Top 5 BJJ Positional Transitions When You Are On Top of Your Opponent

Positional transitions play an important part in winning your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu game. You cannot ignore it. Many BJJ athletes, particularly those who are beginners in the art, focus on BJJ submissions. Submissions are important. However, you cannot do an effective submission without proper positional control.

With learning positional control, you can transition between various positions, whether you are on top of your opponent or not. This skill will give you an advantage over your opponent. You can even escape submission attempts of your opponent by doing positional transitions.

If you are new to BJJ or don’t know how to do positional transitions, you don’t need to worry about it. The article is focused on the top five positional transitions from the top position, i.e., when you are on top of your opponent.

Positional transitions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu refer to the change in positions from one to another. This can be done for many purposes, such as to be dominant against your opponent, to try to execute some specific movement or technique, to escape from some submission attempt, or to apply the submission technique against your opponent.

The following are the top five positional transitions from the top position in BJJ that you can apply against your opponent to elevate your game;

The first positional transition you can do to improve your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the knee on belly to the mount positional transition. Knee on belly is a very good position to have your opponent in your control. You can gain more control over your opponent by taking him to the mount position.

For doing the knee on belly to mount transition, first apply the heavy pressure on your opponent with your leg. By doing this, your opponent will try to escape from this high pressure. They will make movements to force you outside their way. Taking advantage of this, you can move them into a more submissive position. Use their movement and force against them. You already have one leg over your opponent. Put your other leg also on their belly. Now, you have your opponent in the mount position.

The second positional transition you can do is the side control to the mount positional transition. It can be called the most common positional transition in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. You cannot miss learning this technique. The best thing about this transition is that you can easily apply many other submissions to your opponent.

You have two options for going from the side control position to the mount position. First, you can go straight to the mount position from the side control position. The second option is, of course, passing through the knee on belly position first and then to the mount position.

The first option has advantages as it is quick, and you can go straight from the side control to the mount position without taking your opponent through the knee on belly position first. The second option has advantages over the first option, in that you will be learning two positional controls in one. You can make use of it if you are in a situation where you have one knee on your opponent’s belly or in a situation where you can place one knee on your opponent’s belly. In that situation, you can easily move to the mount position from the knee on the belly.

For doing this transition, you have to first be in a side control position against your opponent. Once you are in a side control position, slowly move your one knee on top of your opponent. You can keep that knee on their belly.

Once your knee is on your opponent’s belly, apply pressure on them to keep them in your control. Now, you are on a knee on the belly. Slowly, move your other leg and put it on top of your opponent. Your opponent will make movements and try to force you into the submissive position. But you just have to play smart here. Use your opponent’s force and movements against them. After putting both of your legs on your opponent, you can move your opponent from the side control position into the mount position.

Keep in mind that you have to put the pressure on your opponent. Putting the pressure will keep you in control over your opponent. They will not be able to resist your movements.

Side control to the mount positional transition is the most beneficial transition in BJJ. You can use it for defense against your opponent’s attacks and submissions. Also, it opens the gateway for making many submissions against your opponent. 

The third positional transition that you must do is from the mount to the S mount positional transition. This positional transition, although not as common as side control to mount position, can provide great benefits to you. The benefits include armbars and triangle chokes. In mount to the S mount positional transition, you are separating your opponent’s arm and making the arm available for you to have some attacks using that arm.

For doing the mount to the S mount position, you have to first be in a mount position against your opponent. After securing the mount position, you have both your legs on your opponent. Put one leg beneath your opponent’s shoulder. Move yourself from the top of your opponent to their side. Also, move your other leg so that you can make the S shape using your legs against your opponent. This will shift you into an S mount position against your opponent. Next, you have the opportunity to attack the arm of your opponent. Their arm are not separated and available for the attack. You have the chance to submit your opponent using the armbar. Also, you can execute the triangle choke at this point against your opponent.

For executing the BJJ armbar against your opponent, trap your opponent’s arm, which you have just isolated by your positional transition from mount to the S mount. Hyperextend your opponent’s arm. Keep hyperextending while keeping control over your opponent’s body with your legs until your opponent taps out. 

