Side Control

What it is

Side control is the position where you are chest to chest with your opponent, past their legs, usually lying across them at a right angle. It is the hub of the top game: most guard passes land here, and from here you move on to mount, knee on belly or the back. It is worth no points by itself, but passing into it scores 3.

What you want from here

• On top: you have just passed guard and want to settle your weight before moving to mount or the back.
• On top: you want to attack the far arm (kimura, americana) or the neck while they carry your chest weight.
• On bottom: build frames on the neck and hip, get onto your side, and shrimp to recover guard.
• On bottom: if their weight is too far up, go to your knees and turtle rather than stay flat.

Key details

• Chest pressure. Drop your chest onto theirs and point your hips at the mat, so your weight lands on them and not on your knees.
• Kill the near elbow. Control or trap their near arm, usually with an underhook or a crossface, so they cannot frame and turn in.
• Crossface. Your shoulder under their jaw turns their head away from you, and the hips follow the head.
• Hips low, knees or legs spread so you have a wide base in both directions.
• Switch between positions. If they turn in, move to knee on belly, north-south or the other side rather than fighting to stay still.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: leaving space between your hips and theirs. They slide a knee through and recover guard.
• Mistake: letting them win the near underhook. They come up to their knees and take you over or escape out the back.
• Mistake: on the bottom, lying flat with your arms out. They settle their weight and the far arm is wide open for a kimura.
• Mistake: on the bottom, bridging and pushing them straight up. Nothing changes and your arms tire out.

How it is escaped or passed

• Frame on the neck and hip, shrimp away and pull the knee in to recover guard.
• Turn in, win the near underhook, and come up to the knees (getting to turtle).
• Bridge into them to make them post, then shrimp out in the space that opens.