Cradle From Side Control

Brandon McCaghren emphasizes turning your palm down on your opponent's head rather than grabbing like a chin strap, then making an S-grip with your elbows trying to make them touch together.

Brandon McCaghren advises dropping your hip and covering the opponent's elbow with your body weight below the elbow to prevent them from bumping you out with the high underhook.

Sonny Brown explains that the cradle works by connecting two distant points of the body—the head and the leg—which creates a structural weakness that prevents effective posting and hip movement needed to escape.

Sonny Brown distinguishes that in a nearside cradle your chest faces your opponent's chest, while in a far side cradle your chest faces their back, with transitions between them opening up additional attacking opportunities.

The cradle neck crank from side control is applied by the top player who locks a cradle grip — connecting the hands behind the opponent's head and under one leg — from the side control position, then drives the knee toward the head to compress the opponent into a ball and crank the cervical spine through forced flexion. The cradle locks the opponent's upper and lower body together, eliminating hip escape and bridging defense.

The cradle is one of wrestling's most fundamental pinning combinations, used extensively in American folkstyle wrestling. The transition from a cradle pin to a cradle neck crank in submission grappling occurred naturally as wrestlers brought their pinning techniques into BJJ and MMA.

IBJJF: разрешён — Legal at all belt levels, gi and no-gi — chokes are the safest submission cat…; IJF: разрешён — Legal (shime-waza) — strangulation techniques are one of three permitted subm…; ADCC: разрешён — Legal; Unified MMA: разрешён — Legal — choke submissions are among the most common finishes in MMA; FIAS Sport Sambo: запрещён — All chokes prohibited in Sport Sambo; FIAS Combat Sambo: разрешён — Legal

Оценка опасности 8/10. Flexion cranks force the chin toward the chest; compresses anterior cervical structures

Стандартная цепочка подготовки: Establish Position → Create the Threat → Secure the Hold → Finish.

Стандартные контрприёмы: Early Recognition — identify the submission attempt early and begin defence immediately / Posture and Base — maintain strong posture and base to prevent submission setups / Grip Fight — deny the attacker their preferred gripping configuration.

Распространённые варианты: Standard grip variation (primary hand configuration for maximum choking pressure); Gi variation (uses the lapel or collar as an anchor for additional fric…); No-gi variation (adapted grip and positioning for submission grappling wit…); Transition finish (applied during a positional change to catch the opponent …).

Common in wrestling-based MMA and submission grappling; Ben Askren and other folkstyle wrestlers have demonstrated the cradle's effectiveness in MMA competition

Основные ошибки, на которые стоит обратить внимание: Not connecting the hands — the cradle requires the hands to meet; if the head and knee are too far apart, adjust posi… / Reaching for the knee without maintaining head control — the crossface must stay tight while the other hand reaches f… / Releasing side control pressure during the reach — maintain chest-to-chest pressure while connecting the hands / Not squeezing after connecting — the hand connection creates the position; active squeezing creates the crank.

Cradle From Side Control также известен как Kureidoru, Side Control Cradle Crank, Near-Side Cradle.