KISS OF THE DRAGON

The kiss of the dragon is the inverted back-take sweep from De La Riva guard in which the bottom player inverts under the opponent's legs and rotates to take the back. The technique is one of the most distinctive modern lightweight back-take entries and was made famous by the Miyao brothers and Rafael Mendes through their IBJJF Mundial dominance of the early 2010s. The 'kiss of the dragon' name comes from the inverted rotation that places the bottom player's head briefly near the opponent's feet — the symbolic 'kiss.'

The mechanics begin from De La Riva guard with the bottom player's hook established behind the opponent's same-side leg. The bottom player inverts (rolls onto the shoulders) while rotating the body 180 degrees, simultaneously pulling the opponent's same-side leg with the hand grip. The inverted rotation places the bottom player behind the opponent and beneath the opponent's legs. The bottom player then comes up to take the back with the inverted entry providing the angle that conventional back-takes don't access. The technique chains with the berimbolo — both techniques use similar inversion mechanics but resolve to different finishing positions.

The kiss of the dragon was refined as a competitive specialty by the Miyao brothers and Rafael Mendes through the early 2010s, and has subsequently been used by virtually every modern lightweight specialist. Notable practitioners include the Miyao brothers, Rafael Mendes, Diogo Reis, and various modern lightweight Atos and Alliance competitors. Defensively the kiss of the dragon is countered by sprawling the De La Riva-hooked leg back before the inversion initiates, by hand-fighting the bottom player's leg grip before the rotation, or by attacking the bottom player's exposed back during the inversion window.