Grapplearts: North South and Kesa Gatame!

[Stephan Kesting]

UNORTHODOX BJJ POSITIONS CONTINUED...

In the last tip I discussed the reasons why one might want to venture
outside the familiar BJJ positions. If you missed that article you
can read it again here:
www.grapplearts.com/2009/03/unfair-advantage-unorthodox-bjj.htm

Today I want to carry on, and discuss TWO positions that may or may
not be unorthodox, namely North-South and Kesa Gatame.

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WHAT ABOUT NORTH-SOUTH?

After my last tip I had some people contact me and tell me that I'd
left out the North South position from my list of the 6 fundamental
BJJ Positions.

I've actually addressed this issue in my Beginning BJJ Package
(www.grapplearts.com/roadmap/index.php), and so I'm just going to
quote from there:

"The boundaries of the positional variations we've just discussed are
a bit vague, and some people might classify certain variations as
separate positions. For example, some people might consider the North-
South position to be sufficiently distinct from Side Mount to deserve
its own category, as opposed to what I've done in this book (i.e.
calling North-South position a variant of Side Mount). The terminology
isn't too important; to quote Bruce Lee, "...it's just a name, don't
fuss over it.

The bottom line is that no classification system is perfect. It
doesn't matter if you're dealing with biology, economics, chemistry or
grappling: sometimes the things you are trying to classify will
absolutely refuse to be forced neatly into a convenient niche. To deal
with this problem I encourage you to eventually create your own
classification system, and use this system to describe the unique
subset of positions, techniques and strategies that YOU use when YOU
grapple."

So that's the north-south position cleared up (I hope). I consider it
to be a form of side control, but you can call it whatever you want!

Let's move on to a position that I really do think is both unorthodox
and VERY effective...

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UNORTHODOX BJJ POSITIONS - KESA GATAME

Kesa gatame is the Judo name for a position that is also known as the
Scarf Hold or the Head and Arm pin. If you don't know what it looks
like then check out the pictures on the blog here:

www.grapplearts.com/2009/03/kesa-gatame-in-bjj-unorthodox-position.htm

Some people will object my calling this an 'unorthodox' position,
because it's a staple pin in Judo, Sambo and Freestyle Wrestling.

That's true, but while it may be common in other grappling systems,
it's underutilized and generally frowned upon in BJJ. (I think this
is because of the common belief that it's too easy to have your back
taken from here, but that's easy to counter if you know how).

These other arts have honed kesa gatame as a PINNING position. The
only problem is that they don't use or teach very many submissions
from here.

In those sports the submission is redundant - if you pin your opponent
for 3 seconds (wrestling) or 25 seconds (Judo) you win the match.
Given these rules, why risk going for a submission?

BJJ is different - the ultimate goal is to submit, not pin, your
opponent. And if submitting your opponent is your goal, then Kesa
Gatame actually has a lot to offer!

I first learned about the submissions you can apply in Kesa Gatame
from Shootwrestling, as taught by Dan Inosanto and Erik Paulson. It
turns out that you can submit your opponent using straight armlocks,
bent armlocks, chokes, neck cranks and leglocks - the whole gamut,
basically.

Personally I now use Kesa Gatame all the time in sparring. It also
has a special place in my heart because, many years ago, it saved my
butt in a tournament. I was behind on points, managed to secure Kesa
Gatame, and then transitioned into a kneebar which won me the gold
medal.

So no matter what anybody says, I know Kesa Gatame works in BJJ.

And actually it's not just my opinion. Several of my teammates - most
notably Benito Seguara, now a Marcus Soares brown belt - have refined
this into an absolutely deadly position. And yes, I've been caught in
it. And tapped...

When it comes to Kesa Gatame you don't necessarily need to make it
your primary position, but you've GOT to learn a little bit about
it.

This is an area of grappling that BJJ and submission grappling people
could actually learn a lot from Judo, Freestyle Wrestling, Sambo,
Shootwrestling and all the other styles for which Kesa Gatame is a
bread and butter position.

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com