Hi, I'm Patrick Fulop, this is Effective Martial Arts.
In this lesson, 8 basic positions, and key principles of ground fighting.
Alright, so 8 basic positions and key principles for practicing ground fighting with a partner.
Now before we get into that, quick message,
thank you to all of our viewers and subscribers, you guys are awesome, we're really happy to
be able to help you learn and perfect your martial arts skills as part of your self-development
program, to reach your full potential. Stay tuned, cause we got stuff planned for you.
Now before we get into the actual positions, couple of key principles of ground fighting.
So, these will help you understand the different positions and will help you execute them better.
Principle #1: relax and breathe. You will have a tendency to tense up, and
to forget to breathe when you're practicing these new techniques, so remember, relax and
breathe. So from the top you'll be able to establish a better position when you're relaxed,
and from the bottom, you'll be able to execute your escapes better when you're relaxed and
you'll be able to be more explosive. So principle #1: relax and breathe.
Principle #2 is strive to be on top. You always have more options from the dominant
top position on the ground, you can strike, or you can submit more easily so you always
want to be on top. So to be able to do that, when you're on the bottom, keep in mind that
you want to create as much distance as you can, so you want to keep your limbs in between
you and your opponent. And from the top, you want to "pass" the limbs if you will, to be
able to pin the opponent on the ground, and then do your attacks.
So, two basic principles, 1: relax and breathe, and 2: strive to be on top. With that in mind,
let's get right into it. The 8 basic ground positions.
Ok, so the very fist situation we're gonna see on the ground is what we call the Downed
Guard/Standing position. This is when one person is on their back, the other person
is standing. From here, my main objective will be to create distance and get back up
to my feet, and a secondary objective could be to take her down; we're gonna see that
later in the downed guard/standing video. Her main objective will be to control my legs
to either strike, or pass to a more dominant position. That's position #1: Downed Guard/Standing.
Position #2 is Knee on Belly. So she's gonna throw my legs to the side, pass to Knee on
Belly position. Her shin is across my belly, pinning my arms to the ground so I can't strike
and from here she can also strike or do submissions. So this is Knee on Belly.
Next position, #3 is gonna be the Full Mount. So this is the Full Mount position, very bad
position for me, I absolutely need to escape very quickly because here she can strike,
and I can't even reach her face. Ok, so I need to escape this position, we're gonna
see that in the Full Mount video. An interesting variant on the Full Mount is also the Low
Mount, here. Very good position for control, where she can immobilize me, and I can't do
much from here. Ok, so this is the Low Mount, a variant of the Full Mount.
Next one is the Side Control position, so this is #4: Side Control. Here she can keep
my elbows off the ground, one knee in my armpit, one knee on my hip, here I can't move at all
as well, so I'm gonna need to escape this position; this is Side Control. An interesting
variant on the Side Control is the Scarf Hold position, inverting her legs, keeping my elbows
off the ground, she has more striking opportunities from here, so I'm also gonna need to escape.
So this is the Scarf Hold, variant of the Side Control.
Next one, #5 is the North/South position, she's gonna pass, this is when our legs are
on opposite directions, she's gonna be crushing my face with her ribs, and controlling my
hips with her hands. So I cannot move in this position. This is North/South position.
Next one is the Back Control position. This is when she has my back, her chest is to my
back, she has her hooks in, so this is what we call the hooks, when the feet in the inside
of my legs. This is what we call the seat belt. So she's establishing a strong control
in this position, this is Back Control, #6, the obvious attack I have to be careful for
in this position is the Rear Naked Choke, we're gonna see that, and how to escape, in
the Back Control video. Next one is the Turtle Position, right here,
called Turtle Position for obvious reasons here I have to protect, she can also strike
me, and she can control my back, so I have to protect, OK, so this is Turtle Position.
