BJJ Positions: The Complete Guide to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Positions

Quick answer: the basic BJJ positions are the guard (closed, open and half guard), side control, north-south, knee on belly, mount, back control and turtle. From the top, back control and mount are the most dominant, followed by knee on belly and side control. From the bottom, guard is where you can still attack, while being mounted or having your back taken is where you most need an escape. Under IBJJF scoring, knee on belly earns 2 points, passing the guard 3, and mount or back control 4.

Walk into your first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class and it can feel as if there are thousands of techniques to learn. There are, but almost all of them happen inside a small number of positions. Learn what each position is, who has the advantage, what you're trying to do from the top and from the bottom, and the rest of jiu-jitsu starts to make sense. This guide walks through every core position, the movements that connect them and the first submissions to learn, and finishes with a simple plan for practising them.

Contents

• Why the basics matter so much
• BJJ positions at a glance
• The positional hierarchy
• Guard positions
• Top control positions
• Turtle
• Standing and leg entanglements
• Essential movements
• Six submissions to learn first
• How to practise positions
• BJJ positions FAQ

Why the basics matter so much

Jiu-jitsu never really ends. The better you get at a position, the more options you notice inside it. But every one of those options depends on knowing where you are and what should happen next. A roll is a stream of small opportunities: your partner overcommits, leaves an arm behind or turns away for half a second. If you know the position well, you take the chance. If you don't, the moment passes and you end up somewhere you were trying to avoid.

Knowing the basics also lets you work out why things go wrong. When a position slips away, ask yourself:

• Did I not recognise it? Then you need more drilling and more time exploring how partners react from that position.
• Did I know it but couldn't hold it? Then work on the details of pressure and base, and on your general strength and conditioning.
• Did I know it and could hold it, but hesitated? Then the issue is confidence, which comes from repetition and from rolling with a wide range of partners.

You can only answer those questions honestly once the fundamentals are solid. Many coaches suggest that new students spend their first year or so concentrating on positions, escapes and a handful of high-percentage submissions before chasing the flashier techniques they see online.

BJJ positions at a glance

Position	Who has the advantage	IBJJF points	Top player's goal	Bottom player's goal
Closed guard	Fairly even; bottom player can attack	None for holding it	Posture up, open the legs and pass	Break posture, sweep or submit
Open guard	Fairly even; depends on grips and distance	None for holding it	Control the legs and pass	Keep distance, off-balance, sweep
Half guard	Slightly favours top, but bottom has many sweeps	None for holding it	Free the trapped leg and pass	Get an underhook or knee shield and sweep
Side control	Top	3 for passing to it	Hold, then move to mount, knee on belly or submit	Frame, recover guard or come up to the knees
North-south	Top	3 for passing to it	Hold, attack the arms or neck	Turn to face, recover guard
Knee on belly	Top	2	Force a reaction, then mount or submit	Push the knee off, recover guard
Mount	Top (very strongly)	4	Climb high, attack arms and neck	Defend, bridge and escape to guard
Back control	Back player (very strongly)	4	Keep the hooks, finish a choke	Protect the neck, escape the hooks
Turtle	Top	None for holding it	Take the back or break the turtle down	Recover guard, stand up or wrestle up

Points in the table follow IBJJF rules, where each position must be held for three seconds to score and a sweep or takedown earns 2. Our full guide to BJJ points explains the details. Other organisations score differently, so check your competition's rules.

The positional hierarchy

Positions in BJJ are not equal. The idea of a positional hierarchy, popularised for many students by Renzo Gracie and John Danaher's book Mastering Jujitsu, ranks positions by how much control and how many attacking options they give you, compared with the risk you're taking. A simple version looks like this:

1. Back control: the strongest attacking position. Your partner can't see what's coming and can't easily strike or attack you back.
2. Mount: heavy control, with gravity on your side and both of your partner's arms and their neck in front of you.
3. Knee on belly, side control and north-south: you've passed the legs and are pinning your partner, with clear routes to mount, the back and submissions.
4. Guard (top and bottom): roughly neutral. The top player wants to pass; the bottom player wants to sweep or submit.
5. Bottom of turtle, side control, north-south and knee on belly: you're defending and need to recover guard or get up.
6. Bottom of mount and having your back taken: the most dangerous places to be.

