Side Control Escapes - Moving Weight Down

When we first learn side control escapes, we are taught the basic hip escape/snake move way out of being pinned. The reason for this is obvious: this is probably the best way to escape as you can use it to put the person in your guard or use it as the impetus for going to your knees.

However, there is a certain psychological 'mess' that our mind is placed in we learn this technique because we ae essentially taught that this is the escape. What are not taught (or not taught often enough) is the simple common sense notion that the person pinning you is not just going to let you escape. They are trying to win too, remember? So, this creates the quagmire of the mind that the hip escape either doesn't work or that the person starts to believe that they are not good enough. With these sentiments, the student is simply beating him or herself up. What is needed on the students part is an understanding that escaping the side control against a resisting opponent requires incremental escapes. That is, you simply are not going to be able to hip escape from the person's hold with ease unless the person is a pure novice or was caught sleeping.

If you want a little tip in this area, you could try you incremental escapes by moving the opponent's weight downwards. That is, since the opponent is pinning your upper chest, you might be better off pushing the opponent's weight down towards your stomach so that you chest is not pinned. From this, you may gain enough mobility that you will be able to launch a more effective hip escape.