Stand up grappling

[Tom Yum]

Its great to be able to defend from the side mount, straddle etc. but what about those dozen basic self-defense techniques that you learn as a whitebelt? They are stand-up techniques and work really well. I had a friend of mine headlock me really tight and I was able to throw him off balance and escape. Does anyone try to refine their standup techniques from time to time or do you just try to keep it on the ground?

[MrPoopy]

I have been working on my standup grappling. I try to workout with wrestlers whenever I can and also study Judo.

[DRLashambe]

Throws, when they are done right, can really hurt your opponent. Also, they are a great way to take your opponent away from his strongest range of combat. I have a training partner who throws wickedly powerful knees (he once fractured one of my ribs), I never give him a chance to use them anymore, prefering instead to throw him or to do a standing achilles tendon lock if I'm lucky enough to grab his foot as he's throwing that knee. There's a great site with illustrations and animations of the traditional throws: http://www.judoinfo.com/techjudo.htm. It's not going to make you into a judo expert, but it's a great resource.