First person tutorial: Escaping the mount in Brazilian jujitsu

Brazilian jujitsu (BJJ) has always been one of my favorite sports and over the years I have enjoyed adding many techniques to my arsenal. Of all the techniques I have learned, my favorite move is one of the first techniques I was shown. It is called the "buck and roll" and the purpose of the technique is to get an opponent off of you.

The "buck and roll" can be executed when you are mounted by an opponent. In BJJ, you generally do not want your opponent to get the mount position on you as it is a disadvantageous position for the person at the bottom. Whenever I am unfortunate enough to be mounted by an opponent, I usually go for the "buck and roll" and it has been very effective for me when training and competing.

To execute the "buck and roll" the first thing you have to do is control one of your opponent's arms. Whichever arm you control will be the direction you take your opponents towards. While controlling one of your opponent's arms, grab the back of your opponent's neck and pull the person in towards you. After securing an arm and the back of the opponent's neck, bring your hips up off the ground as high as you can.

Once your hip is high off the ground, turn your body toward the direction of the arm you have controlled and use your momentum to turn your opponent over. You have now escaped the mount and are now in the guard(a much better place to be). The key to mastering this technique is to bring your hips up and turn your opponent over in one fluid motion. Like any other technique, the more you drill it the better you'll become at executing it. Once you have mastered it, you'll be surprised to find out how easy it can be to get a larger person off you. Like any other BJJ move, it is also effective in self-defense situations and can help you deal with potential aggressors.

The "buck and roll" is one of the fundamental moves in BJJ and every serious BJJ practitioner should drill it until perfection. If you are having issues visualizing the technique, you can view the video to get a better idea.