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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 the top player seated on the bottom player's torso and a leg pinned on each side of the opponent's hips, the top player has unrestricted access to strikes (in MMA contexts), unrestricted reach to submissions, and a structural advantage so significant that IBJJF rules award four points for arriving in mount — the same as the back take.
Mount comes in three structural variants: low mount (hips on the opponent's hips), high mount (knees in the armpits, hips slid up), and S-mount (the high mount transitioned into an asymmetric one-leg-out position to set up the armbar). The transition from low to high mount is where most submissions are set up; the low mount controls and exhausts, the high mount finishes. Beginners frequently make the mistake of riding low mount until the opponent escapes; advanced practitioners walk the knees forward to the armpits as soon as the bottom player gives a moment of stillness.
The canonical attack from mount is the cross-collar choke, taught from week one in every Gracie syllabus and finishing matches at every level from white belt to Marcelo Garcia. The arm triangle, the armbar from S-mount, the americana, and the bow-and-arrow are the other staple attacks. Defensively the bottom player relies on the bridge-and-roll escape, the elbow-knee escape, and the framing system, all of which depend on disrupting the top player's base before any escape becomes available. Roger Gracie's mounted submissions across his career are the modern reference point for what the position can produce when properly executed.
KEY PRINCIPLES
- 01Walk the knees toward the armpits to transition from low mount to high mount before attacking submissions.
- 02Maintain a wide base with the knees out and ankles hooked into the opponent's sides to defend the bridge-and-roll.
- 03Keep the hands either gripping collar or posted forward — never down at the bottom player's shoulders where they can be trapped.
- 04Hunt for the cross-collar grip first, then the cross-face, then the submission.
- 05Transition to S-mount when the bottom player gives up an arm to defend the choke.
COMMON ATTACKS
- →Cross-collar choke
- →Armbar from S-mount
- →Americana keylock
- →Bow-and-arrow choke after taking the back
- →Arm triangle from high mount
- →Ezekiel choke from the gi
COMMON DEFENSES
- →Frame with the elbows against the top player's hips to prevent the high mount.
- →Bridge-and-roll when the top player's weight commits to one side.
- →Elbow-knee escape: shrimp the hips out as the elbow connects to the knee.
- →Hand-fight aggressively to prevent the cross-collar grip from establishing.
- →Never let both arms cross the chest at once — that is the position of the armbar.
NOTABLE PRACTITIONERS
Roger Gracie · Marcelo Garcia · Royce Gracie · Buchecha