Submissions From Bottom Side Side-control

I remember the first time my instructor showed me how to do a Kimura from under side, side-control. This was the first submission I learned from a bottom position where I didn't have dominate positioning. At the time it was somewhat difficult to wrap my brain around how something like that could even work.

As time went on, I learned more and more of these types of submissions. Some of them worked well, while others seemed impossible to get on someone with any real grappling experience.

What I find now is that many times I'm not finishing the submission from underside, but rather utilizing the attack to force my opponent to give up a dominate position. The inherent problem with these bottom side submissions is obviously a lack of dominate position and ability to fully control your opponent. Now, this in and of itself doesn't necessarily mean these submissions are invalid. It just means that, as it is with any submission, one has to fully understand the technique in order to properly execute it.

We practiced the techniques in the video on Sunday and Monday, as well as some counters and recounters. I think it's extremely important to understand how to counter a technique in order to truly understand how it works.