Mount

Position
Also known as:
High Mount

Mount is the position everyone understands instantly: you sit astride the opponent's torso, knees on the mat, gravity and posture entirely on your side. It is one of the oldest dominant positions in fighting, scores near the top of every points system, and remains one of the clearest expressions of control in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Getting there is hard; keeping it is a skill; and finishing from it is a craft with a century of refinement behind it.

Quick Reference

Key principles

  • · Keep your hips heavy and low, driving weight into the opponent's centerline to pin them.
  • · Use your knees to squeeze the opponent's ribs or armpits to prevent hip escapes and maintain base.
  • · Stay ahead of the bottom player's bridge-and-roll attempts by posting hands or feet in the direction of the roll.
  • · Progressively climb higher toward high mount to isolate the arms and reduce escape leverage.
  • · Control the opponent's elbows, keeping them away from their body to prevent framing and escape setups.

Execution

  1. 1 Establish the mount by placing both knees on the mat beside the opponent's torso, sitting your hips firmly on their abdomen or chest.
  2. 2 Lower your center of gravity and spread your base by widening your knees or hooking your feet under their thighs (grapevine) to neutralize bridging.
  3. 3 Secure upper body control by cross-facing, controlling a collar, or pinning their wrists to the mat.
  4. 4 Gradually walk your knees toward the opponent's armpits to transition to high mount, removing their hip escape leverage.
  5. 5 Hunt for submissions by threatening collar chokes, armbars, or americanas, using each attack to chain into the next when the opponent defends.

Common mistakes

  • × Sitting upright with a high posture gives the bottom player space to bridge and roll or create frames for escape.
  • × Crossing your ankles underneath the opponent exposes you to a simple ankle lock counter.
  • × Rushing submissions without first consolidating control allows the bottom player to exploit the movement and escape to half guard or recover guard.

From the bottom

What the bottom grappler is working toward from Mount.

Bridge And Roll escape Elbow Escape escape
4 less common
Deep Half Entry transition Frame And Shrimp escape Hip Escape escape Technical Standup escape

On top

The top grappler's options against Mount.

Americana From Mount submission Arm Triangle Choke submission Armbar From Mount submission Cross Collar Choke submission Ezekiel Choke submission
13 less common
Americana Lock submission Ezekiel From Mount submission Far Side Armbar submission Kimura From Mount submission Loop Choke From Mount submission Mounted Arm-triangle Choke submission Triangle Choke From Mount submission Guillotine Choke submission Loop Choke submission Monoplata From Mount submission Mounted Dead Orchard submission No Arm Triangle submission Omoplata submission

How you get here

Techniques that land in Mount.

Back Control To Mount transition Balloon Sweep sweep Butterfly Sweep sweep De La Riva Sweep sweep Flower Sweep sweep Half Guard Pass To Mount transition Hip Bump Sweep sweep Kesa Gatame To Mount transition Knee Cut Pass pass Knee On Belly To Mount transition Lumberjack Sweep sweep North-South To Mount transition Omoplata Sweep sweep Overhook Sweep sweep Pendulum Sweep sweep Reverse Half Guard Pass To Mount pass Scissor Sweep sweep Side Control To Mount transition Smash Pass pass Transition To Mount transition Underhook Pass pass Underhook Sweep From Half Guard sweep Waiter Sweep sweep X-Pass pass X-guard Sweep sweep
2 less common
Tomoe Nage takedown Underhook Sweep sweep

Chains & Sequences

Commonly taught paths through the graph that feature this technique.

Knee Cut to Triangle

Knee Cut Pass Mount Armbar Triangle Choke

Butterfly Half Folding Pass to Mount

Butterfly Half Guard Smash Pass Mount

DLR Pass to Americana

De La Riva Guard Knee Cut Pass Mount Americana Lock

Types of Mount

Triangle Choke From Mount

3-4 Mount

Mounted Crucifix

S-Mount

Technical Mount