North-South

Position
Also known as:
North South Control North South N-S

North-south is side control rotated to its extreme: chest on chest but facing opposite directions, your head over their hips, your hips over their head. From underneath it feels like being parked under a car. The position trades side control's submission variety for suffocating pressure and one of grappling's sneakiest finishes, the north-south choke.

Quick Reference

Key principles

  • · Heavy chest-to-chest pressure with hips low drives the air out of the bottom player and limits their movement.
  • · Sprawling the legs back and wide creates a low base that prevents the opponent from rolling or creating space.
  • · Controlling the opponent's arms by trapping them against your torso or using underhooks eliminates framing and escape attempts.
  • · Shifting your weight toward the opponent's hips keeps their legs pinned and prevents knee-to-chest recovery.
  • · Anticipate the bottom player's shrimping or turning into you by adjusting your angle and re-centering your weight.

Execution

  1. 1 From side control, slide your body over the opponent's head while maintaining chest pressure, rotating 180 degrees so you face their feet.
  2. 2 Sprawl your legs back and wide, keeping your hips heavy and close to the opponent's head and shoulders.
  3. 3 Secure control of the opponent's arms by wrapping them with your arms or pinning them between your torso and their body.
  4. 4 Settle your weight through your chest onto the opponent's sternum and adjust laterally to counter any escape attempts.
  5. 5 Hunt for submissions such as the north-south choke, kimura, or arm attacks while maintaining constant downward pressure.

Common mistakes

  • × Keeping hips too high or knees on the mat instead of sprawling back, which allows the bottom player to create space and escape.
  • × Failing to control the opponent's arms, letting them frame against your hips to push you away or turn to recover guard.
  • × Centering weight too far toward the opponent's legs rather than their upper body, enabling them to sit up or invert.

From the bottom

What the bottom grappler is working toward from North-South.

K-Guard Recovery From North-South escape North-South Escape escape

On top

The top grappler's options against North-South.

North-South To Back transition North-South To Mount transition North-South To Side Control transition Spinning Armbar From North-South submission
1 less common
North South Choke submission

How you get here

Techniques that land in North-South.

Kesa Gatame To North-South transition Knee On Belly To North-South transition Side Control To North-South transition Transition To North-south transition

Chains & Sequences

Commonly taught paths through the graph that feature this technique.

DLR Pass to North South Choke

De La Riva Guard North-South North South Choke