De La Riva Guard Bottom is one of the most dynamic and versatile open guard positions in modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Named after Ricardo De La Riva who revolutionized its use in the 1980s, this position is characterized by the bottom player hooking their opponent’s leg from the outside while controlling the opposite sleeve or collar. The De La Riva hook, created by threading your leg around the outside of your opponent’s near leg and hooking behind their knee, creates powerful off-balancing opportunities and serves as the foundation for numerous sweeps, back takes, and leg entanglements.
This position excels at disrupting your opponent’s base and posture, making it difficult for them to establish effective pressure or initiate guard passes. The De La Riva hook combined with strategic grips allows the bottom player to control distance, create angles, and threaten multiple attack sequences simultaneously. The position’s effectiveness stems from its ability to break down the opponent’s structure while maintaining offensive options - when executed properly, it forces the top player into a defensive posture rather than allowing them to dictate the pace of the engagement.
De La Riva Guard Bottom has become fundamental to competitive BJJ, particularly in no-gi grappling where it transitions seamlessly into leg lock systems and back attacks. The position offers exceptional versatility, allowing practitioners to chain together sweeps, transitions to other guards (X-Guard, Single Leg X), and direct paths to dominant positions like the back or mount. Its modern applications, influenced by practitioners like the Mendes brothers, Cobrinha, and the Miyao brothers, have expanded the position’s scope to include berimbolo entries, kiss of the dragon variations, and sophisticated leg entanglement systems.
Position Definition
- Bottom player’s outside leg threaded around opponent’s near leg with foot hooking behind their knee, creating the signature De La Riva hook that controls their base and prevents forward pressure
- Bottom player controlling opponent’s opposite sleeve or collar with a cross grip, creating a diagonal control system that disrupts their posture and enables angular attacks
Prerequisites
- Opponent in open guard passing position on their knees or in combat base
- Bottom player has established the De La Riva hook around opponent’s near leg
- Bottom player has secured a cross grip on opponent’s opposite sleeve, collar, or lapel
Key Defensive Principles
- Maintain constant tension on the De La Riva hook by pulling your knee toward your chest and driving your hooking foot into the back of their knee
- Create diagonal control by combining the hook with a strong cross grip to break down their posture and prevent them from squaring up to you
- Use your non-hooking leg actively to manage distance - placing it on their hip, knee, or bicep to prevent them from closing distance and smashing forward
- Keep your hips mobile and shoulders slightly off the mat to enable quick angle changes, inversions, and transitions to other positions
- Constantly off-balance your opponent by pulling with your grips while extending and retracting the De La Riva hook to disrupt their base
Available Escapes
De La Riva Sweep → Mount Top
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 65%
De La Riva to X-Guard Transition → X-Guard
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 40%
- Intermediate: 60%
- Advanced: 75%
Berimbolo Entry → Back Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 25%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 65%
Kiss of the Dragon → Back Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 20%
- Intermediate: 40%
- Advanced: 60%
Single Leg X Entry → Single Leg X-Guard
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 45%
- Intermediate: 60%
- Advanced: 75%
Waiter Sweep → Side Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 65%
Balloon Sweep → Mount Top
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 30%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 60%
Outside Ashi Entry → Outside Ashi-Garami
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 25%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 65%
Decision Making from This Position
If opponent maintains upright posture and resists being pulled forward:
- Execute De La Riva to X-Guard Transition → X-Guard (Probability: 70%)
- Execute Single Leg X Entry → Single Leg X-Guard (Probability: 65%)
If opponent drives forward with pressure attempting to smash the guard:
- Execute Berimbolo Entry → Back Control (Probability: 60%)
- Execute Kiss of the Dragon → Back Control (Probability: 55%)
If opponent posts on your non-hooking leg and attempts to clear the De La Riva hook:
- Execute De La Riva Sweep → Mount Top (Probability: 65%)
- Execute Waiter Sweep → Side Control (Probability: 60%)
