I personally like doing something like this in the video. Basically controlling my opponent and then reversing the position. I find it easier to do becuase it doesn't have a billion steps and positioning to remember.
Usually when you see videos on escaping ground positions, it's either the standard solid material from practitioners of BJJ, Judo, MMA,etc or else completely ineffective nonsense from people who have no idea about ground fighting. This video is the rare example of something in the middle. The demonstrator is doing several things right and looks skilled enough to make the escape work against low-level opponents. Unfortunately, he also has some significant flaws in his technique which will doom him against someone who is actually good from the top of mount.
Anyway, I always like to stay on my feet. Don't like to get into situations where I have to counter a grapple.
It's totally reasonable to prefer staying on your feet. However it's a mistake to assume that you can't ever be taken down and end up on the bottom of a bad situation. That's what learning escapes is all about.
Just from the initial picture, the guy on the bottom has a **** loadof options. I'd go for the nuts
Heh ... no. Trying to attack the groin from bottom of mount is a recipe for getting yourself hurt.
I don't know how I feel about this one for someone without grappling experience. As someone with very little groundwork, I have attempted this one multiple times, and it ends up most of the time with me failing, or them getting my back. I have been successful using almost exactly the way that the gracie combatives video shows multiple times, however.
Not saying that way is better, just that as a beginner it is much easier to do. I assume this would apply to other ground-grappling beginners as well.
One thing that Rener and Ryron Gracie do very well is teach versions of fundamental techniques that beginners can quickly pick up and apply effectively. Sometimes I personally adopt different variations of those techniques which work better at the higher levels - but I find that newer students can't pick those up as well.
Regarding the original question - it's a big topic. Personally I'd recommend that everybody, even if they aren't ground specialists, learn at least two different solid escapes from the bottom of the most common ground positions (mound, side mount, headlock/kesa gatame). If you actually want to be
good on the ground, it goes much, much deeper.
General thoughts...
The more you learn about controlling someone from the top of a position, the more you understand about how to escape from the bottom of that position. (Conversely, the more you know about escaping from the bottom, the better your top control should be.)
Even though there are hundreds of valid escape techniques and variations, a huge percentage of them are built off the fundamental movements of bridging and shrimping.
Don't count on being able to escape with just one move any more than you can count on hitting someone with single, isolated punches. You need to string your movements together into combinations. (That's why I recommend knowing at least two escapes from each position.)
The appropriate positioning to protect yourself from strikes when you are on the bottom is not always in congruence with the best positioning for protecting yourself from submissions. You need to practice protecting against both and have the awareness to switch back and forth as necessary.
Once you are on the bottom of a bad position, your opponent has the advantage. If you want to escape, you are going to have to work harder/smarter/more skillfully than the guy on top of you. You can use the analogy of a race. If you give someone a 50 yard head start and then you both run at the same speed for the entire race, then he is going to beat you to the finish line.
If you want to get good at escapes, you have to spend a
lot of time on the bottom trying to get away from someone who is doing their best to control you. When I roll with white belts, blue belts, and most purple belts I normally ask them to start out on top in their favorite control position (mount, side mount, whatever). That gives me plenty of practice working from bad positions.
Often the best time to escape is during transitions. A big, skilled guy who is really good at just pinning you in side control can be a nightmare to escape. If you know how to just protect yourself and chill, you can watch for your opportunity to escape when he tries transitioning to mount or going for a submission or posturing up to strike.
