Submission Wrestling Holds, Explained: A Glossary
Body scissors, seatbelt, kesa gatame, cradle, body triangle: the submission wrestling holds you see on tape, what each one does, and where to watch it.
Watch enough submission wrestling and the same handful of positions keep deciding matches. This glossary covers the holds and positions that show up most across the Robgrappler archive: what each one is, what it does to the man caught in it, and a match where you can see it on tape.
Positions first, because positions are what make submissions possible. Then the squeezes, then the finishes.
Control positions
Back control
The grappler is behind the opponent, chest to back, usually with both legs hooked inside the opponent’s thighs (“hooks in”). The opponent faces away, carries the top man’s weight and has to spend his hands defending the neck. It is the most valuable position on the mat because it removes the opponent’s offense almost entirely.
On tape: Lucky Follower 3, with two separate back takes. Full breakdown in How Lucky Follower 3 Was Won From the Back.
Seatbelt grip
The upper-body grip that holds back control together: one arm over the opponent’s shoulder, one under his armpit, hands clasped on his chest. It keeps the top man attached when the opponent turns or rolls.
On tape: Lucky Follower 3.
Rear mount
Back control with the opponent flattened face down and the top man’s weight on his hips. It takes away the base he needs to build up to his knees.
On tape: The Void, and the closing chapter of Roughhousing Part III.
Kesa gatame (scarf hold)
A side-control pin borrowed from judo. The top man sits beside the opponent’s chest, hips low, wrapping the head and one arm. Done well, the opponent cannot frame or turn in.
On tape: Roughhousing Part III. Chapter-by-chapter read in Round 3: The Anatomy of Total Neutralization.
Side pressure and chest-to-chest pressure
Heavy top control where the top man drives his chest into the opponent’s chest or ribs and lets gravity work. Repeated drops of weight push the air out of the man underneath.
On tape: the full Roughhousing trilogy and Lucky Follower 3.
Squeezes
Bearhug
Arms locked around the opponent’s torso, squeezing. Often used as an opening statement: it tells the other man immediately who is stronger.
On tape: the openings of Roughhousing Part I and Part III.
Body lock
Hands locked around the opponent’s body from the front, side or back, used to control and take him down. From the knees, a body lock turns a takedown into a collapse.
On tape: the kneeling body lock that opens Lucky Follower 3.
Body scissors
The legs wrap around the opponent’s torso and squeeze, crossed at the ankles. It pins the hips, restricts breathing and frees the hands to attack the upper body.
On tape: Roughhousing Part II and Nocturmex V, where the scissors are held past the usual release point.
Body triangle
A tighter cousin of body scissors: one leg wraps the torso and the other locks over the shin in a figure-four. Harder to escape, and it can be held from the back.
On tape: The Void. Breakdown in The Void: How Pressure Works When You Cannot See.
Cradle
The opponent is folded by connecting his head and one leg inside the top man’s arms. It shuts down movement completely and leaves the opponent with nothing to push from.
On tape: Roughhousing Part III.
Finishes
Arm isolation
Trapping one of the opponent’s arms away from his body so it cannot help defend. Most arm submissions start here.
On tape: the late stage of Roughhousing Part III, with wrist control from the back.
Neck crank
Pressure on the neck and spine rather than the arteries. It works, and it is dangerous: in training it should be applied slowly and released the moment the opponent taps.
On tape: after the verbal give in Lucky Follower 3.
Tap and verbal tap
The end of the argument. A tap is a physical signal of submission, a verbal tap is the same thing said out loud. Either one stops the match.
On tape: the 13:56 verbal give in Lucky Follower 3.
Keep watching
Knowing the names makes the tape easier to read. Seeing them done under real resistance is the other half. Browse the match catalog or get the full archive in VIP.
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