Stand-Up to Side Control Playbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "The Takedown Is the First Half of the Pass." Print it. The article explains why the beat after the landing decides everything, and why the passing chain joins mid-stream. This book chains…
| Art | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
|---|---|
| Family | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Level | intermediate |
| Format | playbook |
| Topics | throws, groundwork, fundamentals, training-plans |
Mat Manual companion guide to "The Takedown Is the First Half of the Pass." Print it. The article explains why the beat after the landing decides everything, and why the passing chain joins mid-stream. This book chains the single leg, its two finishes, and the landing grips into the knee-cut chain, so takedown and pass are one movement — and drills the defender's fall-frame-guard answer in parallel.
Name: ______________________________ Dojo: ______________________________ Belt: ______________ Start date: ______________ Shot side (circle): Left / Right Current week (Part 11): ______________
BEFORE ANYTHING: TAKEDOWN AND LANDING SAFETY ☐ Breakfalls come first. Nobody is taken down in this book who has not shown a clean back and side breakfall (ukemi) at the session's start. The fall is a skill the defender owns, and this book checks it before it spends it. ☐ Takedown intensity and finish choice are agreed before every set and stated out loud. The trip finish (Part 5) lands a partner harder than the pipe; it is introduced only when both partners have passed the pipe cards, and its speed rises only by agreement. ☐ Mat space is a safety rule: one pair works per lane, lanes are called before live rounds, and nobody shoots toward another pair's landing zone. A shot that cannot land safely is not taken. ☐ The held leg is a handle, not a weapon. Nobody is lifted and dropped, slammed, or driven through the held leg in this book. Landings are turned and rotated down, at the speed the card states. ☐ The defender's head and neck stay clear through every landing: falls rotate to the hip and side, never onto the head, and the attacker's drive never loads a partner's neck. ☐ Stop on any pain, dizziness, or loss of control, from either partner, with no finishing the rep first. Log what happened in the session log (Part 16). Safety checkpoints are printed on the cards and are part of every pass standard.
Part 1: The Chain at a Glance
Four beats, no seam. If a watching student can point to where the takedown ended and the pass began, the chain is not built yet.
| Beat | Movement | What success looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The entry | Single leg: head inside, shoulder in the hip, hands joined behind the knee, leg hugged to the chest | The leg owned while standing, their weight already answering you |
| 2. The finish | Run-the-pipe: turn the corner, rotate them down to the far hip. Or the trip, when they hop: outside foot behind the posted heel as you turn | They land on a hip, pointed away, one leg still in your arms |
| 3. The landing grips | Hands re-grip as the leg lands: one to collar or far hip, one keeping the leg pinned or draped; feet take headquarters, knee up through the middle | Their guard's three needs — frame, hips, free leg — all denied at once |
| 4. The pass joins | Knee-cut from the landing grips, their re-guard answered by the long-step, settle in side control | Side control landed and held, their first real frame arriving at a finished position |
Chain law: the takedown's last step is the pass's first step. There is no beat in this book where standing still is correct.
| Their answer | What it spends | Your next move |
|---|---|---|
| Weight back, sits down the pipe | Their base, backward | Pipe finish; landing grips as they go |
| Hop on the posted leg, whizzer in | Balance on one foot | Trip the posted leg as you turn the corner |
| Sprawled heavy, leg slipping | Their weight forward, your entry dying | Bail: front headlock or re-shoot. Never land in their guard as a consolation |
| Guard pulled mid-shot | The floor, on their terms | Posture instantly, elbows in; the closed guard problem is another book |
Stand-Up to Side Control Playbook
Mat Manual companion guide to "The Takedown Is the First Half of the Pass." Print it. The article explains why the beat after the landing decides everything, and why the passing chain joins mid-stream. This book chains the single leg, its two finishes, and the landing grips into the knee-cut chain, so takedown and pass are one movement — and drills the defender's fall-frame-guard answer in parallel.
What's Inside
- Part 1: The Chain at a Glance
- Part 2: How a Rep Counts
- Part 3: Falls and Entries, Checked
- Part 4: Entry Cards: The Single Leg
- Part 5: Finish Cards: Pipe and Trip
- Part 6: The Landing Beat Cards
- …and 22 more sections
The full guide is a paid Mat Manual product. Checkout is not connected yet — no payment is taken on this page.
Free companion article: The Takedown Is the First Half of the Pass — the full article, free in full.