Ground Fighting Essentials

By Jonathan Wilson

If I went to the ground, I would want these ground fighting techniques in my back pocket ~ as they are very helpful to get back to your feet ~ where your aikido does work.

Guard Stages 1-5 (also known as the “Punch Block Series). (How to protect yourself when you are on the bottom of the fight in every scenario. Think of it as a way to wear your attacker out physically without using much energy yourself. It is a “distance management” exercise on the ground).

Hook Sweep (A neat way to reverse roles when your attacker is standing over you while you are on your back).

Elevator Hook Sweep (when the bad guy is on the top of the fight and in the guard position)

Arm Trap and Roll Escape (A neat way to reverse roles when the attacker is the mount position and you are on your back).

Triangle Choke from the guard & Arm Bar from the guard. (Offensive ideas: These two are very similar techniques that relate to each other in a similar way that the Come Along Throw and the Wheel Throw relate to each other ~ when one doesn’t work the other one will. In both of these techniques you finish the fight from the ground).

To the left, I have linked to to three videos that cover what are in my mind ,the most important 3 ground fighting techniques in this list. These short videos will show you how to do the Hook Sweep, the Elevator Hook Sweep, and the Arm Trap & Roll Escape.

The Hook Sweep works when you are on your back and your attacker is standing over you.

The Elevator-Hook Sweep works when you are on your back and your attacker is in your guard.

The Arm Trap & Roll Escape works when you are on your back and your attacker is in the mount position.

* Each of these 3 techniques take you from the worst possible position in a fight (eg: your back is on the ground and the attacker is standing over you or actually on top of you). These 3 techniques quickly put you back “on top” of the fight again.

Now how you fight once you’re on the top of the fight is another decision outside the bounds of this article. When possible, I’d get back to standing.

I think what you will find when you explore these 3 techniques is that Master Morita’s genius transfers to the ground also! After a little bit of ground work, we could confidently say to our critics: “My aikido works ~ standing or on the ground, with weapons or without weapons. I’m not sure about XYZ’s aikido, but I know my aikido is valid.”

We understand that we can not always have the fight as we’d wish it to be. We have to take the good scenarios with the bad ones, even those that find us rolling around in the dirt. While we are an aikido art at all times, working on the Arm Trap and Roll (video at the bottom) does not negate our Aikido preferences and provides an unbelievably sound and rapid way to return the fight to suit our strengths.

One day I hope to be able to say, “My Aikido works, standing, kneeling, grappling, with weapons, without weapons.” Will you join me in the endeavor?

“Why We Want to Fight Standing”