De La Riva Guard
De La Riva is an open guard where you wrap the outside of the opponent's standing leg with your shin and hook behind their knee, usually while gripping the ankle and a sleeve. It is the engine of modern bottom guard play.
Why De La Riva is everywhere
The outside hook lets you off-balance a standing passer and load them onto one leg, which opens the berimbolo, the back take, and a family of sweeps. It connects fluidly to reverse De La Riva, single-leg X, and X-guard, so it sits at the center of a larger guard system.
Mapping the De La Riva system
From the hook, the passer either steps back, pommels the leg out, or drives forward, and each reaction has a clean answer. That decision tree is why De La Riva players benefit from a flowchart: the same entry leads to a sweep, a back take, or a transition depending on the defense.
Community flows for De La Riva Guard
- Bodylock Pass, Vol 2: Setups & Entries — Every path into the body lock. Force them to sit up by squaring and pulling knees from chest. A flat-on-back grip for opponents who refuse. Wrist-grip breaks…
- Lazy Guard to Back Takes — Low-energy approach to BJJ built around back takes from various guard positions. What if your entire game is oriented toward getting behind your opponent from…
- De La Riva Attack Training — DLR guard attacks. Covers sweeps, submissions, & transitions. Adapts to opp reactions. Angle matters
- The Guard Retention and Attack Study — Includes guard retention & attack sequences from De La Riva & related positions
- De La Riva Control — De la riva guard through strategic grips & leg positioning. Transitioning btwn guard variations based on reactions & prioritizing dominant positions over…
- THE LEG ENTANGLEMENT LABORATORY: EXPLORING WHAT-IF SCENARIOS FROM STANDING TO SUBMISSION — How to explores the dynamic pathways from standing engagements into leg entanglement positions, examining what happens when opponents react differently to…
- Deep De La Riva Guard — Deep de la riva as a connection point. Entanglement as a conversation, not a trap.
- De La Riva Attacks — Controlling distance, breaking posture, & chaining sweeps, submissions, & transitions from de la riva based on opponent responses.
- Inverted Guard Game — De la riva into inverted guards, back takes, and leg entanglements. Flowing between positions and capitalizing on reactions.
- Sit Up Guard Game — A look at Sit Up Guard entries and attacks. Covers entries from seated, DLR, RDLR, and half guard. Includes sweeps, transitions, and counters to common passes
- Berimbolo Back Takes — No-gi back hunting from de la riva via berimbolo. Forcing your opponent into vulnerable positions & capitalizing on every reaction to get behind them.
- Modern Guard Flow — X-guard, single leg X, & de la riva. Transitions between them w/ clear sequences to sweep, take the back, & advance to mount or side control
Frequently asked questions
What is De La Riva guard?
It is an open guard where you hook the outside of the opponent's lead leg with your shin while controlling their ankle and sleeve. The hook lets you break their balance and attack the back and sweeps.
Is De La Riva a gi or no-gi position?
It is most common in the gi because of the sleeve and collar grips, but it works in no-gi too. Many no-gi players favor the closely related reverse De La Riva and single-leg X entries.
What does De La Riva guard lead to?
Most often the berimbolo and back take, plus a range of sweeps. It also flows into reverse De La Riva, X-guard, and single-leg X when the passer defends the hook.
From the blog
Map your own De La Riva Guard game
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