Crossface

What it is

The crossface is a control where your forearm or shoulder drives across the bottom player's jaw and turns their head away from you. Where the head goes, the body follows, so a turned head cannot bridge into you or turn toward you. It is the detail that makes side control and top half guard feel heavy, and it is often the first thing a good top player sets.

When to use it

• In side control, as soon as you arrive, to stop them turning in toward you.
• In top half guard, to flatten them out before you work to pass.
• Any time they get an underhook or start to turn into you: the crossface turns the head back.

How to do it

1. From side control, slide the arm nearest their head under their neck so your shoulder is on their jaw, or bring the forearm across the jaw line.
2. Point their chin away from you by driving with the shoulder or the bony part of the forearm, not the wrist.
3. Drop your hips low and keep your weight on their chest so the head and body are pinned together.
4. Keep the pressure while you move: pass, switch hips or set up an attack without letting the head come back.

Key details

• Turn the head away, do not just push down on it. Away is what stops the bridge.
• Use the shoulder or the forearm bone. A hand on the face is weak, and fingers in the eyes or mouth are a foul.
• Keep your weight down through the crossface, chest on chest, so they feel heavy, not just uncomfortable.
• Keep your own head low, on the far side of theirs, so they cannot reach your neck or push your face.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: pushing straight down on the face. They bridge under it and the pressure disappears.
• Mistake: crossfacing with the hand or fingers. It slips, and fingers near the eyes or mouth are a foul.
• Mistake: rising up to apply it. The hips come off and they shrimp out underneath.

What they will try

• They turn their chin into your elbow and tuck the shoulder, then shrimp before the crossface sets.
• They frame under your neck and chin to lift your shoulder before it lands.