Bow and Arrow from Side Control.

I've been getting good results with this technique recently and to be honest it wasn't something I'd seen on YouTube or had been taught, I'd just kind of edited what I already knew about the Bow and Arrow to be applied from Side Control. I often find myself in Side Control searching for a sub and the old me would be trying to hit an Americana or an Ezekial Choke from Side, or just trying to transition over to Mount.

My sub knowledge from side control is ok from a practical, sit back and think about it, view point, but when it comes to stuff that jumps into my head during the heat of the moment I'd say I become a bit more limited in my options. This is something I'm going to be working on in the coming weeks with a series of goals, to hit (or at least attempt multiple times) different subs from side control.

But that is off the track of what this particular post is about as, for the time being, I am pleasantly happy and chuffed with the development of this Bow and Arrow variation I had been working on. The method I use to pull it off is slightly different to the video I found (but you gotta get a video, right?), so I'll describe what I do first and then you can look at the vid to see how it's supposed to be done. Remember, I am not trying to teach people here, I am just typing what works for me.

So I have Side Control on my opponents. He's flattened out on his back and I have a controlling arm around his neck, hand near his shoulder, my other arm his bracing his far side to prevent him from shrimping out and my leg side knee is braced against his low side (also to prevent movement). Maintaining downward pressure on his body I bring my bracing arm up so I can grab his nearside collar and pass it over into my other hand (at the opponents shoulder). I then use the hand that I passed the gi over with to reach down and grab a hold of the opponents nearside leg at the knee, either by grabbing the gi material or grabbing under the knee. I can now push my legside knee into the side of the opponent and use that to keep the opponent down in place, while I pull around the neck on the gi collar. I have finished the sub from this early position a few times before but should it require, you can bring your other leg up and pass it over the opponents far shoulder to put additional pressure on the choke.

I have, on one occasion, hit this move from half guard top too. To do this you have to ensure that the knee of your trapped leg has passed through the opponents guard. Then you can pass the collar the same as above and pull back and up on your opponent with that hand on the gi so you can bring the other leg around behind his neck and over his shoulder (a certain level of flexibility is needed for this bit). From there you can reach down with the other hand for the opponents leg and lean back on the hold. As I've said, it's worked for me twice, I've only managed to try it three times.

Anyway, enjoy this video of a variation of this move. Video was uploaded to YouTube by GGBJJ (many thanks).

Enjoy. \m/