BJJ Flashcards

In the closed guard, the legs wrap around and your feet connect behind them making a closed loop, to essentially trap your opponent in this position.  While in MMA and self defense, the person on top is still at an advantage due to their ability to strike, in pure sport Jiu Jitsu, the person on bottom is at a significant advantage as they have more offensive opportunities.

In the half guard, the person on the bottom has one leg inside between their opponent's legs, and one leg outside their legs.  There are many versions of half guard, but the most common one is the knee shield where the outside knee places on their sternum and the feet lock to keep them from flattening your shoulders as shown here. 

In the butterfly guard, the feet are now both on the inside position.  Your shin and instep maintain contact with their inner thighs, which is known as using your hooks.  A butterfly hook can be added and used to lift your opponent and threaten to unbalance them.  

When the person on top can get past their opponent's feet, called passing, they can move to a side position where they are perpendicular with their opponent.  In this position, they will often control the opponent's hips and shoulders to pin them while they attempt to submit them.  This is considered a dominant position because the person on bottom's best options are to escape, while the person on top can focus on submission.

If the person on top gets past the legs they can mount their opponent by straddling them and keeping their hips controlled with their legs.  Like side control, the person on top is dominant because their best options are submission, while the person on bottom must focus on escaping.

Back control is whenever one person's chest is connected to their opponent's back.  In this position the legs control the hips of their opponent while the hands control the shoulders while attacking submissions, predominantly the rear naked strangle.