John Danaher Pin & Turtle Escapes, Vol 2: Mount Escapes (UPA & Elbow Escape)

Two escape families cover the static mount. UPA bridging for high, arm-available mounts with counters for the free hand, head shift, and grapevine. Elbow escape for flat, hidden-feet mounts built on the rising shrimp and anchored by capturing the knee before switching sides. Includes the cross-face counter that makes everything else work. From John Danaher's Pin Escapes & Turtle Escapes (Go Further Faster) instructional.

Flow outline

  1. Mounted: Read the Situation

    • From bottom of mount you have two escape families. Pick based on how your opponent is controlling you.
    • Use UPA (bridging) when:
    • Opponent is sitting high, posting hands wide.
    • Their centre of gravity is clearly over yours.
    • You can trap an arm and a leg on the same side.
    • Use elbow escape when:
    • Opponent is flat, riding low, feet hidden.
    • Arm-trap is not available.
    • Their hips are pinning yours. you need to create vertical space with rising shrimp.
    • Common misread: trying to UPA a tight, hidden-feet mount. it will fail, you waste energy, they advance.

  2. UPA: The Core Pattern

    • Classic bridging escape. Works on every level when the setup is correct.
    • The four trap points:
    • Arm. four-finger sleeve grip at bicep line, second hand on the seam of the same sleeve pulled across your centre line.
    • Foot. your same-side foot hooks inside their ankle.
    • Head. turn your head toward the roll direction (not straight up).
    • Bridge. push off the opposite foot, hips to one side, not to the ceiling.
    • Finish: land in their guard. Do not come up posturing. come up with inside hand position and start the guard fight.
    • If any of the four is missing, they base out and stay mounted.

  3. UPA Counter: Free Hand Across

    • Opponent defends by reaching their free hand across your centre line to post.
    • The fix: look past the hand.
    • Do not bridge up. bridge across.
    • Turn your eyes and head past their posting hand, toward the corner of the mat.
    • Hips follow the eyes. the bridge arcs around their post rather than into it.
    • Why it works: their posting arm has a limit. when your head goes further than the arm can reach, their shoulder collapses and the roll finishes.
    • Drill the head-turn until it leads the bridge, not the other way around.

  4. UPA Counter: Head Shift

    • Opponent defends by shifting their head away from the roll direction, weighting down the far side.
    • The fix: two-stage misdirection bridge.
    • First bridge small, just enough to move their head back toward you.
    • Free hand grabs inside their collar. pull their head to your bridging-side ear.
    • Second bridge. now their head is trapped on the same side as the roll, they cannot base out.
    • The first bridge is bait. the second is real. Beginners commit full power on bridge one and exhaust themselves.

  5. UPA Counter: Grapevine

    • Opponent drops flat and grapevines your legs to kill the bridge.
    • The fix: do not fight the grapevine directly.
    • Take a knee cup grip on the grapevined side. the grip keeps their leg in place.
    • Open your same-side knee out wide. this pops their foot free.
    • Now you have the standard trap. finish the UPA.
    • Alt option: switch to elbow escape. grapevines flatten them, which is exactly when elbow escape becomes the better choice.

  6. UPA as Setup to Elbow Escape

    • At high levels, UPA rarely finishes. it sets up elbow escape.
    • The chain:
    • Attempt the UPA. commit enough that they have to defend.
    • They widen their base and post hard to stop the roll.
    • The widened base exposes a knee. you now have room to rising-shrimp under it.
    • Elbow escape to half guard or full guard.
    • Mental model: the UPA is a threat you cash in. if it finishes, great. if not, you cash the threat for the escape that was always coming.

  7. Elbow Escape: Capture the Knee

    • The highest-percentage mount escape at every level. The goal is not "shrimp out". it is capture their knee.
    • What capture means:
    • Your inside knee is inside their hip, past the knee line.
    • Their leg is now going over your hip, not pinning it.
    • From there, either complete to half guard, butterfly, or full guard.
    • Until the knee is captured, do not try to switch sides. re-attack the same side. Knee first, then side switch.

  8. Ankle-Based Entry (Feet Exposed)

    • Use this when your opponent is naive. feet splayed, ankles reachable.
    • Trap the near ankle with your near foot.
    • Rising shrimp away from the trapped leg.
    • Their trapped foot acts as an anchor. their knee pops into the air.
    • Inside knee slides in. knee captured.
    • When this fails: against hidden feet (knees squeezed, feet tucked). against a good opponent this is almost never available from a static mount. Save it for dynamic entries (Volume 3).

  9. Knee-Centred Rising Shrimp (Preferred)

    • Danaher's preferred escape against a proper, hidden-feet mount.
    • Sequence:
    • Both hands frame on their hips (inside their hip bones, not the thighs).
    • Rising shrimp. half bridge, half shrimp.
    • At the apex of the lift, drop your inside knee into the space you created.
    • Knee captured. Now shrimp the other hip. they fall into half or full guard.
    • The key detail: the knee does not go in on the bridge. it goes in on the descent from the bridge. the bridge opens the gap, the shrimp drives the knee through as you land.

  10. Hand on Knee Safety

    • As you rising-shrimp, their far knee is the one that can climb to your armpit (high mount). Stop it before it moves.
    • The safety detail:
    • Your far hand grips their far knee or pant line.
    • Pin it down as you shrimp.
    • They cannot slide the knee up while you have it pinned.
    • Also blocks: the kimura defence they often set when you reach for hips. with your hand on their knee rather than their body, their kimura is off-target.

  11. Shimmy Leg: Finish the Capture

    • Sometimes the rising shrimp opens the space but the knee stops halfway in. Finish with the shimmy.
    • Lie on your side, inside knee partly in.
    • Shuffle your hip two to three inches toward your own feet (a "shimmy").
    • The shimmy slides their knee up and over yours. now captured.
    • Complete to half guard.
    • Why it works: most people try to push the knee in with their thigh. the opponent braces and it stalls. shimmying hip-first moves the ground underneath them. their leg is left behind.

  12. Beat the Cross-Face

    • A strong cross-face from top mount (or high mount) locks your head and kills the shrimp.
    • The counter:
    • Same-side hand posts on their opposite shoulder. keeps them from dropping chest pressure.
    • Bridge small to pop their chest up.
    • Head slides inside their cross-face line. forehead to their sternum.
    • Now the cross-face is on your skull, not your jaw. you can shrimp freely.
    • Do this before attempting the rising shrimp. Skipping this step is the most common reason elbow escape fails at higher levels.

  13. Half or Full Guard

Branch conditions