The mount is mastery: When I first began Jiu jitsu I was deeply impressed by the power of the mounted position for self defense and fighting. However, when I grappled my experience with the mount was like that of most people – it can be a frustrating position – it's great when you can punch and elbow in a fight, but rather less useful in grappling when you can only do submissions. I felt that the mount was not as stable as side and north/south pins. It wasn't as good for strangles as the rear mount and it had a rather limited number of submissions compared with other pins and these submissions were tricky to apply from the relatively unstable mount position. As such in my early years I didn't spend much time working on mount skills outside of mma training. As I spent more time in the game I came to see the error of my ways. Even in grappling the mount can be a devastating position when used well. There is a reason why the two greatest Jiu jitsu pinners of all time, Roger Gracie and Gordon Ryan, used them MOUNT as their primary pin above all others. Even if you currently feel the mount isn't your favorite position in grappling and that it's frustrating getting reversed from there or falling off when you attempt submissions – stick with it – the long term benefits are enormous. A real sign of mastery in Jiu jitsu is the ability to get to the mount, maintain the mount against strong resistance and finish from there
