Blue belt · Escape · Key
North-south escape
How to escape north-south: protect your neck, frame, and turn your body back to side control bottom. Use it whenever they reach north-south.
Step by step
- Protect your neck first: elbows tight, hands near your collarbones. North-south sets up the choke and the kimura.
- Frame your forearms or hands on their hips to make space.
- Bridge and walk your feet to turn your body sideways under them.
- Keep turning until you're at their side. You're now in side control bottom, which you know how to escape.
- Shrimp, bring your knee in and recover guard, or turn to your knees when they're light.
Details that make it work
- Turn the position first, then escape. Escaping straight from north-south is hard.
- Arms tight the whole time.
Common mistakes
- Reaching around their back, which feeds the choke.
- Bridging straight up without turning.
Drill it
Partner holds north-south: 10 escapes, then 2 × 1 min positional.
If it fails, or what comes next
- Side control escape: frame & re-guard Escape · Side (bottom)
- Side control escape: underhook to knees Escape · Side (bottom)
Set it up from
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