The Turtle Experiment: Deconstructing Back Control Transitions

Explores the 'what if' scenarios when attacking from the turtle position, focusing on how different upper body grips dictate your pathways to back control

Flow outline

  1. Turtle Upper Body Grips

    • Key detail: if it shows up, the starting point. what if you're directly behind? what if they have a closed elbow? an open elbow? or what if you can't secure any meaningful grip? each scenario branches into a different experimental pathway

  2. Back Head And Arm

    • From here, you've secured the head and arm from a closed elbow scenario. now, what if you break them down? what if you roll through? or what if their neck becomes exposed? node is a hub for testing those follow-up actions. angle matters

  3. Broken Down Turtle System

    • Once set, the opponent has been broken down into turtle. is a critical control point. what variations can you apply from here to advance your position or secure a submission?

  4. Seated Back Head And Arm

    • If they frame, the opponent has rolled to seated, but you keep the head and arm control. what if you can expose the neck? what if you can't? position tests your ability to adapt the attack to a seated opponent

  5. Rear Naked Choke

    • The classic finish. You've managed to put the opponent's head to the mat and secured the strangle. But what if you couldn't? That's where the other branches of experiment come into play

  6. Turtle With Near Hook And Far Wrist Grip

    • From an open elbow, you've secured a nearside half-nelson and far wrist, then inserted a hook. is a powerful controlling position from the turtle. What's the next experiment from here?

  7. Seated Back Head And Arm

    • Key detail: another pathway leads to controlling a seated opponent with the head and arm. what if their primary defense is strong? what if it's weak? node explores stripping that defense to find the finish

  8. Turtle With Near Hook

    • Starting from directly behind, you've used a double wrist ride or rear body lock to open the elbow and step the hook in. You now have a hook in from the turtle. What if the opponent tries to stand up? Let's test those reactions

  9. Broken Down Turtle

    • If they frame, the opponent stood up head-first, you ran to the downed leg, and broke them back down. re-establishes the broken down turtle, but through a different experimental sequence. what can you do from here that you couldn't do before?

  10. Rear Upper Chest Lock And Spiral Ride

    • The opponent stood up hips-first, leading you to secure a rear upper chest lock and initiate a spiral ride. is a dynamic, controlling transition from standing back to the mat. What if the ride is successful? What if it's not?

  11. Back Head And Arm Roll Through

    • From here, When you can't get the strangle arm in place from the initial back head and arm, you roll through. is a 'what if' contingency that transitions the position, creating new opportunities from the scramble

Branch conditions