Priit's 45° Rule

Whenever your legs have been neutralized, ensure your body is at a 45° angle relative to the floor.

If you're not familiar with Priit Mihkelson, he's arguably the world's foremost specialist in defensive Jiu-Jitsu strategies.  He's sometimes affectionately referred to as "the Estonian Danaher."

In our conversations, he revealed an awesome defensive hack that I'd never heard of before.  For lack of a better name, I'll call it "Priit's 45° Rule."  Let me share it here:

Whenever your legs have been neutralized, ensure your body is at a 45° angle relative to the floor.

This might require some unpacking to properly understand, so let me explain.

When your opponent has taken a dominant topside position on you (eg. side control, knee on belly, or mount), this means your opponent has passed beyond your legs, which means they're effectively neutralized.  Whenever you're in an inferior position like this, ensure your body is at a 45° angle relative to the floor.

In other words, when you're in one of these bad positions:

• DON'T have both your shoulders flat against the floor.  This means you're pinned.
   
• DON'T be at a 90° angle (perpendicular) relative to the floor.  This exposes you to Kimuras and arm attacks.
   
• DO be at a 45° angle: one shoulder off the mat, slightly on your side, but not TOO far onto your side.

Note that this rule isn't just about when you're facing up.  You can also be facing down, as long as you do so at a 45° angle.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself: what about when I'm playing guard?  When I'm playing guard, sometimes I want to be either flat on the mat, or fully on my side.

The answer is: if you're playing guard, Priit's 45° Rule doesn't apply, because your legs haven't been neutralized.  The use of your legs is an important part of playing guard, and opens up all sorts of scenarios where you can safely lie on your back or get up to your side.  However, as soon as your guard is passed, it's time to start applying Priit's 45° Rule.