Revisiting Pins and Escapes in MMA Personal Training
- jamie03066
- Dec 5, 2025
- 3 min read
04.12.2025
MMA Personal Training
Final Session Recap
In the last hour and a half of my client's Ground 'n Pound MMA Personal Training course, we revisited techniques like side control, scarf-hold, and guard work. We addressed some technical points before moving on to live training. This method, which identifies weaknesses and reveals new tactics, is key to my training philosophy and promotes skill development. With the Ground 'n Pound course complete, we'll transition to a flexible MMA cross-training course next week, focusing on integrating various arts in the sport.
This is an advanced course for clients who have been with me for a while consisting of 10 x 1.5 hour lessons rather than the usual 10 x 1 hour. These sessions allow for lengthier workouts, but more importantly it allows us more time to go over technical details.
Sparring Rounds
Live practice was made up of these five five-minute rounds and the last two three-minute rounds:
Round 1: MMA free-sparring. A great way to work through the ranges and keep the context of the entire game in mind for the rest of the lesson. Our round consisted of a good transition between all ranges - stand-up, clinch, ground, and the wall.
Rounds 2-3: Right-hand side control/scarf-hold - objective to deliver five uninterrupted fist or elbow strikes to the head, three uninterrupted knee strikes to the side, submission, or transition to another pin versus escape.
Rounds 4-5: Left-hand side control/scarf-hold - objective to deliver five uninterrupted fist or elbow strikes to the head, three uninterrupted knee strikes to the side, submission, or transition to another pin versus escape.
Rounds 6-7: The three-minute rounds were left for some fluid ground sparring. Because no fights really begin on the ground, especially in MMA, I don't favor the rather artificial dual kneeling start position. I feel some form of positional sparring needs to take place, so we took turns fighting from a guard position but continued to full completion. The only restriction was to restart if both fighters ended up standing.
Teaching Points
Knee Block
Early on in training, I demonstrated a defense against mount when being pinned in side control. This involves blocking with the knee across the belt-line. If done properly, it should stop both full-mount and knee-on-belly attacks. It can also be used to set head-scissors, triangle chokes, and other traps with the legs, allowing the person being pinned to move to a dominant position.
Traditional Scarf-Hold as an MMA Tactic
The underhook scarf-hold has become a very popular technique outside of Judo. This is largely due to the fact that submission grappling on the ground, especially due to the influence of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, has become extremely sophisticated, and the traditional scarf-hold typically exposes the back when someone escapes. The underhook version greatly reduces this risk and closes down this escape tactic. However, in MMA, being pinned in the underhook version means you have more opportunities to defend against strikes with both hands now free. Opting for a traditional scarf-hold puts the opponent in a grounded side headlock, leaving them more vulnerable to strikes. The pinned opponent now only really has one free arm, the other one being effectively blocked by the pinning opponent's shoulder, and when that free arm comes up to defend, it exposes the pinned opponent to chokes and armbars.
Warm Down Routine
We concluded our session with a series of stretches designed to enhance recovery and flexibility. The warm down included:
Dynamic Stretches: These stretches involve movement and help to gradually decrease heart rate while maintaining flexibility.
Static Stretches: These stretches are held for a period of time to improve overall flexibility and help relax the muscles.
PNF Stretches: Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretches involve both stretching and contracting the muscle group being targeted, which can enhance flexibility and range of motion.
This combination of stretching techniques helps to flush out lactic acid and improve overall mobility and flexibility.
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