Knee on Belly Prevention and Guard Recovery Drill (Drill)

Professor Lucas Lepri teaches a drill to help prevent knee on belly and escape from side control to open guard. The drill begins with the opponent holding Lucas in side control position and Lucas framing and defending with his knee. In this scenario the opponent attempts to establish the knee on belly position, and Lucas reacts by immediately putting his knee and elbow together to block the opponent’s knee. If possible, Lucas shrimps out and uses his feet on his opponent’s body to square his hips and return to open guard. In the more-likely scenario, the opponent puts pressure on Lucas using his knee and forces Lucas to turn away, so Lucas shrimps out to face the opponent and creates enough space to recompose the guard. In this drill, one student maintains the top position and alternates sides until the end of the round when the students switch positions.