Bad form or use your genetics?

[Camus]

I don't know that there's anything horribly wrong with using alotta strength in rolling, so long as you've the stamina to keep using it for awhile and you work low intensity also to keep up your technique.

In fact, one of the problems I've had is going too soft most of the time. Then just last night I was rolling relatively light with one of our blue belts about my weight (although stocky rather than lean) and we turned it up about 20 times, I latched onto my armlock (trademark move) when he went to his side, rolled him over and threw my leg over for kimura. Before the guy even tapped his arm popped. He claims he tapped before he screamed in pain, I swear to god he didn't and he definately didn't say 'tap', but man it made me feel like shit the rest of the night.

Why am I going on about this? Well, the trouble I've had is that while I have some training partners who are tougher than steel and can stand your whole body cranking an RNC on them and then go on to tap you 30 min of nonstop rolling later, some guys just aren't built that way and their physique is not always the best indicated of that toughness. And so when you train with tough guys and using a ton of strength all the time, you can hurt other dudes unintentionally, even with good technique. This had been my main problem and hurting your training partners really really bites.

[NSLightsOut]

Trap the palm against your pelvis with your forearm, sink back and bend the hand back.

I tried this out today. It isn't possible.

Try to visualise this. My thumb and the side of my first fingers are pushing into the groove formed between your hips and the top of your thighs. My palm is generally barely touching your thigh.

In addition, what you're describing takes time Unless you happen to have an exceptional mount, you are going to go flying if confronted by someone good with this escape. It's a little impractical to execute this while the guy you're sitting on is bucking like a bronco.

(To put this into perspective: I can count the people who've stayed on me for 30 seconds or longer in the last two years on one hand. Two of them were black belts. I still have a finger left over)

Best defense, IMO, against a good mount escape is to bail to side-control or knee-ride when you feel destabilized.

[NSLightsOut]

You must be visualizing it improperly

I very well could be.

Question: Was the guy the black belt was demoing on pushing as I've described, or with the heels of the palms against the hips?

[NSLightsOut]

The way I perform my mount escape, my palms are sitting on my opponent's thighs. Putting the palm heels on the hips is actually less energy-efficient then doing it my preferred way of using thumb and forefingers in the groove between hips and thighs, and it opens you up to your wrist lock.

Honestly, I'd think of the wristlock against mount escape as a move that wouldn't really work against someone of much technical skill.

[UpaLumpa]

If someone has the mount on you and you are able to place your fists on or around their pelvis and basically press them up as you upa...is this generally considered a bad habit to get into as opposed to working to replace some type of guard and/or sweep?

If you're initially raising your hips off the ground, then begin pushing with your arms at your hips' maximal height, dropping your hips (continue pushing up with arms) and then bring a knee, or both through and regain guard; then this is actually a standard technique.

If you're just hurling the guy off you, you're a douche.

When I started bjj I was always the strongest or closest to strongest guy on the mat (of course I haven't lifted consistently since, so much for my 400lb bench). Even now, without regular lifting, I'm quite strong for my weight. Putting that aside is the best thing you can do for your game. And it's always there when you compete. Or if some former allstate hs wrestler weighing 220 wants to show the small guys (I'm down to 190) what's up and you want to assmaster him physically and technically.

[UpaLumpa]

To add: Using strength isn't bad; it's just another tool. It becomes a problem when it replaces technique or reinforces bad technique.

Example: I rarely get armbarred and almost never by less than a purple. There are two reasons, 1) I have a great armbar defense, I stack properly and block their butt and more important earlier in my training 2) I still have massive reserve strength.

As a result I have the bad habit of baiting armbars (and triangles) too often. This will get me in trouble eventually. I know that but while rolling I still do it.

[NSLightsOut]

That's a matter of semantics. The two descriptions amount to the same thing

[Mjelva]

NSLightsOut - Could you be arsed to make a picture series of this upa variation?

[NSLightsOut]

I'll see about the photos.

It's not something that can really be shown visually so much as felt.