Passing the guard and getting your opponent in side control often seems like a big victory… until you have to battle against them tightening up all their limbs to defend themselves from your submission attempts. Trying to muscle their arms away from their sides produces mixed results, and your struggles might provide them with the perfect opportunity to escape from beneath you altogether.
In this video, Jonathan Thomas demonstrates how to use knee-on-belly pressure and cross face techniques to get your opponent to switch positions and open up submission attempts for you. Give this a try next time you have someone underneath you who seems to just want to wait until the clock runs out!
