In this video I go over a defense to the Back Step.
As you progress in grappling competition the skill of your opponents will go up. With this increase in skill there will also be an increase in the depth of their games. As a white belt and blue belt I very rarely encountered anyone that used the Back Step. It was basically all Knee Cut Pass or passes to my dominate side.
After getting my purple belt it was more common to see people switch directions mid pass. As a black belt it's almost a given that my opponents will be equally skilled at passing both to my right and my left.
The first couple hundred times that someone does the Back Step to you it may be a frustrating experience. This experience will continue to suck until you can develop a good defense, or at least have a game plan.
Sometimes the best defense is the easiest. The number one thing that I focus on is breaking my opponents posture. If you watched my previous video on how to do the backstep you will realize that I really focus on keeping my chest towards the floor. If you look at this position in reverse (from the defensive side) then you will realize that getting your opponents back angled to the floor is super important.
The easiest way to do this is by grabbing the back of the collar with your free hand. This will set up your ability to mess with your opponents base. As you pull their back towards the floor you should switch your grip with your legs and have the ability to lift. This will also angle their back towards the floor.
The next thing you need to do is make space with your hips. This is a very odd feeling "shrimp" as you will be doing it with your off leg while you're up on your shoulder. This is by far the hardest part of this technique but can be achieved through more practice.
As an insurance plan, and also to get more control for lifting, I suggest you hold on to your opponents leg. This will give you the ability to maintain the position once you have escaped the bottom.