side control (top)

the following are tactics that can be applied when in the top position in side control.

submissions

the following are submissions that can be applied in the top position in side control.

kimura

what is a kimura?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De5UeZKVDEc
while in side control, have on hand tight on the person’s shoulder and have the other arm (closest to the bicep by you), hold the bicep still. quickly move your leg closest to the pinned bicep to pin that bicep down with your shin, moving the hand back to original placement. make sure the force is on the BICEP, not the FOREARM, or else your opponent can easily escape as their arm is not fully secured to the mat. at this point, keep your opponent’s body pressed against your chest tightly and lift their back off of the ground towards you.

when maintaining the previous position, perform a “windshield wiper” maneuver with your legs, swapping the leg on the pinned bicep with your other leg. the leg that was pinning the bicep will QUICKLY move across the opponent’s body to press against the opponent’s back so that they cannot move away. move your body to sit on the opponent’s shoulder/neck area. keep your legs tight around the opponent’s body for control. the arm in between your arms as you were maneuvering is the arm you will perform the kimura on.

the first step is your hand placement. one hand must be on the opponent’s wrist, and the other must come from between the “triangle” the opponent’s arm is in (beneath the bicep basically) and grip your own wrist that is holding the opponent’s wrist. keep the opponent’s triceps pressed against your chest at all times.

from here you have a “stick shift” sort of capability. lift your body up, keeping the triceps on your chest, to lift the shoulder towards you. move the opponent’s arm to their back, and here you can twist your body towards the opponent’s head while keeping a tight grip on the arm and wrist to apply pressure on the shoulder and secure the submission.

if you are struggling with a kimura submission while you are on the last few steps, you can utilize your leg placement to switch into a triangle submission.

reverse triangle sub while in kimura position: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IpY0C45InOc

side control (bottom)

the following are tactics that can be applied when in the top position in side control.

defense

finding opportunities to shrimp and roll out of side control is important. if an opponent keeps one of your sides exposed, you can move away into something more favorable and disrupt their flow of control or possible submission.