In Jiu-Jitsu, being mounted is a challenging and often uncomfortable position. Applying defensive priorities is crucial for effectively escaping and regaining control. When mounted, we must consider the following three phases:

- Survival: avoiding submissions and strikes

- Posture: protecting your neck and limbs

- Escaping: finding opportunities to reverse the position or return to guard

Defensive Priorities and Application

- Remaining Calm

Staying calm is essential. A calm mind allows you to assess the situation, identify weaknesses in the opponent’s control, and execute escapes more effectively. Calmness helps in performing techniques with precision and timing, rather than relying on brute strength, which is often less effective.

Panicking can lead to rapid energy depletion, making it harder to sustain defensive efforts and perform effective escapes, poor decision-making, and increased vulnerability to submissions. Instead, control your breathing to manage stress and maintain clarity of thought.

- Protecting Your Neck and Arms

Keep your hands close to your neck and face, ready to defend against chokes and strikes. Maintain a connection between your elbows and knees to create a strong defensive frame and prevent the opponent from isolating your arms.

- Creating Frames and Space

Use your hands, forearms, and elbows to create frames against the opponent's hips or chest. This helps in managing their pressure and creating space. Explosively bridge your hips to off-balance the opponent and create opportunities for escape.

- Hip Movements & Escaping Techniques

Use hip-escaping techniques to move your hips laterally to create space to insert a knee and recover guard or transition to another position.

Combine bridging and shrimping to disrupt the opponent’s balance and create openings for escapes. Trap one of the opponent’s arms and the same side leg, then bridge and roll to that side to reverse the position. Use shrimping to create space and insert your knee between you and the opponent, then work to recover guard.

Mastering the fundamentals of the mount position from the bottom, along with a calm and strategic approach, will significantly enhance your defensive capabilities and chances of success.