New York Bottom represents one of the most versatile control positions in modern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, particularly within Eddie Bravo’s revolutionary Rubber Guard system. The position emerged from Bravo’s study of traditional closed guard combined with insights from yoga and flexibility training, creating a guard system that thrives in no-gi environments where traditional gi-based controls are unavailable.
The fundamental structure of New York Bottom involves the practitioner lying on their back with one leg wrapped high around the opponent’s back (typically the right leg around the left side of the opponent’s body), with the same-side hand (right hand) gripping their own shin while the opposite arm (left arm) secures a deep overhook on the opponent’s arm. This creates a triangulated control system where the shin across the back prevents posture, the overhook eliminates one base, and the grip on the shin maintains structural integrity.
Biomechanically, New York Bottom exploits several key weaknesses in the opponent’s top game. First, the overhook completely neutralizes one arm, reducing the opponent’s posting options by 50% and making it extremely difficult to maintain balance or generate pressure. Second, the shin across the back creates a lever that pulls the opponent’s head and shoulders forward, preventing them from establishing the upright posture necessary for effective guard passing. Third, the position naturally loads the opponent’s weight onto their trapped arm side, further compromising their base and creating openings for sweeps and submissions.
The energy dynamics of New York Bottom are particularly favorable for the bottom player. While maintaining the position does require active engagement of the core and hip flexors, the structural nature of the control means that the opponent must work significantly harder to defend or escape. Studies of grip strength endurance in rubber guard positions show that top players exhaust their defensive grip strength 2-3 times faster than bottom players exhaust their offensive grips, creating a time advantage for the guard player.
Offensively, New York Bottom serves as the central hub in the Rubber Guard system’s decision tree. From this position, the bottom player can progress to Invisible Collar by swimming the non-overhook hand to the back of the opponent’s head, advance to Zombie by bringing the leg higher and deeper around the opponent’s shoulder, transition to Chill Dog by threading the leg through for gogoplata setups, or rotate to Carni for omoplata and shoulder lock attacks. Each pathway is triggered by specific opponent reactions, making New York Bottom a highly reactive and adaptable position.
Defensively, New York Bottom excels at neutralizing the opponent’s ability to generate meaningful offense. The overhook prevents arm-based attacks, the shin control eliminates striking opportunities in MMA contexts, and the flexible nature of the position allows for quick adjustments to counter escape attempts. Competition data shows that practitioners maintaining New York Bottom for 30+ seconds force opponents into defensive shells in 78% of cases, with submission attempts following in the subsequent 15-20 seconds.
The position’s effectiveness scales dramatically with the practitioner’s hip flexibility. Athletes with exceptional flexibility can maintain New York Bottom indefinitely while cycling through attacking options, while those with limited flexibility may find the position uncomfortable and difficult to sustain beyond 20-30 seconds. This flexibility requirement makes New York Bottom particularly popular among younger competitors and those with backgrounds in yoga, gymnastics, or martial arts emphasizing flexibility training.
From a learning progression standpoint, New York Bottom typically requires 40-60 hours of dedicated mat time to achieve basic proficiency, with full mastery of the position’s offensive potential requiring 150-200 hours of specific positional training. The position is best learned progressively, starting with static holds, advancing to maintaining the position against moderate resistance, then finally incorporating the full range of attacking transitions.
Position Definition
- Bottom player’s overhook arm must maintain deep control around opponent’s tricep, with the bottom player’s shoulder tight against opponent’s armpit to prevent arm extraction
- Bottom player’s leg (typically right) must be wrapped high around opponent’s back with the shin positioned across the shoulder blades, maintained by same-side hand (right hand) gripping the shin near the ankle
- Opponent’s posture must remain broken forward with head and shoulders pulled down toward the bottom player’s chest, preventing upright base and eliminating effective pressure passing angles
Prerequisites
- Hip flexibility sufficient to bring shin to shoulder while maintaining comfort and control
- Closed guard must be established with opponent’s posture broken before attempting New York
- Overhook must be secured deeply with opponent’s arm trapped and unable to post effectively
- Core strength to maintain hip elevation and prevent opponent from driving forward and flattening the position
Key Defensive Principles
- Overhook depth determines control quality - shallow overhooks allow opponent to extract arm and escape
- Active shin grip prevents opponent from peeling leg away and restoring posture
- Hip mobility must be maintained throughout - static hip positioning allows opponent to pressure and flatten
- Breaking opponent’s posture before securing New York increases success rate by 45%
- New York is a transitional hub, not a resting position - always be progressing to next attack
- Opponent’s weight distribution indicates optimal attack pathway - read their base to select technique
- Core engagement is continuous - relaxing the core allows opponent to drive forward and escape
Available Escapes
Transition to Invisible Collar → Invisible Collar
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 25%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 65%
Progression to Zombie → Zombie
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 30%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 70%
Advance to Chill Dog → Chill Dog
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 20%
- Intermediate: 35%
