In beginning the project of documenting my game, I thought it would make sense to start with the clearest positions first.  Getting into something like Guard work is much more complicated than say Side Control. 

Ok, so let's talk Mount.  I like to think of positions in terms of top and bottom.  I'll start with the top.

Mount top has two basic "hubs".  High and Low.

A hub in Dave's definition is a "position of control with options".  It is essentially a place you can rest and bide your time.  I would add that in a hub you should be threatening as well.  I do not mean threaten in the simplistic attacking model, but also emotionally.  You should be putting pressure, making them worry a bit.  That is a good hub IMHO.

Before we get into holding high and low mount, I wanted to get into the position.  The transition.  You don't start a match there.  Of course people jump from guard to mount, etc, but I don't.  I am pretty old and slow so I always get there from side control.  So I'll look at both of those options.

TRANSITION TO MOUNT

If you have head control...

Step 1: Shoulder Pressure

When you have head control life is good.  In fact, so good that you will have a hard time getting it on good players.  You might say that someone is good if they aren't giving you head control.  That said, sometimes you get it.  When you do, reach DEEP.  Matt Thornton showed me once to place your index finger in their armpit.  I always liked this for no gi especially, but the same idea applies.

I found it interesting that in watching Paul Schreiner teach mount transitions the other day on MMAFaestro he mentioned this exact grip attributing it to John Danaher.  It is always nice to corroborate ideas with excellent teachers.  But I digress.

So you have the deep grip.  Now slide your body back a bit, drop your shoulder, and apply pressure under their chin (Schreiner Tip!).  Once there you have a solid side control pressure on their head.

Step 2: Clear the Arms

We have all heard people talk about separating the elbows.  This makes our opponent weak.  In addition, it also makes them nervous - always a good thing.  So let's be sure we apply this to our mount transition.  From this grip, I use my knee or hip to clear the nearside arm.  A lot of people skip this step, but if you can get it, it's wonderful.  Credit where it is due, I first heard of this from Matt Thornton and then later did a private lesson with Marcio Feitosa years later on it.  Once the arm is clear you have your knee up next to, or past, their head, locking it in place.  I used to do drills just from this position when I ran my small drill club.

Now this detail is from Schreiner and I really like it.  See, I usually just clear the near arm and go.  The problem you get into is that the opponent has the off hand to defend your knee coming across their belly.  If you have trained, this has happened to you.  Here is where we see another principle: Pre-emption.  We want to eliminate the roadblocks before they show up.  So in Schreiner's mount he switches the order a bit.  He attains head control and then uses his leg side forearm to dig under the opponents far side elbow, flaring it out.  Once flared he clears the near side arm as well.  Play with both ideas.  The key point is the BOTH arms should be cleared in an ideal world.

Step 3: Knee Drive to Mount

Once the arms are cleared and you have head control, simply drive the knee across their belt line, keeping pressure on their head and upper body as you land in mount.  This type of transition is very strong, but you will find the head control tough to get.

If you do NOT have head control

Step 1:

No Head Control