Mount is the classic starting point for your BJJ journey. Rorion Gracie used to teach the upa and controlling the mount in his famous intro lesson. It’s a great way of showing just how potent a force leverage can be, even if you’re much smaller than the person sat in mount. For that reason among others, the upa was also the first lesson I taught at the Artemis BJJ women’s class.

We are nearing the end of my planned lesson cycle for the women’s class (which will then restart).  This month, the techniques in the mixed class should feel very familiar to students from the women’s class, as you’ve spent a lot of time on mount.  That means that along with being a great point for any beginner to start up at Artemis BJJ, November is also a particularly good time for women’s class regulars to dip your toes into the mixed class waters.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be going through the upa and the elbow escape, along with a couple of other mount escape options. We’ll then examine how to hold the mount, as well as some of the powerful submissions from there.

I started my own BJJ journey with multiple world champion Roger Gracie in 2006 (and I’ve never left his lineage): he is very well known for his cross choke from mount. Join us at Artemis BJJ in November to learn what Roger taught me about his iconic choke!