Escape and Survival Paths
Back Attack Path via Berimbolo
De La Riva Guard Bottom → Berimbolo Entry → Back Control → Rear Naked Choke
Leg Lock Path via Outside Ashi
De La Riva Guard Bottom → Outside Ashi Entry → Outside Ashi-Garami → Outside Heel Hook
Mount Submission Path
De La Riva Guard Bottom → De La Riva Sweep → Mount Top → Armbar from Mount
Success Rates and Statistics
| Skill Level | Retention Rate | Advancement Probability | Submission Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 45% | 35% | 10% |
| Intermediate | 60% | 55% | 20% |
| Advanced | 75% | 70% | 35% |
Average Time in Position: 45-90 seconds per engagement
Expert Analysis
John Danaher
The De La Riva guard represents a fundamental shift in guard theory - from using the guard purely as a defensive shield to employing it as an active weapons system for off-balancing and attacking. The biomechanical genius of the position lies in its exploitation of human anatomy’s vulnerability to rotational forces applied to the knee joint. By threading your leg around the outside of your opponent’s leg and hooking behind their knee, you create a powerful lever that disrupts their sagittal plane stability while your cross grip eliminates their frontal plane balance. This diagonal control system - hook on one side, grip on the opposite side - creates what I call ‘structural breakdown through diagonal tension.’ The opponent cannot move forward because of the hook, cannot move backward because you’re pulling them, and cannot rotate because the cross grip prevents it. Understanding this principle allows you to chain techniques not randomly, but systematically based on which plane of movement your opponent attempts to use for escape. When they try to remove the hook by stepping back, you have overhead and waiter sweeps. When they drive forward to smash, you have berimbolo and kiss of the dragon. Every defensive reaction opens a specific offensive opportunity, making De La Riva guard a perfect example of using physics and biomechanics to overcome strength disadvantages.
Gordon Ryan
De La Riva guard is one of the highest-percentage positions in modern competitive jiu-jitsu because it gives you multiple paths to dominant positions and submissions while being extremely difficult for opponents to pass cleanly. In my competition experience, I’ve found the key to making De La Riva truly dangerous is being relentlessly offensive with it - you can’t just hold the position and wait. I’m constantly threatening the berimbolo, the sweep, or transitioning to X-guard or Single Leg X. The moment you become defensive or static in De La Riva, good passers will methodically clear your hooks and pass. What makes it especially effective at the highest levels is that it works both gi and no-gi, and it creates immediate access to leg entanglements which is crucial in modern competitive grappling. When someone stands to disengage, I’m immediately entering outside ashi or saddle positions. The position also has excellent synergy with modern back attack systems - the berimbolo has become one of the most high-percentage back takes in competition because it’s so difficult to defend when executed properly. I’ve won numerous matches by chaining De La Riva sweeps into immediate mount or back attacks, then finishing with submissions. The versatility is what makes it championship-level - you’re never stuck with only one option, you always have multiple attack paths based on how opponent reacts.
Eddie Bravo
De La Riva guard is sick because it’s one of those positions that proves jiu-jitsu is constantly evolving. Ricardo De La Riva basically invented a whole new guard system that nobody was using before, and now it’s fundamental to the game. What I love about it is how it opens up these crazy inversion entries and back takes that look like magic to people who don’t understand the mechanics. The berimbolo is basically a De La Riva specialty - you’re using that hook to control their base while you spin underneath them and come up on their back. It’s like a skateboard trick but for jiu-jitsu. In the 10th Planet system, we’ve adapted De La Riva concepts for no-gi by focusing more on the leg entanglement side of things. Without the gi grips, you have to be more aggressive about getting to outside ashi or inside position on the legs. We also combine De La Riva with rubber guard concepts when the distance closes - if they break your hook and try to smash, you can transition to mission control or invisible collar. The key innovation we’ve brought is treating De La Riva not as a standalone position but as an entry system to our other guards and leg attacks. It’s like a highway interchange - you can use it to get to X-guard, to single leg X, to leg locks, or to the truck position. That versatility combined with the ability to completely off-balance and frustrate passers makes it essential for any modern no-gi game.