BaffledExperts by Adam Norman

28: Holding yoko shiho gatame

Kesa gatame and yoko shiho gatame are the two best and most common holds in my experience. Yoko shiho gatame (side control) is a bit harder to hold, but it offers up many more submissions.

Side control

I like to use a seatbelt grip for yoko gatame. I wrap my left arm over uke’s right shoulder and around down his back. My right arm goes under his right armpit, and my hands clasp underneath his left shoulder blade.

I find my legs to be the trickiest part. The key, I have found, is to stay quite nimble. When your opponent rolls, push your legs out straight to give yourself stability and to push his shoulders down. When he bucks, being on your knees is strangely effective--while you may be tempted to squash him down, giving him plenty of space makes the bucking useless.

This is quite an odd feeling. Yoko gatame sometimes doesn’t feel like a very strong hold at all. You can almost float above your opponent using your legs and arms like bars on a cage. It is hard to trust that the hold will work when you have little contact and she is thrashing about--and it is hard to figure out when you have lost control and are in legitimate danger.

A finish from yoko shiho gatame
Most fighters are quite glad to keep yoko shiho and let the time run out. I think that’s rather lame, especially when one is just rolling for fun. Instead, I like to try to finish the fight. There is one particularly nice submission from the side: ude garame, the entangled armlock.

Grab your opponent’s left wrist with your own left hand and put it on the floor beside her ear. Slide your right arm underneath her biceps, and grasp your own wrist--use your right hand to grab your left wrist. Lift with your right arm and push with your left. This will create a nasty shoulder and elbow lock.

If you find it hard to finish the lock, try the following:

1. Rotate your opponent’s thumb to the ground. This puts tension on the tissues in the arm
2. Push your opponent’s elbow closer to her ribs, to make her arm more like a chicken wing
3. Slide your left leg under your right leg to create more movement in your upper body

Ude garame can also be done with the opponent’s palm facing the floor and her arm down.

There is a final, lovely way to terrify your opponent from side control: Get on top of him. It is very easy to get tate shiho gatame (full mount) from the side. Just push your knee across the line of his belt. From tate shiho you can finish the fight in any number of ways.