Key Takeaways
- A 5-volume No-Gi instructional helping you make sense of mount escapes.
- Features detailed mechanics and concepts of dealing with upper and lower body threats.
- Contains live resistance drills after each chapter to help you put the material into realistic practice.
- BJJ World Expert Rating: 9.5 out of 10.
MOUNT ESCAPE MASTERY HALEEM SYED DVD GET HERE
The mount can be a really daunting place to be in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I know because I love controlling and torturing people from it. Unlike back mount, you get to see their struggling faces lose hope from the mount, which makes it that much better.
If you’re one of the people stuck in the mount, let me tell you, you’re not getting out with a bridge-and-roll, or the knee-elbow escape. At least not in the way you think they work. You need to rethink your complete mount escape approach and to do that, you need to see and hear the lessons provided in the Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD.
Making Sense of BJJ Escapes
Getting out of a bad spot in BJJ requires a lot more than people think. Simply learning escape moves step-by-step is a great way of only ending up stuck even deeper, and repairing that you can’t defend anything. I know because it happened to me when I only had access to multi-step instruction.
As ti turns out the first thing you’ll need to train if you want to become unpinnable, unsubmittable, and all that jazz, is your mind. You’ll need to accept there is no quick way out, and that you’ll need to be cunning and patient if you want to get out.
Let me put it this way – you’ll need to address your defense first from any bad spot, mitigating the dangers and preventing your opponent from capitalizing more. Only when you have dangers under control, you can start thinking about turning the top person’s frustrations into mistakes and using them to get out. This is pretty much the blueprint running through the Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD.
Haleem Syed’s Practical Grappling
Who do you learn BJJ from? Someone who has been around training with the Gracies in their backyard, but who is not skilled at transferring all their amassed knowledge and experience, or a younger grappler who is also an expert at teaching? With methods such as Ecological Dynamics and the Constraints Lead Approach, BJJ coaches are also learning how to be teachers.
Haleem Syed is a representative of this second batch of ‘thinker’ coaches who like to apply methodology to teaching grappling, rather than just demonstrate stuff. A black belt in BJJ and Judo under the legendary Jimmy Pedro, there is little about grappling that eludes Haleem’s combat-trained mind.
The IBJJF World Champion in Jiu-Jitsu and US National Champion in Judo has plenty of grappling knowledge to share, but without any of the mumbo-jumbo usually seen from old-school coaches.
Instead, Haleem clears up grappling, allowing you to see goals rather than problems. His Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD is the perfect example of how new school grappling experts are redefining how we learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD Review
The Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD is one of the best BJJ DVDs I’ve seen in a while, and definitely in the top five escape instructionals ever. Over five immaculately organized volumes, Haleem delivers nearly three hours of top-quality concepts and materials on dealing with one of the toughest pins in BJJ.
Part 1 – ‘Standard’ Mount Escapes
The Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD doesn’t just feature different single-themed volumes but also has plenty of subject matter division and organization within each part. The first volume contains a short overview of the material ahead, along with Haleem’s philosophy of reducing clutter and focusing on one proven way to get out of mount rather than a bunch of half-functional ones.
Using Bruce Lee’s famous methodology of becoming an expert at one thing, he shares his system of training that has helped him and his students excel so far. In that regard, he covers drills and progressive resistance concepts that will help you understand the standard problems of the bottom mount and how to begin solving them.
Solution-wise, he shows you how to navigate the key issues of this particular pin by helping you realize common pitfalls that prevent you from escaping and drag you deeper into the top person’s game. He also outlines common sticking points for beginners.
Finally, a portion of this volume addresses the escape mindset, which is the most essential part of playing defense in BJJ.
Part 2 – Fundamental Mechanics of Mount Escapes
This second part of the Mount Escape Haleem Syed DVD contains the mechanics of shoulder walks and bridging, focusing a lot more on what not to do. This way, you end up with a set of motions that are certain to help you achieve an escape, rather than get you stuck deeper in the position.
Towards the end, Syed offers context by connecting his escape pattern to direct Ashi Garami counter attacks using the butterfly guard. He wraps up with live drills that help you put all the techniques and concepts into practice.
Part 3 – Lower Body Battles
Haleem divides the mount using the body’s natural division into upper and lower. By exploiting the endpoints of the movement range either of them has, he helps you understand how to get out of the mount using any given technical escape, such as an Upa or Knee-Elbow escape.
In this part, Haleem talks about four different leg configurations the top player has at their disposal, and how to beat them all. Crossed feet and grapevines get particular attention as two of the most difficult configurations to escape, with live drills shared by Haleem to help you understand and master the technical explanations after he addresses each.
The technical mount position also appears towards the end, offering a different perspective on the dangers and weak points by focusing on what the top person is doing with their legs.
Part 4 – Upper Body Fighting
Virtually the same as the previous part of the Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD, only addressing the upper-body battles you need to win, such as arm exposure and teh dreaded cross-face.
The underhook also gets lots of attention here, with Syed covering both the single and double underhook positions and all the problems they present. He also addresses common combinations such as cross-face underhooks, head and arm pins, and the threat of Ezekiel and Fist Chokes.
Each of the subjects covered in this part of the DVD also features a live drill section to help reinforce the key points of the technical directions while dealing with the uncertainty of live sparring.
Part 5 – KIlling Transitions
The most practical pieces of advice appear in the final portion of the Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD where Syed breaks down a concept many struggle with – the timing of escapes.
Focusing on the stuff that seems sneaky when you manage to pull it off, Haleem talks about how hidden moves you do, such as ankle traps can help set the tone of your escape by blocking transitions from happenings you start to make your way out.
Syed connects offensive cycles to escapes once again. He reinforces certain concepts already covered, such as shoulder walks and bridges, adding in shrimping to the mix. The goal with this last one is to capitalize on any movement the top person does to make sure your proven escape patterns get you out, or even better, out and directly into offense.
Less is More
When you’re looking for a way out of a pin, or even a submission, the rule of thumb is that you should move as little as possible to ensure you don’t make things worse. One incredibly useful piece of advice I’ve been following for years is to not move unless I have a clear idea of where that movement will bring me and the opponent.
Haleem does a great job of reinforcing this concept throughout the Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD. I completely agree with his take on escapes and that you should focus on one escape which you can apply to many different situations, rather than learning different escapes for every problem the top person presents.
When you’re escaping you should be patient and not panic first, then think about how you can move the least, while making the top person lose the most amount of control as a result. A few small movements such as this and you’re out!
FULL DOWNLOAD: MOUNT ESCAPE MASTERY HALEEM SYED
Becoming Unpinnable
If there is one investment that you can make in your Jiu-Jitsu this year that will pay off until the day you decide to hang your belt, it is grabbing the Mount Escape Mastery Haleem Syed DVD.
It won’t just help you figure out how to deal with the mount and frustrate many bigger and more experienced opponents. It will also help you figure out BJJ escapes in general and how to make them work under the extreme conditions of live grappling.
