ESCAPING THE BACK

Man, is it hard to find decent video of back escapes! Think of how easy it is to find a youtube clip of a Rubber Guard move, Deep Half or the Alabama Crab Dangle. You'd think somebody would cover escapes from one of the worst predicaments in jiu jitsu. I suspect this problem highlights a troublesome trend in BJJ today - but what do I know? Anyone agree?

I digress. We worked on a couple back escapes today and Tuesday. Both were from a position where your opponent has the over-and-under.* There were some common principles.

- Slide your hips down and keep your elbows in.

- Shrug to protect your neck against the choke.

- Control the choking arm.

- Roll onto the opposite side as the choking arm.

- Remove a hook from one side.

- Move your hips to the free side.

Both the escapes wound up in your opponent's guard - which is a hell of a lot better than getting choked. I'll keep up the hunt for videos. If anybody finds some, let me know.

*We call it the over-and-under. Some people call it the seatbelt grip. The coolest thing I've heard it called is "the Chewbacca," because of the bandolier worn by Kashyyyk's favourite wookie.