The hierarchy gives you a road map. On top, work your way up the list: pass, pin, then mount or take the back, and only then go for the finish. On the bottom, work your way back to guard or to your feet before you think about attacking. "Position before submission" is one of the oldest principles in the sport for good reason.

Guard positions

The guard is any position where you're on your back or seated with your legs between you and your partner. It's what most sets BJJ apart from other grappling sports. In wrestling and judo, being on your back is usually a losing position. In jiu-jitsu, a good guard lets you neutralise someone on top of you, sweep them or submit them. Royce Gracie showed this to the world at the first UFC events in 1993, beating bigger opponents while working from his back.

That doesn't mean being on the bottom is comfortable. A guard only works if you keep your legs and frames between you and your partner, and a strong passer will spend the whole roll trying to get past them.

Closed guard

In closed guard you wrap your legs around your partner's waist and cross your ankles behind their back. It's usually the first guard taught, because as long as your legs stay locked your partner can't pass. From the bottom, the aim is to break your partner's posture by pulling them forward with your legs and grips, then attack with sweeps such as the scissor or hip bump sweep, or submissions such as the armbar, triangle, kimura and, in the gi, collar chokes. From the top, the job is to keep a strong, upright posture, control the hips or arms, and open the legs before you try to pass.

Open guard

Open guard covers any guard where your ankles aren't locked. It gives you far more options for sweeps and entries, but it demands more skill, because there's nothing holding your partner in place. Instead you control distance and angle with your feet, shins, knees and grips. Common open guards include:

• Butterfly guard: seated, with your feet hooked inside your partner's thighs. A staple in both gi and no-gi for elevating sweeps.
• De La Riva guard: one leg hooked around the outside of your partner's lead leg, usually paired with an ankle and sleeve or collar grip.
• Spider and lasso guards: gi guards that use sleeve grips with your feet on the biceps (spider) or a leg wrapped around the arm (lasso) to control posture.
• Collar-and-sleeve guard: a gi guard combining a collar grip with a foot on the hip or biceps, popular for sweeps and triangles.
• X-guard and single-leg X: guards where you get underneath your partner and entangle one of their legs, ideal for off-balancing and, in some rule sets, leg-lock entries.

You don't need all of these at once. Pick one open guard that suits your body type and your academy's style, and learn to keep it before you add another.

Half guard

In half guard you trap one of your partner's legs between yours. It sits between full guard and being passed: the top player has got halfway past your legs, but you still have a way back. Half guard has a reputation as a "last line of defence", but played well it's an excellent sweeping position. The key details are getting on your side, stopping your partner from flattening you, and winning an underhook. Popular variations include the knee shield (or Z-guard), where your top knee blocks your partner's chest to keep distance, and deep half guard, where you dive underneath your partner's hips to sweep.

From the top, half guard is a passing position. Flatten your partner, win the underhook battle and free your trapped leg to reach side control or mount.

Top control positions

Side control

Side control, also called side mount, is a pin in which you lie chest to chest across your partner, perpendicular to their body, after getting past their legs. Under IBJJF rules, passing the guard and holding side control for three seconds scores 3 points. It's the position most guard passes aim for, because it shuts down the guard player's attacks and opens routes to mount, knee on belly, the back and submissions such as the americana and kimura.

Passing and holding side control are separate skills. Plenty of people pass well but can't keep the position, and others pin well but struggle to pass, so drill both. Common variations include:

• Standard side control: chest to chest, with your arms controlling the head and near hip.
• Kesa gatame (scarf hold): you sit beside your partner facing their head, wrapping the head and trapping the near arm. A judo classic with heavy shoulder pressure.
• Reverse kesa: the same idea facing your partner's legs, often used as a transition during passes.
• Modified or "100 kilos" side control: low, heavy versions that emphasise hip pressure and controlling the far arm.

From the bottom, get your frames in early: forearm on the neck or shoulder, other hand on the hip. Then bridge and hip escape to put your knee back in front and recover guard, or come up to your knees.

North-south

North-south is a pin where you're chest to chest with your partner but facing the opposite direction, your head towards their hips. It's often reached by walking around from side control, and under IBJJF rules it counts as a completed guard pass. It's a heavy, hard-to-read position with good attacks, including the north-south choke and kimura. From the bottom, turn towards your partner, keep your elbows tight and recover guard as they transition.

Knee on belly

In knee on belly you place one knee or shin across your partner's torso, keep your other leg posted wide for balance and stay up on your toes. Held for three seconds, it scores 2 points under IBJJF rules. It's both a pin and a pressure tool: it's quick to reach in the middle of a pass and very uncomfortable to be under, so it tends to force a reaction. When your partner pushes on your knee to relieve the pressure, their arms extend and open up attacks such as the armbar, or a transition to mount. If someone has curled up tightly in side control and you can't find an opening, switching to knee on belly is a good way to make them move.

From the bottom, don't panic and push straight up. Turn your hips, frame against the knee or hip, and shrimp away to recover guard.

Mount

In mount you sit astride your partner's torso, facing their head, with your knees on the mat. It scores 4 points under IBJJF rules and is widely seen as one of the two most dominant positions in jiu-jitsu. It's like holding someone in closed guard, except gravity is now working for you and their arms and neck are directly in front of you. Variations include:

• Low mount: knees tight to the hips and hooks under the legs, for stability while your partner is fighting hardest.
• High mount: knees up near the armpits, which pins the arms and opens up armbars and chokes.
• S-mount: one knee up by the head and the other foot by the hip, a classic setup for the armbar.
• Technical mount: a half-turned mount when your partner rolls to their side, which links mount to back control.

From the bottom, the priority is protecting your neck and keeping your elbows tight to your body. The two foundational escapes are the bridge and roll (trap an arm and leg on one side, then bridge over that shoulder) and the elbow-knee escape (frame, shrimp and slide your knee inside to recover half or full guard). There are effective escapes from mount, but it's never a place you want to stay.

Back control

In back control, also called rear mount, you're behind your partner with your chest on their back and your legs hooked inside their thighs. Under IBJJF rules, holding the back with both hooks in for three seconds scores 4 points; check your competition's rules on how other leg positions, such as a body triangle, are treated. Back control is generally considered the strongest attacking position in BJJ. Your partner can't see your hands, has little ability to attack you, and must defend the rear naked choke, bow-and-arrow choke (in the gi) and arm attacks at the same time.

The key upper-body grip is the seatbelt: one arm over the shoulder and one under the armpit, hands clasped across the chest. You can reach the back from almost anywhere, including turtle, mount, guard, scrambles and standing exchanges, so learning a few reliable back takes pays off quickly.

From the bottom, protect your neck with both hands, keep your chin down, and work to get your shoulders to the mat on the side of your partner's underneath arm, then clear the hooks and turn in.

Turtle

In turtle you're on your knees and elbows, tucked into a ball with your chin down and elbows tight to your knees. Usually your partner is on top or behind you. Turtle is mainly a defensive position, often used when someone is passing your guard but hasn't yet settled into side control.

Why turn to turtle? First, it can stop your partner from completing the pass and scoring 3 points, which can decide a close match. Second, it gives you a chance to recover guard or stand back up. Third, if your partner is in front of you, you can sometimes wrestle up and take them down.

The risk is your back. A partner who gets a hook or seatbelt grip from turtle can quickly take back control, so turtle needs good timing and a plan to leave it fast: rolling back to guard, sitting out, standing up or wrestling for a single leg. From the top, the aim is to break the turtle down flat or work your hooks in for the back, while watching out for rolls and leg entanglements.

Standing and leg entanglements

Two more situations round out the basic map. Every match starts on the feet, so even if you prefer to sit to guard, you need some way of getting the fight to the ground safely. Our guide to BJJ takedowns and throws covers simple options from wrestling and judo. Modern BJJ, especially no-gi, also spends a lot of time in leg entanglements such as ashi garami and 50/50, where both athletes' legs are tangled and leg locks are the main threat. These are worth learning once you have the basics, under a coach, and with an eye on what your competition allows at your belt. Our guide to gi vs no-gi BJJ explains how the rules differ.

Essential movements

Positions are the destinations; movements are how you get between them. These are the ones to drill from day one.

Bridging

A bridge is a strong lift of the hips off the mat while your weight stays on your shoulders and feet. It creates space and stops you from being pinned flat. You have much more strength and mobility when you're turned on your side than when you're flat on your back, so the bridge is often the first step in escaping side control and mount. Bridge, then use the moment of space to set a frame and move your hips. Most mount escapes start with a well-timed bridge.

Shrimping (hip escape)

Shrimping means turning onto your side and driving your hips away from your partner, creating space to bring your knee or legs back between you. It's one of the first movements you'll learn and the backbone of guard retention. Flexibility helps, but good frames and hip movement matter more; plenty of stiff grapplers have very hard guards to pass because they move their hips well. Drill it as a solo warm-up and keep doing it long after you think you've mastered it.

Frames

A frame is a rigid structure, usually your forearm, hand or shin, placed against your partner to stop them closing distance. Frames don't push; they block. Combined with bridging and shrimping, they let you rebuild your guard without wasting energy.

Technical stand-up

The technical stand-up is a safe way to get from sitting to standing while keeping a hand and foot posted, so you can't easily be pushed back down or struck. It's useful in open guard, in self-defence and whenever you want to reset to the feet.

Escapes

An escape is any technique or sequence that gets you out of a bad position or a submission. Some students put them off because they'd rather build attacks, but even great attackers end up in trouble. Picture leading a final comfortably with seconds left when your opponent catches a flying triangle. If you've never trained your defence, that lead means nothing. Spending time in bad positions in training is how you learn to stay calm and get out when it counts.

Sweeps

A sweep reverses the position, taking you from the bottom to the top. Under IBJJF rules a sweep scores 2 points when it starts from guard or half guard. The secret to most sweeps is off-balancing: break your partner's base first and the sweep needs far less strength. Sweeps exist from every guard, including closed, half, butterfly, spider and lasso. Mastering sweeps takes time, because different body types suit different sweeps, so experiment and listen to your coach.

Guard passing

Passing means getting past your partner's legs to a pin such as side control or north-south, which scores 3 points under IBJJF rules. Every guard presents a different problem, so you need a strong base, an eye out for sweeps and submissions, and more than one style of pass:

• Speed passing: quick, angle-changing passes such as the toreando that get you around the legs before your partner can react.
• Pressure passing: heavy, slow passes such as knee slices and over-unders that pin the hips and make your partner carry your weight.
• Combining both: switching between speed and pressure keeps your partner guessing. If you only ever pass one way, good guard players will read it.

Transitions

A transition is a move from one position or submission to the next, and it's what people mean when they talk about "flow". Positions are only useful if you can link them. If an armbar fails, can you switch to a triangle, then an omoplata? If your partner shuts down your closed guard, can you open up and move to another guard? Black belts can look effortless because they've spent years learning the shortest routes between positions. Chain your attacks and keep moving so your partner is always reacting.

Six submissions to learn first

A submission ends the match outright, and it's the reason positions matter. Even when you don't finish, hunting for submissions keeps your partner defending and creates openings to improve your position. These six are taught almost everywhere because they work from the basic positions and in both gi and no-gi:

• Triangle choke: you trap your partner's head and one arm inside your legs. A classic from closed guard that can also be reached from mount and the back.
• Armbar: an elbow lock that straightens your partner's arm against your hips. It links naturally with the triangle; if one fails, switch to the other, which is what makes the armbar such a reliable tool.
• Kimura: a shoulder lock using a figure-four grip on the wrist. It takes its name from judoka Masahiko Kimura, who beat Helio Gracie with it in 1951, and it's also a great tool for sweeps and controlling the arm.
• Americana: a shoulder lock usually applied from side control or mount. It's simple and low-risk, because if it fails you usually keep your position.
• Guillotine: a front choke that wraps the neck whenever your partner's head drops forward. Particularly common in no-gi and during takedowns and scrambles.
• Rear naked choke: the signature finish from back control, sometimes called mata leão ("lion killer" in Portuguese). Slide one arm under the chin, connect your grip and squeeze.

Always apply submissions slowly and with control in training, and tap early when you're caught. Our guide to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu submissions covers the full range of chokes, arm locks and leg locks by position, and our glossary of BJJ terms every grappler should know explains the jargon you'll hear in class.

How to practise positions

• Start with escapes. Spend time on the bottom of side control, mount and back control. Survival and escapes make every roll safer and less stressful.
• Use positional sparring. Start in one position, such as half guard bottom against half guard top, and reset when someone sweeps, passes or escapes. It packs far more practice of that position into a round than free rolling does.
• Build one connected game. Pick one guard, one pass, one pin and two submissions you can chain together, and get them working against resisting partners before adding more.
• Learn to hold, not just reach. Practise staying in side control, mount and back control as your partner tries to escape. Holding a position is a skill of its own.
• Train both gi and no-gi if you can. Each exposes different weaknesses in your positions.
• Be patient. Berimbolos, flying attacks and other highlight-reel techniques are built on these fundamentals. Spend your first year or so getting the basics right and the advanced material will make far more sense when you get there.

Every new grappler on the path from white belt upwards learns these same positions; our guide to BJJ belt progression shows what's expected at each rank. Over time, you'll naturally integrate advanced techniques into your game. If you're kitting out a team, see our custom academy uniforms.

BJJ positions FAQ

What are the basic positions in BJJ?

The basic BJJ positions are the guard, which includes closed guard, open guard and half guard, plus side control, north-south, knee on belly, mount, back control and turtle. Almost every technique in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu starts from, or leads to, one of these positions.

What is the most dominant position in BJJ?

Back control is generally considered the most dominant position, closely followed by mount. From the back your partner cannot see your attacks and has very little offence, while mount uses gravity and leaves the arms and neck exposed. Both score 4 points under IBJJF rules.

How many points are BJJ positions worth?

Under IBJJF rules, knee on belly scores 2 points, passing the guard to side control or north-south scores 3, and mount or back control scores 4. Takedowns and sweeps score 2. Each position must be held for three seconds. Other organisations score differently, so check your competition's rules.

What is the difference between closed guard and open guard?

In closed guard your legs are wrapped around your partner's waist with your ankles crossed, which stops them passing while you attack. In open guard your ankles are not locked, and you control your partner with your feet, shins and grips instead. Open guard offers more sweeps and entries but takes more skill to keep.

Is turtle a good position in BJJ?

Turtle is a useful short-term defensive position, for example to stop a guard pass from being completed, but it is risky to stay in because your partner can take your back. Use it as a bridge to something better: recovering guard, standing up or wrestling for a takedown.

Which BJJ position should beginners learn first?

Most academies start with closed guard, because it teaches posture, control and basic attacks from the bottom. Beginners should also learn early how to survive and escape side control and mount, since that is where new students spend a lot of their time when rolling.