Bottom Turtle Knee Slide to Stand Up

When you are stuck on the bottom turtle position, it is important to play smart. One wrong move can end the match. This is a common position in wrestling, BUT, there is a big difference between wrestling, MMA and BJJ - you can strike and submit.

This makes posting on your hands less than ideal, as you won't be able to defend strikes or submissions. So how are you supposed to work from the turtle?

One solution is to do what I call a knee slide. Rather than being on your toes, you will have your instep or shoelaces down on the mat. This allows your hips to rest further back, putting you in a more upright position. This will shift your weight back, which will free your hands up to defend and also take the weight of your opponent from driving down on top of you to pushing laterally behind you. From this position, we can work into a stand up and all sorts of other counters.