Breaking a turtle down versus riding: When it's time to attack an opponents turtle position, I general counsel students to begin by breaking an opponent down to a hip. This immediately reduces their athletic potential and makes them much more controllable so that you can focus on applying your attacks. However, there are going to be times you cannot do this on tough opponents. Then you will have to get hooks in and ride the opponents turtle while they are still on their knees. You can see Nicky Ryan doing a fine job of this here. Be sure to maintain a tight chest to back connection at control both sides of the body – otherwise you can slip off and end up underneath your opponent. Interestingly, the more your opponent resists being off balanced and broken down to a hip, the more he will have to widen his base and open himself up to your hooks and riding. The more he tightens up to resist the insertion of your hooks and riding, the easier he will be to off balance and break down to a hip – so the two modes of attacking turtle work very well as a dilemma.
