POSITIONS
Position is the prerequisite for submission. Every attack chain starts in a dominant position, and every escape ends by re-establishing one.
CLOSED GUARD
Guarda Fechada
Closed guard is the foundational guard of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the position from which the entire art was historically taught. With the bottom player on thei…
HALF GUARD
Meia Guarda
Half guard is the position created when the bottom player has trapped one of the top player's legs between their own, leaving the opponent in a half-passed stat…
MOUNT
Montada
The mount is the most dominant top position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the position from which the highest concentration of submissions becomes available. With …
SIDE CONTROL
Cento por Cento
Side control, called cento por cento in Portuguese (literally one hundred percent, because of the unrestricted pressure available), is the position arrived at a…
BACK CONTROL
Pegada de Costas
Back control is the most dominant position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the highest-scoring position in every modern ruleset. With the attacker behind the opponen…
OPEN GUARD
Guarda Aberta
Open guard is the umbrella term for every bottom-position configuration in which the legs are not locked behind the opponent's back. Where closed guard relies o…
DE LA RIVA GUARD
Guarda De La Riva
De La Riva guard is the open-guard variant in which the bottom player wraps one leg around the outside of the opponent's same-side leg, hooking the foot behind …
BUTTERFLY GUARD
Guarda Borboleta
Butterfly guard is the seated open-guard position in which the bottom player hooks both feet under the inside of the opponent's thighs while sitting up onto the…
X-GUARD
X-Guard
X-guard is the open-guard variant in which the bottom player wraps both legs around one of the opponent's legs from underneath, with one foot hooked behind the …
KNEE ON BELLY
Joelho na Barriga
Knee on belly is the transitional top position in which one of the attacker's knees is planted on the opponent's torso (typically on the belt line) while the ot…
NORTH-SOUTH
Norte-Sul
North-south is the perpendicular pin in which the top player faces opposite the bottom player, with the top player's chest pressing down onto the bottom player'…
TURTLE
Tartaruga
Turtle is the defensive position in which a practitioner is on their hands and knees with the chest curled toward the floor, used as a transitional retreat when…
SPIDER GUARD
Guarda Aranha
Spider guard is the open-guard variant in which the bottom player establishes grips on both of the opponent's sleeves and places the soles of the feet on the op…
LASSO GUARD
Guarda Lasso
Lasso guard is the open-guard variant in which one of the bottom player's legs threads through and wraps around the opponent's same-side arm, with the foot poin…
SINGLE-LEG X
Single-Leg X
Single-leg X is the leg-entanglement position in which the bottom player captures one of the opponent's legs between their own in a figure-four configuration, w…
50-50 GUARD
Guarda 50-50
50-50 is the leg-entanglement position in which both players have one of each other's legs trapped in a mirrored figure-four configuration. The position is stru…
REVERSE DE LA RIVA
Reverse De La Riva
Reverse de la riva is the open-guard variant in which the bottom player wraps their leg around the inside of the opponent's same-side leg, with the hook foot be…
CRUCIFIX
Crucifixo
The crucifix is the dominant position in which the attacker has trapped one of the opponent's arms with their legs while the opponent is in turtle or face-down,…
DEEP HALF GUARD
Meia Guarda Profunda
Deep half guard is the half-guard variant in which the bottom player slides their hips deep underneath the opponent's body and hugs a single leg of the opponent…
WORM GUARD
Worm Guard
Worm guard is the gi-specific open-guard variant developed by Keenan Cornelius in the early 2010s, in which the bottom player feeds the opponent's own lapel bet…
TRUCK POSITION
Posição Truck
The truck position is the leg-entanglement configuration related to back control in which the attacker is perpendicular underneath the opponent, with both legs …
SADDLE / HONEY HOLE
Saddle / Honey Hole
The saddle is the leg-entanglement position in which the attacker's legs trap the opponent's leg in a figure-four configuration with the captured knee locked be…
RUBBER GUARD
Rubber Guard
Rubber guard is the closed-guard variant developed by Eddie Bravo in which the bottom player uses extreme hip flexibility to bring one leg high across the oppon…
INVERTED GUARD
Guarda Invertida
Inverted guard is the open-guard variant in which the bottom player operates from an inverted position — body rotated onto the shoulders and upper back with the…
93 GUARD
Guarda 93
The 93 guard is the closed half-guard variant in which the bottom player traps one of the opponent's arms inside their own legs by locking the trapped arm again…
FRONT HEADLOCK
Front Headlock
The front headlock is the transitional top position in which the attacker has the opponent's head and one arm trapped from in front, typically after sprawling o…
KESA-GATAME (SCARF HOLD)
Kesa-Gatame
Kesa-gatame is the side-control variant inherited from Kodokan judo in which the top player sits more upright relative to the bottom player, with one of the bot…
S-MOUNT
S-Mount
S-mount is the high-mount variant in which the attacker rotates to one side from conventional high mount, with one leg threaded behind the opponent's head and t…
CLINCH (STANDING)
Clinch (em Pé)
The clinch is the standing position in which both practitioners have established upper-body contact, typically with at least one underhook for each side or with…
STANDING POSITION
Posição em Pé
The standing position is the starting position of every BJJ match before any contact is made, and the position to which competitors return after each restart. T…