Climbing the mount is a trade between stability and attack. Low mount, with your heels hooked under their thighs and your hips driven forward, is the hardest height to bridge out of but offers few submissions. As you walk your knees into the armpits you lose some base and gain access to the arms, because their elbows can no longer reach their own hips. S-mount sits at the top of the ladder: one shin across the chest, the other knee beside the head, trapping an arm before you ever commit to the finish. Climb only when the lower rung is genuinely secure.
Key points
- In low mount, hook your heels under their thighs and post wide on the shoulders.
- Grapevine the legs when they bridge hard, then release and climb the moment the bridge fails.
- Climb by sliding knees into the armpits so their elbows lose contact with their own ribs.
- Use a head-and-arm pin in high mount to make the trapped arm the only available exit.
- Enter S-mount by turning one knee up beside the head while the far shin stays weighted.
Common mistakes
- Sitting upright on the hips early, which gives the bridge a lever and the elbows room to work.
- Climbing to high mount while they still have an underhook or a knee wedged inside.
- Chasing the armbar with both feet leaving the mat before the arm is isolated and pinned.
Put it into practice
Climb the ladder under pressure
- Begin in low mount and hold it for one minute while your partner bridges and shrimps at half resistance.
- On a failed bridge, walk your knees to the armpits and hold high mount for thirty seconds.
- From high mount, isolate one arm and enter S-mount without finishing, then return to high mount.
- Repeat three rounds, tracking at which rung you lost the position each time.
mounthigh mounts-mountcontrol