Taking the Back Without a Seatbelt

Taking the back, the ultimate positional goal in jiu-jitsu.

Once there, victory is usually easily obtainable. With that in mind, opponents will fight to the bitter end rather than letting you have the position. There is nothing more annoying than trying to break someone’s turtle down and being unable to even get your seatbelt grips in. Or even worse, focusing so much on looking for those openings that the other person has an opening to re-guard and you lose any chance for the back entirely. And you need a seatbelt to take the back. Right? 

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According to Lachlan Giles, no you don’t need a seatbelt. In fact, he has ways of taking the back without trying to insert his arms at all. First, he takes a grip on the turtled player’s opposite trapezius muscle, right where the next and shoulder meet. He drops the forearm diagonally along the back, which will slow down any attempts from the bottom player to roll out. Gile’s other hand grabs the opposite hip. From there he is ready to start attacking. 

Back Take 1: 

It the opponent rolls away, Lachlan rolls with him, using the grip on the trap to pull himself tight and keep chest to back contact during the roll. You can insert the hook as you roll if you don’t have it already. From there Lachlan curls his hooking leg back, pulling his heel towards himself, before flaring the leg to side to start moving the opponent over. His other knee wedges itself right behind the opponent’s hips, and is ready to become the top hook when they are rolled over to the other side. 

Back Take 2:

This time his training partner is going to try and forward roll out of the turtle. Lachlan rolls with, keeping his chest to back contact the whole time. He uses the hand gripping the hip to guide the opponent’s lower body into position. Important note: Lachlan is actually rolling with his head pointing towards the legs. 

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Back Take 3:

This is option is for is you have the hands positioned, but are late in getting your chest on their back. They roll away again, this time without carrying weight on them. Lachlan rolls his shoulder (again rolling towards the leg) and catches a truck style hook. He uses that kick his partners leg out and rotate them into landing in back control. An important detail is to keep the grip on the trap throughout the roll. Letting go of it loses all control you have of the upper body during the roll, and they start getting their back away. 

All three of these require some timing and ability to sense an opponent’s movements, and a good understanding of back take fundamentals. For example, keeping your chest in contact with the opponents back as much as possible. Still, they allow for you to go on the offensive well your training partners will think that they are all safe. 

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