The Mount
The mount is the king of positions — sit on your opponent's chest and you control the fight. But most people lose it because they try to hold the mount with strength instead of owning it with connection. Here is how to keep it against bigger opponents, what to attack, and how to escape when you're the one underneath.
Why it matters: The mount leads to the sport's highest-percentage finishes — the armbar and the road to the back and the rear naked choke, the No. 1 submission in our data study.
What is the mount?
The mount is a top position where you sit on your opponent's torso, facing their head, with your knees on the mat. It is the most dominant position in jiu-jitsu — it scores the most points, offers the most attacks, and is the hardest to escape. In the Rickson-Gracie lineage, a great mount is about weight distribution and connection, not squeezing your knees.
How to keep the mount (even against bigger opponents)
- Stay connected and heavy. Drive your weight down through your chest and hips, not into your knees.
- Ride the bridge. When they bridge, go with it and re-settle — don't fight to stay square.
- Kill the elbows. If they get elbows and knees in, they escape; pin the arms and climb to a high mount.
- Don't post. Posting a hand for balance gives them the space to shrimp out.
▶ “How To Maintain Mount Against Someone Bigger Than You” — Henry Akins' Hidden Jiu-Jitsu (Rickson Gracie black belt).
▶ “Stay Safe In The Mount — a hidden detail most black belts don't know” — Henry Akins' Hidden Jiu-Jitsu.
What to attack from the mount
The mount is a launch pad. The armbar and americana are the classic joint attacks; when they turn away to defend, you climb to their back and hunt the rear naked choke. Every escape they give you opens a submission.
How to escape the mount
The two foundational escapes are the trap-and-roll (upa) — trap an arm and a leg on the same side and bridge them over — and the elbow-knee escape — frame, shrimp, and slide a knee back inside to recover guard. Both rely on framing and hip movement, not raw strength.
Frequently asked questions
What is the mount in BJJ?
A top position where you sit on your opponent's chest facing their head. It is the most dominant position in jiu-jitsu — the most points, the most attacks, and the hardest to escape.
How do you maintain the mount against a bigger opponent?
Stay heavy and connected through your chest and hips, ride their bridges instead of fighting them, kill their elbows, and climb to a high mount — leverage over strength.
How do you escape the mount?
The trap-and-roll (upa) and the elbow-knee escape. Both start with strong frames and hip movement to create the space to bridge or shrimp out.
See it on The BJJ Project
Our primary video source for the encyclopedia is The BJJ Project — the channel of Rickson-lineage black belt Chris “Bones” Burns, a friend of the show. Here is the mount from both sides — the S-mount attack detail, and how to escape with the upa:
▶ “Aha Moment: The S-Mount Detail” — Chris “Bones” Burns · The BJJ Project.
▶ “How to Do The Upa Correctly” — Chris “Bones” Burns · The BJJ Project.
▶ “Fix Your Mount Escape” — The BJJ Project.
Learn from the source: the Rickson lineage
This weight-and-connection approach comes straight from the Rickson-Gracie school of “invisible jiu-jitsu.” Go even deeper with Chris “Bones” Burns' The BJJ Project and Henry Akins' Hidden Jiu-Jitsu, and hear the philosophy on our podcast with Rickson-lineage black belts Scott Burr and James Driskill.
Part of the BJJ Encyclopedia. Videos are the property of their creators and are embedded from YouTube with credit — please support these instructors. Catch the podcast on YouTube and Spotify.