Home / Guides

BJJ Positions: The Complete Map

MMA Factory · Birmingham · Updated October 2026

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu stops being confusing the moment you understand one idea: positions form a ladder, and the whole game is climbing it while stopping your opponent climbing theirs.

The positional hierarchy

From worst to best (for the person on top):

1. Your back taken — opponent behind you with hooks in. Worst place in grappling.
2. Mounted on / side control under — opponent past your legs, pinning you.
3. Guard — the neutral battleground: you're on your back but your legs are between you and them, attacking and defending at once.
4. Side control on top — you're past their legs, chest to chest.
5. Mount — sitting on their torso, their arms in constant danger.
6. Back control — the throne. You're behind them; they can't even see you.

Every technique in BJJ is a way to climb one rung (a pass, a sweep, an escape) or to finish from a high rung (a submission). That's it. That's the game.

The positions in one line each

• Closed guard — legs locked around their waist; your home base on the bottom.
• Half guard — you've trapped one of their legs; half defence, half attack.
• Side control — the first pin after passing someone's guard.
• Mount — the king of pins; punches in MMA, armlocks and chokes in BJJ.
• Back control — the highest-percentage finishing position in all of grappling.

What beginners should focus on

Forget submissions for your first few months. Learn to hold each position for ten seconds longer and to escape the bad ones. Position before submission isn't a slogan — it's the entire sport. Submissions are just the reward for winning the positional battle.