At competitions we always hear someone in the stands shouting, “Where are the points for the reversal, ref?”
To help you understand the right score for this movement, at the end of the article How to escape side control I left a question about the points I got for the movement in the video lesson.
Check out the article below, and if you still have any questions, get in touch and I’ll do my best to help you.
How to get your opponent out of side control
Here is the video lesson I’m referring to in this article, so you can refresh your memory of the movement and analyze it once more before settling on your answer:
Did you analyze the movement in the video? How many points is it worth?
Before giving the answer, I first need to explain a few situations so you don’t mix up the movements.
Guard pass
When the referee awards three points to an athlete, they’re signaling a guard pass. In other words, at some point the athlete was playing some kind of guard and their opponent managed to get past the line of the legs and hold them stabilized on their back or on their side on the ground.
Sweep
It only counts as a sweep when the athlete is playing guard and manages to finish the movement on top, stabilizing the opponent on their back, on their side or in turtle. A sweep is worth two points.
Side control
I believe you’ve read the previous article, where I talk about How do penalties work in Jiu-Jitsu?. In that article I explain that even if you’re transitioning in side control you can receive a penalty for lack of combativeness, which means you need to progress from the position, going for a submission or another position that scores points.
Side control reversal
If you’re holding your opponent in side control and they bridge and manage to reverse you, landing on top, that movement is considered a reversal.
Reversals in Jiu-Jitsu don’t score points or advantages.
The movement in the video lesson
In the video lesson I’m on the bottom and my opponent is in side control. Using my leg to create leverage, I manage to reverse them and land on top, also in side control. This movement was a reversal and, as I said above, it doesn’t score points or advantages.
Great, but let me clear up another question while we’re at it. Will I get three points for a guard pass? After all, I finished the movement holding side control.
The answer is NO, because at no point was my opponent playing guard. So the score for the movement in the video lesson is no points and no advantages for either athlete.
Points for escaping the mount
The first mount escape you probably learned is trapping your opponent’s arm (so they have no base to defend the movement) and throwing your hips up, or as we say in the Jiu-Jitsu world, doing a “bridge” or “upa”. In this movement you end up on top, inside your opponent’s guard.
How many points did you get for this movement?
In the side control reversal, at no point is either athlete playing guard, and in the mount the situation is the same. So when you escape the mount this way you get no points and no advantages, since it’s just a reversal.
How to score when escaping the mount
Frustrated to learn that after all that effort to escape the mount you still get nothing for it? Relax, there is a way to escape the mount and score points, and to help you, here’s a video lesson where I explain this movement in full.
So... did you get the answer right? If you didn’t, don’t worry, because these movements really do cause confusion.
Still have a question? Leave a comment below or on social media and I’ll reply as soon as possible.
Good training! OSS
Jiu-Jitsu video lessons, articles and stories with Matheus Zimmermann
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