We had a great time this morning in this semi private lesson working on Side Control escapes. Initially focusing on understanding the importance of hand position when underneath and then determining the hand position on top to lead us to the right escape. One of the biggest problems beginners face is that they have to understand the right escape has to be done at the right time in order to be successful. All too often I see the fight to force one technique when a simple change of direction to a different technique would allow an easy escape. Once we had drilled escaping based on 4 different hand positions we moved to understanding the importance of knowing when your guard is passed and then getting ahead with regard to establishing a good bottom side position. Â Basics applied well and fully understood are unstoppable. (Look how happy they are!)