Grapplearts: Kesa Gatame Fallout, and ANOTHER Unorthodox Position

[Stephan Kesting]

INSIDE THE HORNET'S NEST

Boy, was there a lot of buzz after my last post! When I wrote about
Kesa Gatame being both a valid and an unorthodox attack position, long
heated discussions broke out on several grappling forums and quite a
few people even contacted me with quite a diverse set of opinions:

* A lot of people agree with me (which is always nice to hear).
* Others insist that Kesa Gatame is easy to counter (I can only
say that they've never had it applied on them 'in anger').
* Some people argue that it's not an unorthodox position at all,
and that it's a fundamental Judo position (true, but it's NOT a
typical BJJ position).
* And there's a selection of grapplers who are upset with me
because I've spilled the beans about one of their favorite positions
(what can I say, that's my job...).

Oh well, I wonder what they'll all think about my tip below on
"Offside" Kesa Gatame...

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UNORTHODOX BJJ POSITIONS CONTINUED - 'OFFSIDE' KESA GATAME

Today I want to charge bravely onward and look at an even more
unorthodox position. It's so unique that - to the best of my
knowledge - there aren't any formal names for it.

For now I'm calling it the "Offside Kesa Gatame", because it resembles
normal Kesa Gatame except that you're applying it on the 'wrong' side
of your opponent's body.

The first couple of times I ended up here were complete accidents.
Just an inadvertent set of grips I secured as I was frantically trying
to hold down a bucking opponent. At that time I had no clue that I
was actually in a position with submission potential.

Since then I've been formally shown this position by two separate
instructors - it's one of Erik Paulson's favorites, and also the late
Carlson Gracie showed it a seminar he did in Vancouver back in 2005

You can see a picture of me teaching this position at a recent seminar
on unorthodox positions and attacks here:
http://tinyurl.com/dksf7n

I can guarantee you that 99% of grapplers caught in Offside Kesa
Gatame will be taken completely by surprise. This can give you a huge
advantage, because your opponent will often do the wrong thing to get
out and give you an easy submission.

When you're applying Offside Kesa Gatame you trap your opponent's head
and FAR arm (instead of his near arm). His head is elevated off of the
ground by resting on your thigh.

The first photo I sent you to (above) clearly shows the positioning of
my legs (spread wide) and my right arm (trapping his head and left
arm). I'll tell you more about the positioning of my other arm in a
minute...

But first I've gotta tell you something very important...

The big danger of Offside Kesa Gatame is getting bridged over
backwards. In order NOT to get bridged I normally do TWO things

1 - I keep my legs spread VERY WIDE APART. If your feet are close
together then you're going to go for a ride, straight to the bottom

2 - I keep MY WEIGHT FORWARD. That's why - in the second picture - my
head is down and I'm grabbing my shin with my hand.

You can see a picture of the completed pin, complete with shin
gripping, here:
http://tinyurl.com/c5egha

Once you shut down the possibility of getting bridged over backwards
he may still manage to escape by squirming, but the chances are that
you'll still be on the top in some variation of side control.

You can slap Offside Kesa Gatame onto your opponent in a number of
ways.

The most common entry is probably when you have Side Mount on your
opponent with his far arm underhooked. There are other entries as
well though - my most recent discovery is how to surprise your
opponent by switching to this position from an under-over grip on this
back when you don't have the hooks in yet.

Once you're in Offside Kesa Gatame there are a variety of very
effective armlocks and chokes available to you, most of which keep you
in the top position.

As I alluded to earlier, you can also end up here completely by
accident. Even if you have no intention to make this a bread and
butter position, then at the very least you should know how to
transition back into a more familiar top position.

So give this position a try. Start with isolating Offside Kesa and
work on maintaining it with a semi-cooperative training partner. If
you like it then begin incorporating it into your sparring.

I don't feel the slightest bit sorry for your opponents when you start
busting this move out on them - it's their punishment for not reading
this blog and being subscribed to the Grappling Tips Newsletter!

I don't feel the slightest bit sorry for your opponents when you start
busting this move out on them - it's their punishment for not being
subscribed to the Grappling Tips Newsletter!

Stephan Kesting
Grapplearts.com