The granby roll turns pressure into space

Position and problem

A passer has got around your legs and is leaning their weight into your hip, or you have turned to your knees and somebody is behind you, circling for the back. Pushing against them does nothing, because they are heavier in that direction than your arms are strong, and turning further away gives up the back. The granby roll, a shoulder roll familiar from wrestling, uses the pressure instead. You drop a shoulder to the mat and roll across your upper back, the hips swing over and round, and you come out facing them with your legs back in front. From the side it looks like a somersault, and done like one it goes wrong, because a roll over the top of the head puts the neck under the body.

Objective

Roll diagonally across the upper back so the hips come back underneath you, and arrive facing the opponent with a knee, shin or foot between you.

Core concept

The guard is recovered by moving the hips, and the granby roll moves them over the shoulders when there is no room to move them along the mat. A hip escape slides the hips away from the pressure; the granby turns them upside down and brings them back underneath you, out of the opponent's reach. The roll travels diagonally across the upper back, from the shoulder that dropped to the mat to the opposite shoulder, with the chin tucked and the head turned so it carries no weight. Pressure from the side makes it easier, since a push into your hip adds to the rotation the roll needs, and that is why it suits the moment a passer leans in. Weight driven straight down onto your back is different: there is no rotation to borrow, and rolling under it loads the shoulders and neck. Two smaller movements do part of the same job without going fully over: the half granby, which swings the legs round on the shoulders to face them, and the shoulder walk, which turns the hips under you by walking the shoulders along the mat. They recover a knee or a hook when the opponent has only just got round your legs, and the full roll covers the bigger gap. Both are started from the shoulder, not the head: once the head is posted, the roll has to pass over it and the neck ends up under the body.

Key mechanics

1. 01Tuck the chin and turn the head away from the shoulder you are rolling onto. The shoulder meets the mat first and the head stays clear, so the roll passes over the upper back rather than the neck.
2. 02Drop the shoulder close to your own knee rather than out in front. A shoulder placed far forward stretches the body long, and a long body is slow to roll and easy to flatten.
3. 03Roll diagonally across the upper back to the opposite shoulder. A straight roll along the spine leaves you facing the way you started; the diagonal is what swings the hips round to face them.
4. 04Keep the knees tucked to the chest as the hips pass over. Legs that swing wide lengthen the roll and put your feet in reach of the person you are rolling away from.
5. 05Roll when the pressure comes from the side. A push into your hip adds to the rotation, while weight driving straight down onto the back leaves nothing to borrow.
6. 06Come out with the legs between you and them before anything else. The roll only buys space, and space becomes guard once a knee, a shin or a foot arrives on their hips.
7. 07Use the shoulder walk when the gap is small. Walking the shoulders along the mat turns the hips under you without going fully over, and it costs less when the opponent is still close.

Common errors

• ×Starting the roll with the head still on the mat, so the body has to pass over the crown and the neck carries it.
• ×Rolling straight back along the spine, so the hips never swing round to face them.
• ×Letting the knees drift away from the chest, which slows the roll and hands the opponent a foot or an ankle as you pass under them.
• ×Rolling under weight that is driving straight down, so the roll stalls halfway with the shoulders loaded and the back exposed.
• ×Finishing the roll and pausing, which gives a passer time to follow round and settle before the legs return.

Safety

Training progression

1. 01Static, solo: from the knees, drop one shoulder to the mat beside the knee with the chin tucked, then stop. Check that the head is turned away and carrying no weight.
2. 02Solo rolls: roll diagonally across the upper back to the opposite shoulder and return to the knees, slowly, on both sides.
3. 03Shoulder walk, solo: lying on the back, walk the shoulders along the mat to turn the hips under you without going over.
4. 04Cooperative: partner kneels beside your hip and leans lightly into it; you roll under the lean and come out with a knee or a shin in front of them.
5. 05Constrained: partner passes at walking pace and may lean into the hip but not drive down; you may retain only with the shoulder walk or the granby.
6. 06Positional sparring with a passer beside your hips at full resistance, reset when the guard is recovered or the pass is held.
7. 07Live rounds: note which direction the pressure came from each time you rolled, and whether you came out facing them.

Related entries

• Guard retention: the hips back underneath
• Frames versus blocks
• Turtle escapes, chosen by their weight
• Wrestling up: the technical stand-up