The Mount and the Guard

Danny Abramovitch, March 18, 1995


The Mount:

In the mount (a), the person on top has their legs astride the chest of the person on the bottom. This is a very advantageous position for the person on the top. In fact, for the person on the bottom, this is the single worst position to be in in a fight.

The reason why this is so bad for the person on the bottom is mainly due to punching. Due to the relative position of the shoulders and faces, the person on top can punch the face of the person on the bottom (b), but the person on the bottom cannot punch the face of the person on the top.

Furthermore, the person on top has gravity on their side to aid their punch (b) and can fully cock their arm. The person on the bottom cannot fully cock their arm as it is blocked by the ground (c).

The Guard:

When the person on the bottom is able to use their legs to control the hips of the person on the top, then they have the top person in their guard.

Near Guard

In the near guard (d) \& (e) the person on the bottom has their legs wrapped around the hips of the top person. The opponent is clinched close, so that they do not have the distance to punch. The bottom person uses their legs to control the hips of the top person.

Far Guard

In the far guard (f) \& (g) the person on top is kept away with the knees. In this position, the top person is too far away to effectively punch at the bottom person's face.


Copyright 1995 by Danny Abramovitch.

This document may be freely distributed as is via the Internet. Any other distribution, distribution of a modified version of this document, or sale of this document without the written permission of the author is prohibited.

A note about copyrighting these notes:

I have put a copyright on my notes, but obviously not on the techniques themselves. (I am not sure if one can copyright a technique.) Even if this were possible, it would be quite silly for me to put a copyright on techniques that I have been taught by a different instructor only a few months ago. Quite the contrary, I have tried to list all my sources of the techniques above. However, the notes are my own drawings and interpretations of what was being taught. Thus, these notes -- this presentation of the material -- is copyrighted.

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