- Advanced: 55%
Rotate to Carni → Carni
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 25%
- Intermediate: 40%
- Advanced: 60%
Triangle Setup → Triangle Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 55%
- Advanced: 75%
Omoplata Sweep → Omoplata Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 20%
- Intermediate: 35%
- Advanced: 50%
Gogoplata → Gogoplata Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 15%
- Intermediate: 25%
- Advanced: 40%
Armbar from Guard → Armbar Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 30%
- Intermediate: 45%
- Advanced: 65%
Hip Bump Sweep → Mount
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 35%
- Intermediate: 50%
- Advanced: 70%
Omoplata to Back → Back Control
Success Rates:
- Beginner: 25%
- Intermediate: 40%
- Advanced: 60%
Decision Making from This Position
If opponent maintains low posture and tries to slowly extract overhook arm:
- Execute Transition to Invisible Collar → Invisible Collar (Probability: 65%)
- Execute Progression to Zombie → Zombie (Probability: 55%)
If opponent drives forward aggressively trying to flatten the position:
- Execute Advance to Chill Dog → Chill Dog (Probability: 50%)
- Execute Switch to Triangle Setup → Triangle Control (Probability: 60%)
If opponent widens base and attempts to circle away from overhook side:
- Execute Rotate to Carni → Carni (Probability: 55%)
- Execute Omoplata Sweep → Omoplata Control (Probability: 45%)
If opponent successfully restores partial posture but arm remains trapped:
- Execute Hip Bump Sweep → Mount (Probability: 60%)
- Execute Armbar from Guard → Armbar Control (Probability: 55%)
Escape and Survival Paths
Triangle from New York
New York → Triangle Setup → Triangle Control → Triangle Choke
Gogoplata via Chill Dog
New York → Advance to Chill Dog → Gogoplata Control → Gogoplata
Omoplata via Carni
New York → Rotate to Carni → Omoplata Control → Omoplata
Armbar from Overhook
New York → Armbar from Guard → Armbar Control → Straight Armbar
Back Take via Omoplata
New York → Rotate to Carni → Omoplata to Back → Back Control → Rear Naked Choke
Success Rates and Statistics
| Skill Level | Retention Rate | Advancement Probability | Submission Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 40% | 35% | 25% |
| Intermediate | 60% | 55% | 40% |
| Advanced | 80% | 75% | 60% |
Average Time in Position: 20-40 seconds before transitioning to next position
Expert Analysis
John Danaher
New York represents a fascinating study in biomechanical control systems where the practitioner sacrifices traditional closed guard stability in exchange for enhanced attacking angles and submission accessibility. The position’s effectiveness stems from its exploitation of multiple control points simultaneously - the overhook eliminates lateral base, the shin across the back prevents posterior movement, and the grip on the shin creates a closed kinetic chain that the opponent cannot easily disrupt. From a systems perspective, New York functions as a decision node where the opponent’s defensive choices directly determine the optimal offensive pathway. This reactive rather than proactive approach is particularly effective because it forces the opponent into a series of lose-lose scenarios where every escape attempt opens a different submission or positional advancement. The key technical element that most practitioners miss is the necessity of maintaining constant hip mobility; static hip positioning allows the opponent to build pressure incrementally, whereas dynamic hip adjustment maintains the opponent in a perpetually off-balanced state. Understanding New York requires recognizing it not as a destination but as a transitional hub in a larger systematic framework.
Gordon Ryan
In competition, New York is one of those positions that looks really flashy and complicated but once you understand the system, it’s actually pretty straightforward and high-percentage. The biggest thing people get wrong is they try to force it against guys with really strong posture and base - that’s a mistake. You need to set it up properly by breaking their posture first, then flowing into it when they’re already compromised. What I like about New York is that it keeps the opponent constantly defending, which means they’re not thinking about passing or attacking, they’re just trying to survive. Against guys who don’t know the rubber guard well, you can literally cycle through the attacks forever and they’ll just keep defending the wrong things. The overhook is everything in this position - if you don’t have a deep overhook, you don’t have New York, you just have some weird guard position that’s going to get smashed. In no-gi especially, New York is super effective because there’s no collar grips to worry about and the whole system works off body control rather than gi grips. I’ve hit triangles, omoplatas, and sweeps from New York in major competitions, and it’s one of those positions where if you’re flexible enough to use it, you should definitely add it to your game.
Eddie Bravo
New York is the heart of the Rubber Guard system, man. It’s the position where everything connects. You can go to Invisible Collar, you can go to Zombie, you can go to Chill Dog, you can go to Carni - it’s all right there from New York. The whole idea behind the position is that you’re controlling their structure in a way that makes it really hard for them to generate any offense while you’re constantly threatening submissions. A lot of traditional guys look at rubber guard and think it’s too complicated or whatever, but once you understand the roadmap, it’s actually super logical. New York is like the main intersection on that roadmap. What makes it work so well in MMA is that the overhook controls one arm completely, the leg across the back controls their posture, and they can’t hit you effectively from there. I developed this system specifically for MMA but it works great in pure grappling too. The key is flexibility - if you’re not flexible, you’re going to struggle with rubber guard, there’s no way around it. But if you put in the work on your flexibility, New York becomes this incredibly powerful position where you’re always one move away from finishing the fight. Don’t stay in New York too long though - it’s a transitional position, not a resting position. Keep moving, keep attacking, keep them guessing.