This week we were working on quarter position top. As always I wanted to start with survival first. If you can’t hold the position then any subs, reversals, or position improvements won’t be available. I break up the quarter top position into zones.
- Front Zone- In front of the shoulders.
- Side Zone- In front of the hips and behind the shoulders.
- Rear Zone- Behind the hips.
For this class I started in front zone and moved to side zone.
Front Zone
When in front of someone in quarter position it’s important to know what the main fights are there. The bottom guy will do a few things to improve his position from here. They are:
- Grab your legs. The bottom guy will reach out and try to grab your leg. He can execute a double or single leg takekedown from here.
- Peek out. He can peek his head out the side. This will allow him to sit to guard or execute a sit out type escape.
- Sit guard. The bottom guy will feel for when your weight lifts off and he’ll sit to guard immediately.
Our posture and pressure has to keep this in mind. We need to establish a posture that neutralizes all these games from the bottom guy.
Class Start
I started with a drill. This is a great way to see what people already know and how they are playing the position. It allows me to find what student’s weaknesses are and what they are doing well. I can shore up the weaknesses later and build on the strengths. The drill was simple. Bottom person start in quarters and improve your position. Top guy improve your position, get a sub, get your hooks in.
Front Zone Posture
We are trying to establish a posture that negates the bottom guy’s fights. A good posture when approaching from front zone looks like this:
- Hips out and knees off the mat. Looks like a sprawl. You can raise and lower your hips at will.
- Upper chest to his upper back. This makes you heavy on him. It places your belt right on his head and makes your hips effective in stuffing his head.
- Arms either double underhooks (forklift arms) or one over and one under (harness). Never have double overs. Double overs will allow the bottom guy to peek out and puts you too deep in your posture.
Posture Video
Front Zone Head Control
Controlling the head in front zone is a great way to control the movement of the bottom guy. The grip I use is a double chin strap with elbows squeezing together. This feels much like the tie up position from thai boxing. Both your palms cup the chin and your elbows squeeze around his head. With this grip you use your whole body to turn his head left and right and keep it from peeking out. Your hips are critical as they do most of the work. As the bottom guy tries to come out one side you can turn his head the opposite direction. This will neutralize his movement and begin to set up a sub.
Head Control Video
Head Control Sub- Guillotine (basket choke)
OK, so apparently the sub I was calling the guillotine choke all class may actually be the basket choke. I always call any front choke a guillotine and don’t much distinguish. So if you are into correct naming then the basket choke is what I was working here.
Important points to remember are to keep your legs unavailable. Don’t walk in too close. If you do that the bottom guy will start grabbing your legs and put you in trouble. Also, you need the bottom guy to move to set it up. He needs to begin to sit up or sit out to one side or another. If he does that then the choke opportunity happens. It’s too hard to do from quarters if the bottom guy is simply hunkering down. In that case I’d either bait him into moving or do something else.
Basket Choke Video
Correcting Mistakes and Try Again
Transition to Side Zone
Sometimes we want to transition to side zone to continue our attack on the quarter bottom position. It’s important that we don’t lose position in transition. Keeping your weight on the b0ttom guy and making your legs unavailable are two key elements to making the transition happen. I’ll outline a couple of good ways to get to side zone as well as what the landing posture looks like.
Video of transition starts at 2min 3osec in
Fixing some mistakes and a second version of the transition
Hand Position
You have to be very specific about what to do with your hand while in side zone. They have two distinct jobs. The inside hand is used to keep hip to hip contact. A good way to do this is to reach over and go shallow in the far pocket. It’s important to not go deep as the bottom guy can capture your arm if you do so. Keep it shallow and grab the lapel, belt, or pants. No gi you can grab the ankle. The far side arm can do one of three things.
- Grab collar and drive the head down.
- Staple the near arm to the mat.
- Look for a collar grip.
It’s important that you are able to maintain hip to hip contact as you work these grips.
Video of Hand Grips
Improving Posture
One great way to improve the side ride posture is to get the near knee inside. We’ll drive our knee forcefully into the space between his shoulder and hip and break into his side zone. With my knee in tight here it’ll be hard for him to roll to guard.
Clock Choke
Many times in working to get the near knee in the bottom guy will drive his elbows forcefully towards his hips. This opens up a collar grip. When he loses the collar protection up high he’ll give you an opportunity for a clock choke. The driving knee is what opens that up for us. If we simply try to forcefully drive our hands in for a clock choke it’s too easy for the bottom guy to defend.
