the Mount
Taking the Back

*Remember when I talked about the fifth position? The neutral position is when both fighters are completely even (position wise) and both have the exact same offenses and options at their disposal. This usually occurs at the start of any match, but may emerge during the match at times as well. It is an important place to consider, and like the other traditional positions we will cover it more in depth in its own column down the road.


The Duality of Position

So within each of the defined positions of Jiu Jitsu there are two people involved: one person applying the position and one person the position is being applied to. This much is inevitable. So we are brought back to a pair of questions I asked earlier that I did not give an answer to yet:

Is it possible for both you and your opponent to have “good” position?

Is it possible for both you and your opponent to have “bad” position?

Within the set of parameters given so far, the answer is no, except in the case of the neutral position one opponent will always have a “better” or superior position than the other.

HOWEVER…..

Within each position it is possible to be stronger or weaker. No matter what position you may find yourself in, there is always a “best possible scenario” or as I like to call it, a safe point. (If you’re recall from an earlier essay, safety is another cornerstone of Jiu Jitsu).

For example, if you’re inside the Guard, there is a correct way to posture and keep yourself relatively safe from the offenses of your opponent. We might go as far to say that one can be extremely defensive from the guard and depending on the situation could be fairly offensive as well. If your opponent is fairly weak at establishing a guard, then this may be an example of although categorically it should be a “bad” position for you and a “good” position for your opponent, we could say that both opponents can have either “good” or “bad” position depending on your viewpoint.

The guard is close to a neutral position, so it’s not a great leap to say that it is either position within the guard (top or bottom) can be considered a good position. By this same leap of logic, we can move up (or down, depending on your viewpoint) this hierarchy of position and say that any one of these positions can be classified as “good” or “bad”, right?

Not really. It would be hard to define being underneath the mount as a “good” position in any context, it so far along the hierarchy that you would never want to find yourself there. However within each position in the hierarchy there is always a best case and worst case scenario. You may be underneath the a mount, but there is definitely a correct and relatively safe way to be underneath the mount, and a number of ways to be underneath the mount that will have you tapping out quickly.

If you understand the concept of the duality of position, you will be on your way to becoming a more effective Jiu Jitsu Fighter. What do I mean? Well, we’ve taken the number of positions in Jiu Jitsu from four to eight (*nine) in the last few paragraphs and now it’s time to take it back to four.

Example: by definition if someone is utilizing the mount, someone has to be underneath a mount. In order to have an effective mount, there are certain things you want to be able to do, and certain things you want to force your opponent to do. At the very least then, what you’re looking to do while on top and what you’re looking for your opponent to do, you should be looking for the reverse while you’re on the bottom. If you’re looking to come up underneath someone’s armpits from the top and expose their arms to attack, when you’re on the bottom you should be looking to keep your opponent from coming underneath your armpits and protecting your arms from attack.

A lot of my personal development in Jiu Jitsu began merely by analyzing things I was trying to force my opponent to do when I had a superior position, and figuring out how to not get caught in that when I had the inferior position. It’s a simple enough concept, but one that didn’t come naturally to me right away. For example, instead of just thinking about what to do while on the bottom in the guard, I had to think about what to do while on top in the guard, and my overall understanding and effectiveness when dealing with the guard as a whole has greatly improved.


Let’s Not Overstate The Importance of Position

I say this after telling you at least three (now four) times that within the context of Jiu Jitsu, position is everything. When we are describing or explaining Jiu Jitsu, it is literally impossible to do so without utilizing position. However, it also important to realize that position within Jiu Jitsu is a means to an end, not an end unto itself.

The ultimate goal in Jiu Jitsu is not just to control your opponent, it’s to finish your opponent off (or in more gentle terms: end the confrontation with yourself as the victor). Everything within Jiu Jitsu should be working towards the submission. After all, as long as your opponent is still in the match, they have a chance of coming back and submitting you (this is the duality of the statement that as long as you keep yourself safe, you have a chance of winning the match by submission).

As you move along the position hierarchy, the odds that you will be able to pull off the submission (as opposed to having the submission applied to you) increase dramatically. The ability to keep yourself safe, and ultimately get the submission, is the true value to your position.


Homework Assignment:

Select your favorite position to be in. Make two columns underneath it. In one column list out everything you like for yourself to do in order to make that position effective. Then list out everything you like to force your opponent to do in order to make that position effective. Go back to the second column, and for each item you made in the first column, write a counter or maneuver that would nullify that move.

For example, if you wrote extend opponents arms in the first column, write something to the effect of “keep arms tight in the second column”.

The next time you go train, put yourself in