Most BJJ athletes don’t use the BJJ north-south position. This position is one of the least-used positions in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. So the positional transition from the side control to the north-south position is also not common. This will give you an added benefit to the positional transition. As the positional transition is very little used by the BJJ athletes, you can learn this position and apply it against your opponents. Your opponents will become surprised by this new positional transition, so they will not have any way to escape from this. It will make them very difficult to escape, so you have higher chances of submitting your opponent with this positional transition.

Doing this positional transition will open the door for many submissions that you can apply against your opponent. Also, it will make your opponent very unlikely to be able to defend themselves or escape from your technique. 

For transition from the side control to the north-south position, move your head or chest to your opponent’s chest. At the same time, keep your hips circling around or above your opponent’s head. This position is exactly the reverse of both you and your opponent’s positions. Your head is on their chest, and your hips are above their head. You are pointing towards your opponent’s feet. Your opponent’s position in return is exactly opposite, and they or their head is pointing towards your feet. Their head is below your hips. This is why the position is known as the North-South position.

The transition from side control to north-south position opens the door for many other positions. Using this technique, you can also execute Kimuras, as well as arm attacks. Like the transition from the mount to the S mount position, you can also attack your arm here in this transition from side control to the north-south. You can hyper-extend your opponent’s arm and apply an arm bar, leading to your opponent’s submission. Besides this, you can also apply chokes using the north-south position, thus opening an effective gateway for a wide variety of submissions.

The fifth positional transition is the transition from the mount to the high mount. When you are in a mount position, you have a lot of options to execute against your opponent. One of those effective options for transitions is the transition to the high mount. When you are in the mount position, your opponent will try to force against your hips to escape from this position. You can counter this escaping attempt from your opponent by transitioning your opponent from the mount to the high mount position.

Mount to the high mount transition is one of the most effective and easiest transitions that you can make against your opponent in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. For doing the transition from the mount to the high mount position, you have to move near your opponent in such a way that your knees are near the armpits of your opponent. You have to move slowly so that your opponent cannot think about defending against your attempt. Moving your knees to your opponent’s armpits will avoid your opponent and prevent them from pushing and forcing against your hips. This will stop them from defending themselves and escaping from the mounted position. They will not find a lot of defensive options at this point.

This position works both ways and provides you with extra benefits. The first benefit is that, as discussed, your opponent will not find a lot of defensive options here against your moves and techniques. The second benefit is that you have a lot of options for submissions against your opponent.

First submission option, like many other positional transitions, is that you can apply an armbar against your opponent. In an armbar, you will first trap your opponent’s arm as you are already near your opponent’s armpits. Your knees are already your opponent’s armpits. Trap their arm and then hyperextend it. Hyperextend their arm while maintaining control over their body. This will keep them grounded and under your control. You control their body with your legs and their arm with your arms. Hyperextend it until your opponent taps out, and you will have the submission against your opponent.

The second submission option you have in this situation is the mounted triangle. In the mounted triangle position, you are in the dominant mount position. You are on your opponent’s upper body or their torso. This is how you can submit your opponent with the mounted triangle by transitioning your position from mount to high mount.

The article has explained the top five positional transitions from the top position, i.e., when you are on top of your opponent. It is easy for you to execute transitions in that position, as you are already in your dominant position against your opponent. When you are in a dominant position against your opponent, you have to transition that dominant position into a submission technique. There are a lot of positional transitions out there that you can execute against your opponent in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but these were the best positional transitions. Start with these transitions and then go on exploring more positional transitions. 

Following are the best positional transitions from the top position;

• Knee on Belly to Mount

• Side Control to Mount

• Mount to S Mount

• Side Control to North-South

• Mount to High Mount

First submission option, like many other positional transitions, is that you can apply an armbar against your opponent. In an armbar, you will first trap your opponent’s arm as you are already near your opponent’s armpits. Your knees are already your opponent’s armpits. Trap their arm and then hyperextend it. Hyperextend their arm while maintaining control over their body. This will keep them grounded and under your control. You control their body with your legs and their arm with your arms. Hyperextend it until your opponent taps out, and you will have the submission against your opponent.

The second submission option you have in this situation is the mounted triangle. In the mounted triangle position, you are in the dominant mount position. You are on your opponent’s upper body or their torso. This is how you can submit your opponent with the mounted triangle by transitioning your position from mount to high mount.