Friction

One of the main aspects of ground fighting is increasing or decreasing friction in your favor. If you’re on top, you probably want to increase the friction your opposition feels as they move against the ground. Conversely if you’re on the bottom, you usually want to decrease the friction you are working against. All of this comes down to how much of the bottom player’s body is attached to the mat. The more surface area touching the mat the more difficult movement becomes. If you are the bottom player and you’d like to move, you must limit your connection to the mat and therefore limit how much your opponent can use friction against you.