New York Pass to Side Control

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The New York Pass to Side Control is a systematic guard passing technique for escaping 10th Planet’s Rubber Guard system. When trapped in the New York position with your arm caught in a deep overhook and your posture broken by the opponent’s shin across your back, this pass provides a methodical pathway to achieve dominant side control through sequential posture recovery, grip fighting, and pressure application. The pass prioritizes patient, step-by-step dismantling of the rubber guard controls over explosive escape attempts that typically fail against competent guard players.

The fundamental mechanics involve first establishing a wide, stable base to resist sweeps, then systematically attacking the opponent’s shin grip to create the opening for posture recovery. Once posture is partially recovered, the trapped arm is extracted through a corkscrew motion while maintaining constant forward pressure to prevent re-establishment of control. The final phase drives the knee through the centerline and consolidates side control with crossface pressure before the bottom player can recover guard or transition to alternative rubber guard positions.

Strategically, this pass is most effective when the bottom player has committed to static New York control rather than actively transitioning to more advanced positions like Invisible Collar or Zombie. The pass exploits moments when the bottom player’s shin grip weakens or when they initiate offensive transitions that momentarily compromise their structural control. The 55% success rate reflects the technical difficulty of escaping an established rubber guard but increases substantially when the passer maintains methodical execution and avoids the common error of rushing the arm extraction before securing adequate posture.

From Position: New York (Top) Success Rate: 55%

Possible Outcomes

Result	Position	Probability
Success	Side Control	55%
Failure	New York	30%
Counter	Half Guard	15%

Attacker vs Defender

	Attacker	Defender
Focus	Execute technique	Prevent or counter
Key Principles	Base before posture, posture before extraction—the sequentia…	Maintain the shin grip as your primary control mechanism—wit…
Options	7 execution steps	4 defensive options

Playing as Attacker

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Key Principles

• Base before posture, posture before extraction—the sequential order is non-negotiable and skipping steps guarantees failure

• Grip fight the shin-controlling hand as the primary unlock for the entire passing sequence

• Corkscrew the trapped elbow downward and toward your hip rather than pulling straight back against the overhook

• Maintain constant forward pressure throughout the pass to prevent re-establishment of broken controls

• Drive the knee through the centerline immediately after arm extraction before the bottom player can recover guard

• Monitor submission threats continuously since the majority of rubber guard submissions occur during escape attempts

• Use your free hand as both a grip fighting tool and a frame against the hip to control distance

Execution Steps

• Establish wide base: Spread your knees apart as wide as possible to create a stable triangular base that resists sweep at…

• Grip fight the shin control: Use your free hand to attack the opponent’s grip on their own shin near the ankle. Peel their finger…

• Recover posture incrementally: As the shin grip weakens or breaks, begin recovering your posture by engaging your posterior chain a…

• Extract trapped arm via corkscrew motion: With partial posture recovered, begin extracting your trapped arm by circling your elbow downward to…

• Drive knee through centerline: The instant your arm comes free, immediately drive your knee through the centerline between the oppo…

• Establish crossface and consolidate side control: As your knee clears, immediately establish crossface pressure with your forearm or bicep across the …

• Prevent guard recovery attempts: In the first five seconds of side control establishment, the bottom player will make their most desp…

Common Mistakes

• Attempting to extract the trapped arm before recovering posture and establishing base

  • Consequence: Bottom player easily sweeps with hip bump since your base is compromised, or advances to triangle submission as your arm comes partially free in a vulnerable position
  • Correction: Follow strict sequence: base first, grip fight shin second, recover posture third, then extract arm. Never skip steps regardless of how close freedom seems.

• Pulling backward to create distance while the overhook and shin control remain intact

  • Consequence: Bottom player uses your backward momentum to sweep forward or follow your movement to maintain control, often advancing to more dominant rubber guard positions
  • Correction: Drive forward and down rather than backward. Address each control point through grip fighting and leverage at close range rather than trying to create distance.

• Maintaining narrow base with knees together during the escape attempt

  • Consequence: Bottom player easily off-balances with minimal hip movement, resulting in sweeps to mount or back take transitions
  • Correction: Spread knees as wide as possible to create stable triangular base. Your base width directly determines your resistance to sweeps during every phase of the pass.

