Why Gordon Ryan is the best no gi mount player I ever saw: Jiu jitsu is a game of position above all. At the top of the heap of the various positions are the mounts – front and rear. They both score the maximum points and you can argue as to which is the better of the two (in grappling I generally prefer rear mount over mount) but one thing is sure – they are both damn good. Of all the myriad athletes I have see over the years the two best practitioners of the mounted position by a landslide were Gordon Ryan (no gi) and roger gracie (gi). It is worth asking asking – what makes Gordon Ryan's no gi mount game so much better? The position seems pretty simple on the face of it. There aren't that many moves from there and most athletes know those moves by the time they're blue or purple belts. Lots of people get to the position, so what makes Mr Ryan different? Well I could list quite a few features, but I want to focus on the most important feature – the use of the LEGS as the primary connection and control mechanism of the position. When most people get mounted they immediately focus their attention on the upper body. They fixate on chest to chest contact and connection through a crossface. This is fine, certainly these things can be very important, but never as important as what's going on downstairs at the legs. The primary connection is through your legs. You have many choices as to how that connection is held. Each choice will make in you strong in some ways, weak in others. Each choice will have important ramifications for how an opponent can escape and how you can shut down those escapes. Each choice will facilitate certain types of submission attacks and rule out others. Never lose track of the fact that the mount is just a guard position upside down and guard is just an inverted mount. Just as your LEGS are the basis of connection and control from guard – so must they be from mount. Just as you play with many alternative foot positions from guard, so must you do from mount. Just as you must get angle and head control with your legs from guard, so must you do from mount. This lower body focus must be your goal from mount