An interesting variant on the Turtle Position is the Back Mount position, so if she can
manage to get to my back, and get her hooks in, she can flatten me out, here, and this
is the worst position I can be in on the ground, because I'm highly vulnerable to strikes,
as well as to the Rear Naked Choke again. OK, so this is the Back Mount position, variant
of the Turtle. And next one we didn't see is The Guard position,
right here. Now there are many types of guard, we're gonna keep it simple for the purpose
of this video, we're gonna keep it to just the 3 basic variants, so Guard, we've got
Closed Guard, when my feet are locked in the back I can control her body, I have to be
careful here, she can strike me, OK, she can strike me with more power than I can strike
her. And another variant is the Open Guard, right here, when my feet are unlocked, there's
different opportunities from here. And the last variant we're gonna see is the Half Guard
position, when I have only one leg in, over here. OK, so this is the Half Guard.
Another interesting concept you have to be familiar with is what we call the underhook
and overhook. So underhook is when my arm goes underneath her arm, to control here or
here, and the overhook is when my arm goes over, so I control her arm from here, so this
is the overhook. Alright, now let's do a quick recap. So...
Position #1: Downed Guard/Standing. #2: Knee on Belly.
#3 is the Full Mount, with the variant of Low Mount.
#4 is Side Control, with the variant of Scarf Hold.
#5 is North/South position. #6 is Back Control.
#7 is Turtle Position, with the variant of the Back Mount.
and #8 is The Guard, with the variant of Closed Guard, Open Guard, and Half Guard.
And those are your 8 basic ground fighting positions. Be sure to check out the individual
video we have for each one of those positions to know how to clearly establish the position
correctly, as well as how to escape. Now before we wrap it up, couple quick considerations
for practicing with a partner. Rule #1: hygiene and grooming. So make sure
when you're close up with a partner like this, make sure you're smelling good, the clothes
are clean, little bit of fragrance, and deodorant, and mouthwash. Very important to have consideration
for your partner. Also, for safety, make sure toenails, and
fingernails are cut short, and if you have long hair, tie it up. Ok, so considerations
for your partner. Also, when you're practicing with a partner,
make sure you control your weight, you don't want to go ahead and crush the partner with
your entire body weight all the time, so make sure you can control your weight, we're gonna
show you how to do that in future videos. Same thing, when you're gonna learn submissions,
go smoothly, OK don't just yank out the submission, go smoothly, and then when you want to tell
the person to stop, you just simply "tap out". So when the person taps, you stop. So this
is when you're practicing with a partner. Also, when you're practicing ground fighting
techniques, keep in mind the real life applications of what you're doing. So, if you were to apply
these techniques in real life, on the ground, there's two possibilities, you can either
strike, as an attack, or you can submit, which is either with a joint lock, or a choke. So
keep in mind the hierarchy of attacks that you can do on the ground, and the level of
damage they can inflict on an opponent. So joint locks is pretty much the worst thing
you can do to someone, because you can permanently injure someone with a joint lock. You can
break off their arm, shoulder, you can mess up the tendons in their knee, OK, so you can
create a lot of permanent damage, so use it wisely if you were to use it in a self-defense
situation. The next level of attacks, which is a little
bit less severe is strikes, so often times you're gonna create semi-permanent damage,
OK, or short term damage with strikes. It could also incapacitate a person if you really push
it too far. But the best level for self-defense applications will be to use blood chokes,
because then the person will just pass out and then you can be able to get out of there
safely, without inflicting permanent damage on the person. So keep that in mind as well.
Also, keep in mind in a real life self-defense situation, you always have to be careful of
your surroundings. So you will go for the most time effective technique, so if it's
a strike, of if it's a submission, but you have to be careful for your surroundings,
there might be other people that are there to harm you as well. So keep an eye out for
your surroundings. This is true in striking as well in stand up. So always be careful
of your surroundings in self-defense. And that wraps up our video! As always, be
sure to like, comment and subscribe, till next time, I'm Patrick Fulop, this is Effective
Martial Arts, remember, practice well, safety first, and use these techniques only for self-defense.