So your Side Control escapes kinda suck, don’t they? Don’t worry – we’ve all been there at one point in time or another (sometimes more than once, especially as you climb through the ranks). In order to start improving at a faster pace, you just have to be wary of 4 extremely important things; if you check boxes on all of them, day in and day out, you can feel pretty confident that the success rate of your Side Control escapes will progress by a bunch.

Jordan Preisinger, from the Jordan Teaches Jiujitsu YouTube channel, explains.

THE BEST TIME FOR SIDE CONTROL ESCAPES IS…

… When your opponent is making a transition. Unless they are passive and stalling the match, your opponents will have to move in order to go forward with their attacks.
Therefore, try and wait for their move. When they go for a transition, you’ll have an opening for your escape.

PROTECT YOUR NECK

You have to protect your neck when going for an escape of any kind, especially from Side Control. And not just because you can get submitted; but rather, if the opponent can control your neck, they can control your whole body.
So, use your frames and keep that Crossface away from you. The moment they establish Crossface, you’re going to be much deeper in the mud than you were just a few seconds ago.

KEEP YOUR ELBOWS CLOSE

If your elbows are flared out, your opponent won’t just have an easier time submitting you – but you’ll also have a harder time of using your frames. There’s just no way around it; even if your elbows are flared out for whatever reason, you need to first work hard on tucking them in and only then work on your actual escape.

DON’T WASTE ENERGY

If you take a moment to look around the room during training, you’ll see that a lot of your friends are wasting energy while trying to escape Side Control. They shrimp and bump when the timing isn’t right (remember the first tip?), which leaves them spent and not having any strength nor energy to seek out an escape when the opportunity is really there.
You have to be patient in Jiu-Jitsu. Not just when it comes to setting up submissions, but also when it comes to your defense.

Watch Jordan demonstrate these tips during live training on the video below: