Basic BJJ Positions: A Beginner’s Guide

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can be overwhelming to beginners, especially when you are thrown into a situation where you are sitting on top of (or lying underneath) your training partner and have no idea what your objective is.

In this article, I want to help beginning Jiu Jitsu students understand the primary positions in Jiu Jitsu and to know what your goal should be in each position.

Positional Hierarchy in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

In BJJ, there’s a simple principle that guides everything: “Get on top and stay on top.” With that in mind, you can infer that any position involving you being on top of your opponent is better than a position where you’re underneath your opponent. When you’re on top of a person, you can more easily control them, and, in a self-defense scenario, you have more ability to protect yourself. Conversely, if you’re on the bottom, you’re more vulnerable to attack.

Following that principle, you can evaluate each position in Jiu Jitsu as being better or worse than another position based on how well you can control your opponent from the position. In competitive Jiu Jitsu, advancing from an inferior position to a more dominant position is one way to score points. Using Jiu Jitsu as self-defense, this is how you can protect yourself and eventually escape.

The positional hierarchy in Jiu Jitsu from most dominant to most vulnerable goes like this:

  1. Back Control (Most Dominant)
  2. Mount
  3. Side Control (including Top Turtle and North South)
  4. Guard Position
  5. Half Guard
  6. Bottom Turtle
  7. Bottom Side Control
  8. Bottom Mount
  9. Back Taken (Most Vulnerable)

In this article, we’ll examine each of those positions and I’ll give you some tips for what your goal should be in each position.

The Mount Position

Mount is one of the most dominant positions in BJJ. This is when you’re sitting on top of your opponent’s torso while they’re lying on their back. From this position, you can prevent someone from standing up and getting away, or, if needed, you can apply a choke or joint lock.

Variations of Mount

Low Mount

What it is: Laying flat and heavy on top of your opponent, with hooks in.

Low mount - Jiu Jitsu position

What to do here:

  • Apply pressure by driving down through your hips.
  • Use your hooks to keep from being bridged off.
  • The Ezekiel choke is available here.

High Mount

What it is: Sitting high on opponent’s chest, using your legs to pin their arms above their head

High mount - Jiu Jitsu position

What to do here:

  • Keep your knees pinched to prevent them from getting their arms back
  • Be ready to transition to technical mount when they try to buck you off
  • This is a great position for setting up an armbar

Technical Mount

What it is: One knee up near their armpit, other leg posted next to their hip

Technical Mount - Position in Jiu Jitsu

What to do here:

  • Stay tight to avoid allowing space for your opponent to escape.
  • Use your back knee to control the back of their shoulder, and your front heel to control their hip.
  • From here, you can set up an armbar or take their back.
Your primary goal from mount: Keep them flat on their back while maintaining your balance and controlling their arms.

Tips for When You’re On the Bottom of Mount

Being mounted is tough, but there are specific things you can do to improve your situation:

  • Keep your elbows tight to your body to protect from submissions
  • Don’t push directly on their hips (this makes you vulnerable to armlocks)
  • Bridge and shrimp together, not separately
  • Keep your chin tucked to protect your neck
  • Try to get on your side rather than staying flat
  • Trap one of their legs before attempting to escape
  • Focus on survival first, escape second
Your primary goal when mounted: Escape by bridging your opponent off to one side or by getting to your side and creating space to recover guard.

Side Mount

Side mount (also called side control) is another dominant position where you’re on top of your opponent perpendicular to their body, controlling them from the side.

Variations of Side Mount

Standard Head & Arm Control

What it is: Basic side control position with your arm under their head and your other arm across their body

Head and arm side control

What to do here:

  • Keep your chest heavy on their chest
  • Stay on your toes to maintain mobility
  • Keep your hips low

“Reverse Cross Face” / “Hip Block Side Control” (“Steve’s Side Control”)

My instructor Steve Haydock teaches a position for maintaining side control that John Danaher refers to as “Reverse Cross Face”. (At my gym, we usually call it “Steve’s Side Control.”) In this position, your legs are sprawled out wide to help you drive into your opponent’s chest, maintaining heavy chest pressure. Your arm on the side of your opponent’s head is across their body attacking their far arm, and your other arm is under their hip to prevent the re-guard.

Steve's Side Control aka Hip Block Side Control aka Reverse Cross Face

In this position:

  • Keep your head close to your opponent’s hips to avoid being bridged off.
  • Be ready to switch your hips to transition to reverse scarf hold / reverse kesagatame.

Kesagatame (Scarf Hold)

What it is: Head and arm control while facing their head

Kesagatame aka Scarf Hold

What to do here:

  • Keep tight control of the arm
  • Use your hip pressure
  • Watch out for far side attacks
  • Good for maintaining control but fewer submission options

Knee on Belly

What it is: Knee pressure on opponent’s belly/chest

Knee on belly

What to do here:

  • Stay light on your feet
  • Keep your base wide
  • Be ready to transition
  • Great position for attacks and transitions
Your primary goal from side control: Keep constant pressure on their chest while preventing them from turning into you. Look for an opportunity to submit from this position, or take the mount position.

Tips for When You’re On the Bottom of Side Control

This is one of the most challenging positions for beginners. Rather than trying to escape immediately, focus first on not making the position worse.

  • Create strong frames with your arms
  • Get on your side, turned towards your opponent, to avoid being flattened
  • Look for opportunities to recover guard or bridge your opponent off to one side
Your primary goal under side control: Get on your side and create space to either recover guard or escape out the back using an underhook.

North South

What it is: The North South position occurs when one person controlling the other chest-to-chest from the top while facing their head.

North South
That is my friend Brett in the white gi. I promise he does actually have toes.

What to do when controlling North South:

  • Keep your chest heavy on their upper body
  • Control their head with your arms or chest
  • Keep your hips low but floating
  • Maintain wide base with your feet
  • Look for submission opportunities on their neck and arms
Your primary goal from North South: Control their head and shoulders while preventing them from turning to either side.

Tips for when You’re caught under North South:

  • Create frames with your hands against their hips
  • Protect your collar and neck
  • Stay on your side rather than flat
  • Look to recover any form of guard
  • Keep your elbows tight to prevent arm attacks
Your primary goal under North South: Frame against their hips and work to turn to your side to recover guard.

The Turtle Position

What it is: One person on their hands and knees in a compact ball defending with the other person on top attacking.

Turtle position

What to do when controlling someone in turtle:

  • Control their hips with your legs
  • Maintain pressure on their upper back
  • Look for opportunities to take their back
  • Control at least one of their arms
  • Be ready to transition to side control
Your primary goal from top turtle: Control their movement while looking for opportunities to take their back or transition to side control.

Tips for When You’re under the Turtle Position:

  • Keep your elbows tight to your knees
  • Protect your collar and neck
  • Tuck your chin to your chest
  • Look for opportunities to recover guard or stand up
  • Stay compact to prevent hooks from being inserted
  • Keep moving to prevent your opponent from settling
Your primary goal in turtle position: Stay compact while working to recover guard or stand up safely.

Back Mount

Back control is the most dominant position in BJJ because it allows you to attack while your opponent has very limited defense options. In this position, you’re behind your opponent (either facing up or facing down) with your chest against their back and your hooks (feet) controlling their hips.

Variations of Back Control

Belly Down Back Mount

What it is: Controlling opponent while they’re face down

Belly down back control

What to do here:

  • Keep your chest tight to their back
  • Control their hips with your legs
  • Maintain hook control
  • Watch out for attempts to attack your arms.

Belly Up Back Mount

What it is: Controlling opponent while they’re on their back

Back control with hooks in

What to do here:

  • Keep your head tight to one side
  • Maintain hook control with your feet
  • Stay attached to their back
  • Control their arms when possible
Your primary goal with back control: Maintain chest-to-back control while working to get your choking arm underneath their chin for a rear naked choke.

Tips for When Your Back Is Taken

Having your back taken is generally considered the worst position in BJJ. Here’s what to focus on:

  • Stay calm and control your breathing
  • Protect your neck by keeping your chin tucked
  • Work to get your shoulders to the mat (when facing up)
  • Focus on turning into them to recover guard
Your primary goal when your back is taken:
Belly Up: Protect your neck while working get your shoulders to the mat.
Belly Down: Avoid being flattened and work to turn toward your opponent and reguard.

The Guard Position

Guard is unique because it’s the only position where being on bottom can be advantageous. It’s essential for beginners to understand guard because you’ll often end up here when starting from standing.

Types of Guard

Closed Guard

What it is: Legs wrapped around opponent with ankles crossed

Closed guard - basic BJJ position

What to do here:

  • Keep your opponent’s posture broken down
  • Control their arms
  • Keep your hips close to their body
  • Always be working for submissions or sweeps

Open Guard

What it is: Legs not locked around opponent

Playing open guard

What to do here:

  • Use your feet to maintain distance
  • Establish grips (wrist, sleeve, neck, or lapel) and use them while maintaining distance with your feet to break down their posture
  • Keep your knees bent at about at angle greater than 90° to avoid having your legs flattened to the mat or collapsed
  • Be ready to reguard if the guard pass starts to happen
Your primary goal from bottom guard: Break down their posture and keep them close while working for a sweep or submission.

When You’re In Someone’s Guard

Even though you’re on top, being caught in someone’s guard can be tricky. They have many options to sweep or submit you, so you need to focus on proper posture and guard passing fundamentals:

  • Establish and maintain proper posture to avoid being swept
  • Control their hips to limit their movement
  • Work systematically to break and pass their guard (standing up can be a good way to do this)
  • Protect your neck and limbs against submission attempts

A common mistake beginners make in this position is trying to muscle through passes without proper technique. This usually leads to getting swept or submitted. Instead, focus on maintaining your balance and working methodically to break their guard open before attempting your pass.

Your primary goal when in someone’s guard: Keep your posture strong while working methodically to open their guard and pass.

Advanced Guards

While we’ve covered the basic guard positions here, it’s worth noting that there are many more advanced guard variations you’ll encounter as you progress in BJJ. These include butterfly guard, spider guard, lasso guard, and many others. (Personally, I like to call these “fancy guards.”) However, mastering the basics we’ve covered here will give you a solid foundation for learning these more complex positions later.

Half Guard

Half Guard

What it is: One of your legs is trapped between your opponent’s legs, and you’re either on top trying to pass their guard or on the bottom trying to defend and attack. This position can be both defensive and offensive.

Half guard BJJ position

What to do when playing top half guard:

  • Secure the underhook on the non-trapped leg side
  • Apply pressure to keep them flat
  • Control their hip with your free hand
  • Work to free your trapped leg
Your primary goal from top half guard: Free your trapped leg while preventing them from coming up on their side.

Bottom Half Guard

Half guard bottom might feel like a bad position, but it can actually be a great offensive position once you learn to use it properly. For now, focus on these fundamentals:

  • Stay on your side – never let them flatten you out
  • Fight for the underhook on the same side as your trapped leg
  • Keep your elbow tight to protect your ribs on the trapped-leg side
  • Frame with your other arm to prevent them from crushing you
  • Keep your head close to their body and defend their arm to prevent the crossface
  • If you lose the underhook, immediately start working to get it back

Putting It All Together

BJJ is built on the principle of position before submission. Focus first on:

  • Identifying your current position
  • Understanding whether you’re in an advantageous or disadvantageous position
  • Working to either maintain or improve your position

Most importantly, be patient with yourself. Everyone starts as a beginner, and every BJJ practitioner remembers what it’s like to feel lost on the mats. Keep showing up, keep learning, and keep practicing these fundamental positions. Before you know it, these basic BJJ positions will become second nature.

Basic BJJ Positions Pinterest Graphic
Basic BJJ Positions Pinterest Graphic
Basic BJJ Positions Pinterest Graphic
Basic BJJ Positions Pinterest Graphic
Basic BJJ Positions Pinterest Graphic

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