Striking in the Demilitarized Zone (*GASP!* From Side Mount!)

[Roidie McDouchebag]

Hughes-Newton II.

If you haven't seen it, watch it, strictly for its excellent example of total domination via the technique I'm describing.

I like to move to the high side mount, pin one arm with a knee, the other with an arm, elbow the face. It's my favourite position to strike from...lets you isolate their face so badly, and dish out shot after unanswered shot. Obviously, it's harder from the bottom, but do-able.

You can also go to knee-on-belly and do it, but it's a little less stable that way.

You can do it from the bottom the same way; move out to the side and strike from guard, instead of going for the back. I don't see too many people do it effectively, but once you're on one side, it's your two arms vs their one. If you're always hitting, hitting, hitting, you give yourself way more chances to go for subs and get to better position.

Hold his near arm with one of yours and hold his other arm away with a leg and bash him with an elbow, fist, or palm. You've got the triangle, the omoplata, the armbar, and the elbow-to-the-face all right there, once you're off to the side, and you still don't give up your chance to go for his back if that's what you have your heart set on.

It throws people off if you strike them when they're expecting a sub attempt/reversal/other grappling manuever. Strike, strike, strike. The only time you should not be striking in MMA is when you're not in range, blocking strikes, or you absolutely must concentrate all your limbs on a grappling technique to make it work. This is a slight (but only slight) exagerration, you get the idea.

[saku39]

may i humbly add, that when attacking from half-gaurd, given the choice, it behooves you to trap their right leg. Doing this allows you to attack the liver as well.

[Plasma]

I also find when striking from side mount that using your elbow to stirke the outer upper thigh is a good alternative.

So sink your weight and use forearms to the face. They will try to cover with their arms. For whatever reason they succeed. Shift you weight to side near the head and use the point of the elbow to the outer upper thigh. Eventually they will try and cover that. Then switch back to the face.

[jnp]

I was going to start a thread about throwing knees and elbows from top sidemount and north-south, but this thread will do nicely. All praise the search function.

How do you and where do you throw knees and elbows from sidemount? Do you knee your opponents head from north-south? From what positions do you favor downward spiking elbows versus cross-face type elbows? When you throw knees, how do you wind up? Do you raise the leg with your knee bent or straight? Do you throw the knee in line with your torso or at an angle?

How do you practice this? We usually throw full force strikes on a heavy bag lying on the ground, and pulled blows on our partners.

I know that some of these factors will be dictated by position. I'm just trying to get an overarching perspective here.