Playing as Defender

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Key Principles

• Maintain the shin grip as your primary control mechanism—without it, the top player can recover posture and the position collapses

• Deepen the overhook whenever you feel the arm beginning to rotate or extract by driving your shoulder tighter against their armpit

• Convert every escape attempt into an offensive opportunity—their movement creates openings for transitions and submissions

• Keep your hips active and angled to maintain the structural advantage that makes rubber guard effective

• Use the top player’s energy expenditure against them—they fatigue faster trying to escape than you do maintaining control

• Transition to advanced positions like Invisible Collar or Zombie when the top player’s escape attempts create openings

• Never allow a static stalemate—cycle through offensive threats every 5-10 seconds to keep the top player reactive

Recognition Cues

• Top player begins spreading their knees significantly wider, establishing a broad triangular base that signals preparation for posture recovery

• Top player’s free hand moves to attack your shin grip near the ankle, indicating they are targeting the primary control mechanism

• Top player’s spine begins straightening as they engage their posterior chain to fight for posture against your shin control

• Top player drives hips forward and down while lifting chest, showing the beginning of methodical posture recovery

• Top player’s trapped elbow begins rotating downward in a corkscrew motion, signaling the arm extraction phase has begun

Defensive Options

• Re-grip and pull shin control deeper while engaging hip flexors to increase downward pressure on their back - When: As soon as you feel the top player’s free hand attacking your shin grip or their posture beginning to straighten

• Shoot leg over their shoulder for triangle setup as their arm begins extracting from the overhook - When: When the top player’s arm is partially extracted and positioned inside your guard creating the triangle angle

• Time a hip bump sweep as the top player shifts their weight backward during posture recovery - When: When you feel the top player’s weight shifting backward or upward during their posture recovery attempt

Variations

Stack Pass Variation: Instead of recovering posture upward, drive forward to stack the bottom player by walking your knees toward their head. This compresses their hips and neutralizes the flexibility advantage that makes rubber guard effective. The stacking pressure forces the shin to slide off your back naturally, eliminating the need to grip-fight the shin control before extracting your arm. (When to use: When the bottom player has exceptional hip flexibility that makes standard posture recovery ineffective, or when they actively pull you forward creating momentum you can redirect into the stack.)

Backstep Pass Variation: After extracting the trapped arm, instead of driving the knee through the centerline, backstep the free leg around the bottom player’s guard to achieve side control from the opposite side. This avoids the half guard recovery that many rubber guard players use as a last-ditch defense when the standard pass is initiated. (When to use: When the bottom player consistently recovers half guard during the knee-through phase, or when their leg dexterity makes direct passing through the centerline unreliable.)

Grip Break to Pressure Pass: Focus the entire initial sequence on breaking the opponent’s grip on their own shin using both hands simultaneously rather than grip fighting with one hand. Once the shin grip breaks, immediately drop heavy chest pressure and windshield-wiper the trapped leg free while the bottom player scrambles to re-establish control. (When to use: When the opponent’s shin grip is their primary control mechanism and their overhook is relatively shallow, making the grip break the most efficient path to freedom.)

Position Integration

The New York Pass to Side Control occupies a critical role in the defensive toolkit against 10th Planet’s Rubber Guard system. It connects the trapped New York Top position to the dominant Side Control Top position, converting a significant positional disadvantage into a scoring opportunity. This pass integrates with the broader guard passing system by teaching practitioners how to address flexible guard structures that cannot be overcome with standard pressure or speed-based passing. The skills developed in executing this pass—base establishment, grip fighting, methodical posture recovery, and pressure consolidation—transfer directly to escaping other advanced guard positions including Mission Control, Invisible Collar, and other rubber guard variants. Mastery of this pass is essential for any practitioner who regularly faces rubber guard players in competition or training.

Related Techniques

• New York - Source position where the pass begins with the passer trapped in rubber guard control

• Side Control - Target position achieved on successful completion of the pass

• Half Guard - Counter outcome position if the bottom player recovers guard during the pass

• Rubber Guard - Parent guard system containing New York and related positions

• Mission Control - Related rubber guard position that precedes New York in the system progression

• Guard Pass from New York Control - Alternative passing technique from the same trapped position

• New York Control Escape - Related escape that returns to closed guard rather than passing to side control

• Invisible Collar - Advanced rubber guard position the bottom player may transition to during pass attempt

• Combat Base - Intermediate posture position achieved during the passing sequence

• Closed Guard - Fallback position if pass stalls but posture is partially recovered