Knee on Belly (Top)

Question 1

[KNEE ON BELLY]
[TRANSITION]
Back take from knee on belly position (after opponent shrimps away)

Answer 1

1. From the knee on belly position, posture up and drive knee into opponent to apply heavy pressure. After opponent presses on your knee and shrimps away, use the hand closest to their head to cup the back of their tricep and use that same-side leg to step over their head.
2. In a ‘fan’ motion, swing your remaining leg over their head as well so you land with your hip on the ground (from the leg that initially stepped over their head) and your arm underhooked.
3. Shift your base immediately to put your opponent in semi-side control with the seatbelt on. Press your chest TIGHT to their back and keep your knees close to their back to not give them any space to wiggle out.
4. Use your chest and legs to press them down and roll them over a bit to give you space to arrange your legs.
5. Position your leg closes to their head so your knee is level with their shoulder and your shin is parallel with their back (should be tight) and step your other leg over their hips to prepare the hook.
6. Sit down on your butt. This motion should automatically place one hook in and you can roll to put the other hook in.

Question 2

[KNEE ON BELLY]
[SUBMISSION]
Baseball choke from side control/knee on belly

Answer 2

1. If you have your opponent in side control with their back flat on the mat, use your hand closest to their head to grab the back of their collar (palm facing up).
2. Use your other hand to get a grip on their pants or belt (hand should be around their hip bone to keep it pinned down).
3. In one motion, press down with your hands to pop up and put your knee closest to their hips on their belly. Your other leg should be extended far enough to be out of reach of their arm if they try and underhook/sweep your leg. You should have a good amount of weight on your knee on their belly (your foot should barely be touching the floor). For intense pressure, you should posture up and pull on their collar/pants while driving the point of your knee down into their belly.
4. To relieve the pressure on their belly, your opponent will likely move both hands to your knee. When they do this, they create space and their neck is now open for attacks. Let go of your grip on their pants/belt and reach down to grab the back of their collar with four fingers. Your arm should be on the opposite side of their neck from your other arm. Your hands should be in the ‘baseball’ style grip. The blades of both your forearms should be pressed against their neck. Keep your hands as close together as possible to form the base for a tight choke.
5. With your extended leg, step around their head and drop your knee to the floor. Your leg that was on their belly should follow and you can keep this extended for balance.
6. Drop your head to the mat on the same side you used to be crouching. At the same time squeeze your arms in and tighten the choke. Should be a quick tap if you have your hands close together and the blades of your forearms against your opponent’s neck.

Option: If your opponent’s gi is on tightly with not a lot of loose space by the collar, when you are in side control before you pop up, use your grip on their collar to yank upwards to loosen it and create space for your second hand later on.

Option 2: If your opponent pushes against your hips to defend as you walk around their head, use your knee closest to their hips to knee-slice over their bicep and continue onward.

Question 3

[KNEE ON BELLY]
[SUBMISSION]
Side control > knee on belly > switch sides to modified arm bar

Answer 3

1. If you have your opponent in side control with their back flat on the mat, use your hand closest to their head to grab the back of their collar (palm facing up).
2. Use your other hand to get a grip on their pants or belt (hand should be around their hip bone to keep it pinned down).
3. In one motion, press down with your hands to pop up and put your knee closest to their hips on their belly. Your other leg should be extended far enough to be out of reach of their arm if they try and underhook/sweep your leg. You should have a good amount of weight on your knee on their belly (your foot should barely be touching the floor). For intense pressure, you should posture up and pull on their collar/pants while driving the point of your knee down into their belly.
4. To relieve the pressure on their belly, your opponent will likely move both hands to your knee and shrimp away. When they do this, let go of your grip on their pants/belt and shoot that hand through the space under their arm. Push your arm all the way through to the elbow and hook your arm to lasso them. If you can grab your own collar to ‘lock it in’, do it, otherwise that can wait.
5. With your free hand, press their head down and step over their head with the leg closest to their head and plant your knee behind their back. Your shin should run parallel to their torso. Keep your thighs TIGHT together to pin them in place an keep them from rolling onto their back. Now you should have room to grab your own collar and lock their arm in place.
6. Grab onto your opponent’s gi around their knee (or upper tight if you can’t reach) to keep them from rolling out of position.
7. Lift your knee behind their back so you ‘step up’ into a squatting position to jam your knee into their arm pit. Keep your other leg in front of their face/throat.
8. Sit down (one leg should be over their face/throat and the other should be semi under their back with knee in their arm-pit) and lay back. Slide your hooked arm up their trapped arm to extend it for the arm bar. Make sure you keep their thumb facing the sky.

Option: When going for the arm bar, if your opponent is defending by grabbing their own wrists, transition to the full arm bar. Pop your bottom leg over their chest and leg go of their leg to fight hands until you get them into the arm bar position.