To drill the north south spin escape, start on your back with your feet up on a wall. Rock your hips into the air, cross your legs in space, and turn your body underneath until you recover guard. That's the whole movement pattern — and the wall is how you learn it without a partner fighting you.
Here's why the wall drill matters. The spin escape is all about coordination. Butt in the air, legs turning in space, one knee crossing underneath his body while the other rides up near his head. If you try to learn that with a 200-pound training partner smashing you, you'll never feel the timing. On the wall, you can isolate it.
Put your feet flat on the wall. Rock back. Turn one direction so you get that little cross-leg shape. Then back. Then the other way. It doesn't matter which side — you're just grooving the coordination.
Then bring in a partner.
Same bump. Same hip raise. This time one leg threads under his body, the other leg comes up high near his head. You rock, you turn, and suddenly you're looking at him from closed guard. Sometimes his arm even gets trapped on the way through. Bonus.
One big tip from Scott. All of these north south escapes are ten times easier to hit BEFORE he settles the pin. If your partner is still passing your guard and circling toward north south, start the escape early. Don't wait until he's chest-to-chest and heavy. Butts in the air, legs up, turn.
Drill it slow. Drill it on the wall first. Then drill it live.
For the full breakdown of the pin itself, check out our complete north south choke guide. And if you want Scott walking you through every escape in his system, grab the Scott Sullivan's BJJ 101 System.