most improvement. It is only natural, after all, to want to do the things we are good at any shy away from the things we are not so good at.  

Here to walk us through his “worst case scenario position” is 5 time black belt world champion, Bernardo Faria.

For Bernardo, his worst possible position would be getting stuck in bottom side control.  

Wait, what?  Is the bottom side control position really enough to make this world champion uncomfortable?

Stay tuned, it’s unique.  

Bernardo shows this as a typical side control where he is on top of the opponent and has both arms on the opponent’s side, the opponent reaches for Bernardo’s belt with his outside arm and Bernardo then drags his arm up capturing the opponent’s arm under his arm pit as he goes over their head and gets his typical cross face grip under the opponent’s head.  This leaves the opponent with their arm across their face and a ton of pressure with very little effort from Bernardo.  

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As Bernardo points out, there is no submission here, the position is just awful for the opponent and there is very little they can do to relive the pressure other than playing the waiting game. 

How do you prevent this from happening to you?  Well, the first step is knowing what is possible.  Now that you know this is possible, you can be more cautions if you ever need to reach across your body when you are in bottom side control.  On the flip side however, you also now know what is possible. Let that sink in for a minute….

That’s right, you now know what is possible so not only can you avoid getting put in a bad position, you can use this to your advantage and force your opponents into this position when possible.  I can only hope you enjoy it as much as Bernardo clearly does as he is laughing while explaining how terrible this is for the opponent. Remember, it’s ok to make it tough for your opponent, this is a combat sport after all and the harder the training, the easier the competition, so don’t be afraid to give them some “love”, but always remember to be respectful and don’t intentionally over do it. 

Now that you have a potentially new way of controlling your opponent and keeping them locked in bottom side control, wouldn’t it be nice to have some setups and submissions to go along with that?

Side control setups and submissions – by Bernardo Faria is Bernardo’s 4 part complete lesson breakdown on mastering side control attacks, and setups.  Bernardo has a unique approach to side control that is perfect for literally anyone, of any skill set, regardless of age, flexibility, athleticism, or any other factor, and to add on to that, everything Bernardo teaches is battle tested by this 5 time black belt world champion.  

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