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…
CRAB RIDE
Crab Ride
The crab ride is the modern back-take entry position in which the attacker controls the opponent from underneath while seated, with both legs hooking around the…
TORNADO GUARD
Tornado Guard
Tornado guard is the inverted open-guard variant developed by Eduardo Telles in the late 2000s, in which the bottom player operates from a deeply inverted posit…
OCTOPUS GUARD
Guarda Polvo
Octopus guard is the multi-grip open-guard variant in which the bottom player establishes simultaneous control points on the opponent's neck, arm, and leg, crea…
MODIFIED DE LA RIVA
De La Riva Modificada
Modified De La Riva is the variation of De La Riva guard in which the bottom player adjusts the hook depth, grip configuration, or free-leg framing to optimize …
FRONT BODY LOCK
Body Lock Frontal
The front body lock is the standing control position in which the attacker has secured both arms around the opponent's hips or torso from in front, with hands c…
LOCKDOWN HALF GUARD
Lockdown (Meia Guarda)
The lockdown is the half-guard variant developed and popularized by Eddie Bravo in the early 2000s, in which the bottom player figure-fours their legs around on…
SPIDER WEB
Teia de Aranha
The spider web is the armbar control position in which the attacker is perpendicular to the opponent on the ground, with both legs across the opponent's chest a…
REVERSE MOUNT
Montada Inversa
Reverse mount is the rare control position in which the attacker is mounted on the opponent's chest but facing the opponent's feet rather than the opponent's he…
DOGFIGHT
Briga de Cachorro
The dogfight is the transitional scramble position that emerges from half-guard exchanges when both players have gripped underhooks and are battling for top pos…
MANTIS GUARD
Guarda Louva-a-Deus
The mantis guard is the standing open-guard variant in which the bottom player operates from the knees while the top player stands, with one of the top player's…
K-GUARD
K-Guard
K-guard is the modern inverted open-guard variant developed and refined primarily by the Danaher Death Squad and Lachlan Giles, named for the K-shape that the b…
WILLIAMS GUARD
Williams Guard
The Williams Guard is the rare hybrid open-guard variant developed by Pete Williams, in which the bottom player traps one of the opponent's arms inside the bott…
TRUCK POSITION
Truck (Caminhão)
The truck is the 10th Planet-system control position used as the structural entry to the twister submission and as a back-take and back-control transition tool.…
TECHNICAL MOUNT
Montada Técnica
Technical mount is the mount variation in which the attacker has one knee posted up (the foot flat on the mat) while the other knee stays down on the mat. The p…
HIGH MOUNT
High Mount (Montada Alta)
High mount is the mount variation in which the attacker climbs forward so that the attacker's chest presses against the opponent's face and shoulders, with the …
MOUNTED CRUCIFIX
Crucifixo Montado
Mounted crucifix is the rare control position in which the attacker is mounted on the opponent and has trapped one of the opponent's arms across the attacker's …
OUTSIDE ASHI-GARAMI
Ashi-Garami Externo
Outside ashi-garami is the leg-entanglement position in which the attacker's legs are entangled around one of the opponent's legs in a configuration where the a…
HALF-BUTTERFLY GUARD
Meia-Butterfly
Half-butterfly guard is the hybrid open-guard configuration in which the bottom player has one butterfly hook (foot hooked under the opponent's thigh) while the…
50/50 GUARD
Guarda 50/50
The 50/50 position is the symmetric leg-entanglement configuration in which both competitors have one of their own legs and one of the opponent's legs entangled…
TURTLE POSITION
Posição de Tartaruga
Turtle position is the defensive configuration in which the bottom player is on hands and knees with the head tucked and elbows close to the body, presenting a …
WAITER POSITION
Posição do Garçom (Waiter)
The waiter position is the open-guard configuration in which the bottom player has scooped one of the opponent's legs with both hands at the thigh, lifting it u…
SHIN-ON-SHIN GUARD
Guarda Canela-com-Canela
The shin-on-shin guard is the open-guard configuration in which the bottom player's shin is pressed against the opponent's same-side shin, creating a frame that…
OMOPLATA CONTROL POSITION
Posição de Controle da Omoplata
The omoplata control position is the configuration in which the attacker has established an omoplata-style figure-four around the opponent's shoulder but has no…
STANDING CLINCH
Clinch em Pé
The standing clinch is the canonical engagement position in stand-up grappling in which both competitors have upper-body grips established and are exchanging ha…
COMBAT BASE
Combat Base
Combat base is the canonical engaged-knee posture used by the top player when working from a kneeling position against an opponent's open guard. The position ha…
SIT-UP GUARD POSITION
Posição da Guarda Sentado
The sit-up guard position is the structural foundation of modern no-gi open-guard competition. The bottom player is seated upright (rather than supine) with the…
FRONT HEADLOCK (HIGH-ELBOW)
Front Headlock (Cotovelo Alto)
The front headlock is the canonical control position established when an attacker sprawls on an opponent's takedown attempt and captures the opponent's head and…
SHOULDER OF JUSTICE POSITION
Posição Shoulder of Justice
The shoulder of justice is the modern pressure-passing position in which the passer drives the shoulder directly into the opponent's jaw or face, denying head m…
BACK CONTROL WITH BODY TRIANGLE
Pegada de Costas com Triângulo de Corpo
The back control with body triangle is the variation of back control in which the attacker establishes a figure-four leg configuration around the opponent's bod…
STANDING SIDE CONTROL
Cento por Cento em Pé
Standing side control is the unusual top-control position in which the attacker has established side-control geometry over a downed opponent while the attacker …
INVERTED GUARD
Guarda Invertida
Inverted guard is the general category of open-guard configurations in which the bottom player is inverted (shoulders pressed against the mat, hips elevated, bo…
BUTTERFLY HALF POSITION
Posição Butterfly Half
Butterfly half is the hybrid bottom-game configuration combining butterfly hook on one side with half-guard leg trap on the other side. The position is one of t…
MOUNTED BACK CONTROL
Pegada de Costas Montada
Mounted back control is the variation of back control in which the attacker is positioned on top of an opponent face-down on the mat, with the attacker's hooks …
SIDE CONTROL TO KNEE ON BELLY TRANSITION
Transição Cento por Cento para Joelho na Barriga
The side control to knee on belly (KoB) transition is the canonical positional progression that converts side-control structural control to the knee-on-belly co…
KNEE ON BELLY POSITION
Posição do Joelho na Barriga
Knee on belly (KoB) is the canonical top-control position in which the attacker has one knee pressing down on the opponent's belly while the other leg is posted…
TURTLE TOP POSITION
Tartaruga de Cima
Turtle top is the top-control position in which the attacker is above an opponent in turtle defense, with the attacker positioned to attack submissions or trans…