Pressure

What it is

Pressure is weight placed where it is hardest to carry: chest on chest, hips low, no space between you. Pressure is not strength. It is removing the gaps the bottom player needs to move, so that every escape costs more than they have.

Where it shows up

• Side control and mount: settling your weight so the bottom player cannot shrimp or bridge.
• Passing half guard and knee shield: flattening the bottom player before you work the leg free.
• Knee on belly: pressure that moves, so the opponent reacts and gives you the next position.
• On top of turtle: chest on their back so they cannot stand or roll.

Key details

• Hips low and chest down. Your weight should go through your chest into theirs, not through your knees into the mat.
• Point the pressure. Drive toward the head or across the body, never straight down, so they cannot bridge it off.
• Take away the space before you take the position. Close the gaps at the hip and the shoulder first.
• Stay relaxed. Tense muscles make you lighter; a loose body is heavy.
• Move with them. When they shrimp, follow with your hips and keep the chest connected.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: resting your weight on your knees and elbows. The opponent feels light and shrimps away.
• Mistake: squeezing with your arms instead of sinking the hips. You tire out and the pressure fades.
• Mistake: driving straight down when they bridge. You are lifted and rolled.

What they will try

• Frames on the neck and the hip, then shrimping into the space the frame makes.
• Turning onto the side so the chest has nothing flat to press into.