I will supply some thoughts, theories or techniques for fighting on the ground. Some of them will be purely Taekwondo based, while others may be a fusion of Taekwondo principles and other grappling arts, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But all of the techniques that follows, can be used in any martial art.

As an introduction to ground fighting, I wish to describe the four best positions for grappling.

Rear-mount

This position is considered a “rear-mount” regardless if you are sitting, lying with your back on the floor or if the opponent is raised up on his hands and knees.

Probably the most important rule in fighting is not to show your back to your opponent. Not only does this blind you to what your opponent is up to, it also negates most of your defensive tools. This is even truer on the ground. From this rule, we can deduce that probably the best position to be in, in ground fighting, is to have your opponent’s back facing you.

The rear-mount position is considered the safest and most advantageous position in grappling. From the rear-mount it is very difficult for the enemy to defend himself. You should position yourself close against the back of your opponent with your legs wrapped around him. Your heels (not your toes!) should be hooked inside the opponents legs. Do not cross your ankles as this will give your opponent the opportunity to do an ankle lock. To secure the position one arm wraps under the opponent’s armpit, and the other arm around the opponents neck. The hands should be clasped in an opposing thumbs grip with the thumbs tucked in. (This grip will hide away all your fingers so that the opponent cannot easily break your fingers as a counter-attack defence.)

From the rear-mount you can easily do a rear naked choke, and quickly render your opponent unconscious by cutting off the blood flow to his brain – usually this does not cause any serious injury, but be careful nonetheless when training.

Many Martial Art striking techniques are possible from the rear-mount position, but they should be trained with caution, as they are all potentially lethal. Leaning a little back you can use the elbow to strike vital spots such as the occiput and cervix. Other possible attacks from this position includes a middle-knuckle turning punch or a side-fist (hammer fist) inward strike to the temple and angle of mandible, or a knife-hand inward strike for the neck arteries.

Front Mount

The mount or mounted position is probably the most famous of the grappling positions. To do the mount, sit on your opponent’s torso facing towards his head. Place your knees as high as possible to your opponent’s armpits.
The position can be kept loosely to allow the opponent to turn if he wants to; in which case he will be opening his back and you can easily slip into the rear-mount position and disable him with a rear naked choke. In the mount, it is always important to keep good posture with your back straight, keeping your head out of reach from the opponent’s attack attempts.

The mount is considered the most dominant position because it allows you a variety of strikes and joint attacks, but the opponent is not necessarily able to effectively counter-strike. From this position, you can fully use Newtonian Physics, accelerating your mass behind your punches and elbow strikes: posture your body back and then drop your whole weight behind your technique (eg. punches or elbow strikes), getting the greatest amount of downward momentum.

Guard

If ever you find yourself on the bottom, then you want to be in the guard position. Being on the floor is never ideal, but at least the guard will give you a bit more defence-manoeuvrability, than when you are mounted by your enemy.

When your opponent is in your guard and your feet are locked behind his back, this position is called a closed guard (as illustrated in the picture below). If your legs are not locked, the position is called an open guard.

With your opponent this close, it is preferable to lock your feet together behind your opponent’s back (closed guard) to prevent him from simply pushing your knees down and stepping over in order to mount you. With your legs wrapped around your opponent, you have some control over his movement. If your opponent attempts to punch you, you can push him away with your thighs. From the closed guard you can defend against punches and try arm locks or other self-defence and counter-attack techniques.

If you are on the floor and your opponent is not yet on top of you, yet he is too close for you to safely get on your feet, you may assume a variation of the open guard, which I term the leg-guard. While lying on your back raise yourself up on your elbows and lift your legs as a natural barrier between yourself and your opponent. When your opponent tries to circle around your legs use your elbows to shift you into the defensive position – facing your opponent and using your legs to guard.

From the leg-guard many of Taekwondo’s ground kicking techniques (noowo bal gisool) can be used to attack your opponent if he comes to close. Obvious targets are your opponent’s knees, inner thighs, and genitalia.

The picture on the left, from the ITF Encyclopaedia, depicts a ground front snap kick (noowo apcha busigi), aimed at the solar plexus of an attacker that closed in to mount the defender. For better thrust, the defender has raised himself onto his palms and stationary leg, pushing more body weight into the technique.

Side-control

The least dominant of the favourable ground positions is the side-control (aka “side-mount” or “cross-mount”). Fighters grappling may often find themselves in such a side-by-side situation. To smother their opponents’ defensive techniques the side-control is used. Although the side-control is the least dominant ground positions, it nevertheless allows for considerable control over the opponent on the bottom. With the legs free, it is a stable position from where the top fighter (the one that has the side-control) can do elbows, knees, some arm-locks and also shift into the mount.

To assume the side-control, stretch out your torso diagonally over your opponent’s chest. Place your elbow on the ground in the hollow formed by your opponent’s head and shoulder (as in the picture) and put your other palm on the ground on the near side of the opponent. Keep your leg nearest to the opponent straight and bent the other leg so that the knee is close to the opponent’s hip. Lower your hips and drop your weight onto the enemy, weighing him down like a wet blanket. Keep your head down to avoid knee kicks.

From this position, it is relatively easy to get up on your feet again. In a self-defence situation, make sure that you have stunned or incapacitated your opponent so that he does not immediately continue his assault, giving you some extra time to retreat to safety.

Conclusion

It is a good idea to spend some time getting use to the feel of these ground-fighting positions and familiarize yourself with the different Taekwondo strikes and kicks that can be performed from each. In conclusion, remember that as Taekwondo practitioners we want to spend the least amount of time on the ground, because your opponent may have friends. Therefore, when you do find yourself in these more favourable ground positions make ample use of them, however get on your feet as soon as possible thereafter.

References:

ITF Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1, 3 & 4.
Soo Shim Kwan Colour Belt Handbook. 2006, version 2.
US Military Combatives Field Manual (FM 3-25.150)
Www.Wikipedia.Org