Back control in BJJ means sitting behind your opponent with your chest on their back, both feet hooked inside their thighs and your arms wrapped around their torso in a seat belt grip. It scores 4 points in IBJJF competition. It is also the most dangerous position in jiu-jitsu, because the opponent can't see your hands and can't attack you.
If a white belt could study only one position in depth, this would be a strong pick. Mount can be lost to a good bridge. A well-held back is very hard to lose.
The two pillars: seat belt and hooks
The seat belt
Your top arm goes over their shoulder and runs diagonally across their chest. Your bottom arm goes under their armpit and comes up. The hands connect: the bottom hand grabs the wrist of the top arm, or both hands lock in a hook grip.
The detail people skip is the head. Keep yours glued to theirs, on the side of the arm that goes under the armpit. If your head drifts to the other side, they can turn into you and escape.
The hooks
Your feet come in front of their hips and hook inside their thighs, heels pulling toward you. You don't squeeze with the legs. You use them as hooks that steer their hips. Keep your knees a little apart, because knees pinched together control nothing.
The most common mistake in class is crossing the feet in front of them. They cross their legs over your ankles, press down, and the pain makes you let go. Some players use the body triangle (one leg wrapped around the waist and locked behind the other knee) as a solid alternative. Check the rule set of the organization you compete in to see how it scores.
How to get to the back
You rarely take the back head-on. You get there because the opponent turned away to escape something else.
- From bottom half guard, when they pull their hips back and you own the underhook.
- From turtle, when they go to all fours to avoid the guard pass. Insert the near hook, then roll.
- From mount, when they turn onto their belly to escape the pressure. Let them turn and slide your hooks in.
- From guard, with an arm drag that pulls you behind them.
The turtle entry is the most common in competition. It is also the one judokas defend badly, since in judo the turtle is a safe position where the referee often stops groundwork.
Attacks from back control
The rear naked choke
The rear naked choke, or mata leão, is still the king of finishes. The top arm of the seat belt slides under the chin while the other hand goes behind the head. It is the BJJ version of hadaka-jime (naked strangle) in judo.
The collar choke
In the gi, your top hand grabs their far collar, deep. Your other hand pulls the near lapel down. Squeeze by pulling the two lapels in opposite directions. That is exactly okuri-eri-jime (sliding collar strangle), a finish many judokas handle better than jiu-jitsu players do.
The armbar from the back
When they defend the neck by holding your wrist with both hands, they tie up their own arms. Swing a leg over their shoulder and fall to the side to finish with an armbar. It is the logical follow-up when the choke is well defended.
Defending back control
Order matters more than technique here.
- Protect the neck. Both hands high on your chest, chin down. Pull on the arm around your neck, never on the one under your armpit.
- Pick the right side. Slide your shoulders to the mat on the side of the arm that goes over your shoulder. Going the other way helps them tighten the choke.
- Get your back to the mat. Once your shoulders are down, push with your feet to bring your back flat on the mat. From there they can't choke you properly.
- Clear a hook. Use your hand or your heel to strip the bottom hook, then turn into them.
The instinctive mistake is trying to stand up. On your feet or on your knees, you give them all the space they need to finish. You defend the back lying down.
A benchmark for your rolls
For one month, write down how often you reach the back and how often you finish from there. If you take the back a lot without finishing, the problem is almost always the seat belt: the bottom hand sits too low and they strip it. Bring it up toward their collarbone and press your chest into their back. If you are new to the sport, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu overview shows where back control sits in the hierarchy of positions.